Do Lutherans believe that forgiveness is essentially a license to sin?

Answer 1

Absolutely not! Answer One important thing to keep in mind is what Luther meant by "sin": Luther was less concerned with individual acts or individual "sins" and much more concerned with the state of being in sin, which to him was synonymous with the human condition. In other words, by virtue of the Fall of Man and that apple in the Garden of Eden, all human beings are born in a state of sin. To be alive and to be human is to be in a state of sin. Luther's focal theological point of "justification by grace through faith" means that, by having faith in Jesus Christ, God gives believers a gift (grace) of his favor (justification), i.e. salvation. Someone who sincerely takes to heart this principle is not someone who will sin recklessly in the knowledge that all sins are forgiven, and Luther and Lutherans to do not give a free pass to such a person (though such a person, if he or she sincerely believes in Jesus Christ, is nonetheless saved in the Lutheran view). Instead, justification by grace through faith, Luther taught, frees the Christian from focusing on sin all the time, and allows the Christian to focus on leading a life of Christian love and charity. This is why charitable projects are so important in Lutheranism. By not having to worry about sin because of Jesus' sacrifice, Christians are free to carry out God's plan of love here on earth. This is a core concept in Lutheranism.

The Lutheran Church does not formally teach that idea as a doctrine. What can be construed or even practised by individuals is the idea that because salvation is by grace you can do anything you want. True we have freewill but we are also bought with a price and will WANT to do right if we are truly saved and indwelt. Also the practice of infant baptism and confirmation as being proofs of salvation and forgiveness may encourage the ' license to sin' idea. As with any denomination you can't generalize and lump all in the same basket. " God does not work salvation for fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin vigorously.... Do not for a moment imagine that this life is the abiding place of justice; sin must be committed. " "Sin cannot tear you away from him [Christ], even though you commit adultery a hundred times a day and commit as many murders." ..... by: Martin Luther, German leader of the Protestant Revolution, founder of Lutheranism, Protestant theologian, was behind much of Protestant theology.

Although these words re indeed Luther's, they are taken somewhat out of context in regard to the point he was trying to make. In the context of his times language which we would consider both vulgar and excessive was regularly used to make a point. It would be an easy thing to find numerous passages from his voluminous works to indicate that he was not wanting to encourage sin but to demonstrate that no matter how bad we think we are or actually are, the salvation which Christ brings is far greater than this.

In saying 'sin must be committed' he was merely referring to the inevitability of sin given the nature of man as a sinner. The example regarding adultery should not be taken as a license to sin but merely another extreme example which abound in Luther's writings. Partly these examples were necessary to make the new Biblical teachings he was trying to bring to light intelligible to the simple uneducated people of his day. Thus he frequently used examples from everyday life.

'Our faith in Christ does not free us from works but from false opinions concerning works, that is, from the foolish presumption that justification is acquired by works. Faith redeems, corrects, and preserves our consciences so that we know that righteousness does not consist in works, although works neither can nor ought to be wanting.'

'Hence, as our heavenly Father has in Christ freely come to our aid, we also ought freely to help our neighbor through our body and its works, and each one should become as it were a Christ to the other that we may be Christ's to one another and Christ may be the same in all, that is, we may be truly Christians.

Who then can comprehend the riches and the glory of the Christian life? It can do all things and has all things and lacks nothing. It is lord over sin, death, and hell, and yet at the same time it serves, ministers to, and benefits all men.'

Taken from Luther, "The Freedom of a Christian", November 1520