Two Kinds Of Righteousness, By Martin Luther

Two Kinds of Righteousness

In 1519, Martin Luther wrote the sermon Two Kinds of Righteousness to address the righteousness of God in Christ and how it is received and related to the Christian life. There are two kinds of Christian righteousness; the first one is alien righteousness and this is the righteousness of another, which is the righteousness in the eyes of God. This is the righteousness we received from God. According to the sermon, Dr. Luther relates, “Mine are Christ’s living, doing, and speaking, his suffering and dying, mine as much as if I had lived, done, spoken, suffered, and died as he did” (Sermon 86-87). All people are righteous on account of Jesus’s death and justifying resurrection. However, men would rather “… deserved

This kind of righteousness is integrated with the first, alien righteousness. This righteousness is about loving others; it is about being humble. The author suggests that “… this righteousness consists in love to one’s neighbor, and … fear toward God (Sermon 89).” Proper righteousness is the righteousness of men’s attitudes and behaviors toward the outside world. Men are to love their neighbors, not to hate and despise them. An illustration from the sermon is when the bride and the bridegroom united into one person and they both share everything they own. For instance, “My beloved is mine and I am his” (Sermon 90). Likewise, Christ took all of our sins and evils from us and live “as if all the evils which were ours were actually his own” (Sermon 90). Christ loved men just like men should love their neighbors according to the second kind of righteousness. In addition, the healthy and wise should treat the weak and teach the uneducated with love and respect, just like the way God has his son, Christ, died for all of

Although it can be challenging for the town people to understand the sermon, there are some key elements that those listening on that Sunday might have understood. For instance, they understand that God had his son born and died for all people. Christ took all sins of men and suffered on the cross. The author relates, “Mine are Christ’s living, doing, and speaking, his suffering and dying, mine as much as if I had lived, done, spoken, suffered, and died as he did” (Sermon 86-87). In addition, those listening on that Sunday understood that men had sinned and disobeyed God’s rule, and they deserved punishment. However, God did not punish the sinners and those who disobeyed because “Christ’s righteousness becomes our righteousness and all that he has becomes ours; rather he himself becomes ours” (Sermon 87). Moreover, men are to love their neighbor, treat the poor and uneducated with love and respect. These are some of the things that those listening on that Sunday would have understood from the