Christmas Preaching in Wittenberg (16th Century)

In the Christmas season at Wittenberg, Martin Luther pressed a truth that both frees and humbles: the believer is truly holy in Christ, yet still fights sin in the flesh. He spoke as a pastor to ordinary worshipers—parents, laborers, students—who needed courage for daily obedience, not slogans for easy comfort. His words helped steady a church learning to rest in Christ rather than in anxious self-salvation.

Luther’s pastoral heroism was not the bravado of a warrior on a battlefield, but the courage to tell the truth about the human heart. He refused the twin lies of despair (“I am not really God’s”) and presumption (“I have outgrown repentance”). Christmas, with its focus on the incarnate Son, made the point sharper: God draws near to save sinners, not to flatter them.

Saints Who Still Struggle

Luther described Christians as saints because Christ counts them righteous and renews them inwardly. Yet the “old man” remains active, resisting God’s will through pride, lust, bitterness, and fear. The conflict is not proof of a false faith; it is often evidence of real spiritual life, because the new heart now hates what once it excused.

This tension does not license carelessness. It calls believers to honest repentance, steady faith, and courageous hope—daily returning to Christ as their only righteousness. “because by one offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14)

Creed and Lord’s Prayer: Daily Worship as Medicine

He tied this lived reality to the church’s worship. In the Creed, believers confess the church to be holy—not because her members are sinless, but because Christ has set her apart and cleanses her. Then, without contradiction, they pray the Lord’s Prayer and ask for forgiveness, not as unbelievers begging entry, but as children seeking restored fellowship.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Enduring Lesson

Christ makes His people saints, and He keeps them dependent on His mercy. The result is not fragile piety, but resilient faith: humble about sin, bold about grace, and hopeful about the day the struggle ends.