The Holiness of God - Chapter 5: "The Insanity of Luther"

The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul

“The Insanity of Luther” – Chapter Five

Troubled by the Holy

• Did Martin Luther have an oversensitive conscience or an overactive guilt complex?
• Or, was he perhaps more keenly aware of the holy justice of God?
• Do we have an accurate awareness of the holy justice of God?
• What do you think of Luther’s “Great Transgression,” that to fail to love God with all of our hearts is the ultimate Transgression, because it is the failure to do the Greatest Commandment?
• Without Christ and the grace of God, are we as sinful as Luther described?
• Does God grade on a curve?
• What about the good things that people do, even without grace?
• Was Luther’s overwhelming fear of the wrath of God good?

From Fear to Courage

• Luther’s constant fear of the justice of God drove him to the Scriptures to find God’s grace.
• Luther’s discovery of the doctrine of justification by faith alone launched the Reformation and moved him from terrifying fear to confidence in God’s grace.

Holiness and Mercy

• Luther’s life and doctrine teaches us that the more we comprehend the holy justice of God, the greater the grace of God becomes to us.
• In Christ, God satisfied his holy justice and showed mercy to the guilty.