From the Deacon's desk . . . . . .

REPENTANCE

From The very beginning Martin Luther laid great stress on the fruits of repentance. “True is the proverb and better than everything they have hitherto taught about remorse: Never to sin again is its best; and a new life is the best of repentance.” And yet, despite such “best repentance”, the memory of the past will ever and again haunt and disturb a man. “Regret, the little black dog of a belated repentance, does not stop barking and biting the conscience, even though you know that your sins are forgiven.” To counteract this disturbing memory of past sins, we should think of our Baptism with its permanent covenant of peace.

“It will be no small gain for a penitent to lay hold, before all else, on the memory of his baptism, confidently to recall the promise of God which he has forsaken, and to plead it before the Lord, happy that he is still within the stronghold of salvation, is baptized, and abhors his wicked ingratitude of falling away from faith and its truth. For wondrously will his heart be comforted and he will be encouraged to hope for mercy when he considers that the divine promise which God made to him and which cannot lie is still intact and unchanged, nay, unchangeable by any sins, just as Paul says (2 Tim. 2:13):

‘If we believe not, He continueth faithful, He cannot deny Himself.’ This truth of God, I say, will so sustain him that if all else goes to ruin, this faith of his will not fail him. For in it he has a shield against the assaults of the enemy, a reply to the sins that trouble his conscience, an antidote for the horror of death and the judgment, and, in fine, a comfort in every temptation, namely, the one truth that he expresses when he says: God is faithful in His promises; His sign have I received in baptism; if God be for me, who is against me?” (Rom. 8:31) (What Luther Says)