From “Luther’s ‘Theology of the Cross’“:
Melanchthon had a timid and fearful personality. He was often worrying that things were going to go wrong. He worried that the pope or emperor was going to do something. Luther tried to bolster him and bring a little more confidence to Melanchthon. Melanchthon was often worried that he was not going to do things just right. One day Luther said, “The trouble with you is that you do not sin enough.” That was when Luther said, “Sin boldly.” You have to understand that Luther does not always mean things in exactly the way he says them. By telling Melanchthon to “sin boldly” he meant that his friend should relax more and enjoy the grace of God. He was saying something like, “When you sin you can ask for forgiveness and be forgiven.” That might sound like an antinomian view, and some people believe that can be traced in Lutheran theology. As we learn more about Lutheran history we will have to assess that more later on in the course. I do not think Luther was interested in having Melanchthon sin. He was interested in having Melanchthon trust God more fully and not be so uptight about everything. If there was any theologian who was not uptight it was Martin Luther.
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3 thoughts on “Bold Grace”
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He was REALLY uptight when he was a monk. I think that’s the big reason he got so free-spirited later on– making up for lost time. 😉
but i love that about him. he’s such a character.
i just ordered _Here I Stand_ — the Luther bio everyone raves about. can’t wait to get it.
Someone once told me not to go to Worms because the Devil would set a trap for me. I told them that even if there were as many devils waiting for me at Worms as there were housetops between here and there, I was still going.