"Sin Boldly"

Some time ago I came across an interesting quote from Martin Luther: "Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly." Luther had a penchant for exaggeration in his writing. It seems like Luther is telling people to go ahead and sin it up. But that's not quite what he's talking about. The paragraph containing this statement reads as follows:

"If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong [sin boldly], but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God's glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner."

The statement sticks out to me because, at face value, it really sounds antithetical to what Luther worked so many years for. Didn't he champion the notion that faith brings repentance? Where is repentance in flagrant sin?

What Luther is really saying is that we should admit we are sinful, accept it, and strive to serve God anyway. We don't always intend to sin. I don't go out of my way to swear when I hit my toe or get angry at someone. I may impulsively act selfish or arrogant. Sin's just a part of life. People react differently to their sinful nature. Some deny they ever sin. Others are hypocritical, claiming to be a godly person but hiding their faults. Others are aware of their sinfulness and stress about it every day. Here Luther says we should accept we are sinful, repent of them, then just plain live life. Your repentance won't be perfect, and at some point you'll fall. You might fall many times a day. That's part of being human. Yet as the quote above says, Jesus's sacrifice covers those sins because we are faithful.

We "sin boldly" when we admit we are sinful. The quote above invites us to trust in Jesus ever more, and continue to pray because of that sinfulness. This, I think, is a healthy and realistic view of ourselves. It brings me comfort to know that, although I continue to sin, I still remain saved. This leads me to continue living a faithful life.