Martin Luther and our Christian Fellowship

An excerpt from a 1530 sermon.

In this Christian fellowship no person possesses more than another.  St. Peter and St. Paul have no more than Mary Magdalene or you or me.  To sum up: There is no difference between the persons.  Mary, the Mother of our Lord, and John the Baptist, and the thief on the cross, all possess the same good which you and I possess…And what have all the saints?  They have the knowledge that their sins are forgiven.  They have comfort and help promised them through Christ in every kind of need, against sin and against death.

But it is also true, that you and I do not believe it so firmly as John the Baptist and St. Paul; and yet it is the one and only treasure.  It is like two men who hold bags of money, one in a weak hand and the other in a strong hand.  Whether the hand be strong or weak…it neither adds to the contents of the bag, nor takes away.  In the same way there is no other difference here between the Apostles and me, though they hold the treasure firmer.  Nevertheless, I possess the same treasure as all the holy Prophets, Apostles, and all saints.