Luther’s Struggle for Assurance
This journal article examines Martin Luther's inner spiritual struggle for assurance of salvation, particularly his acute sensitivity to sin and his desperate quest for peace with God before the posting of the Ninety-five Theses. Koole argues that Luther's personal theological breakthrough—his discovery of justification by faith alone—was the spiritual foundation that preceded and motivated his public reformation challenge to Rome's abuses. The article traces how Luther's profound inner conflict and its resolution shaped the course of Western history and the Protestant Reformation itself.
God in His wise and wonderful providence raises up special men and women for His church in special times. One such man was Martin Luther, as we well know. What was special about Luther was not just his intellectual gifts and abilities, though they were outstanding, but also his acute spiritual sensitivities. Luther was a man through whom emotions rolled like great tsunamis at times, but emotions that were tied to an overwhelming God-consciousness, an awareness that afflicted his conscience in...
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