No Compromise
Can wicked rulers be allied with You, those who frame injustice by statute?
PSALM 94:20
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No Compromise
Now, we have some smart alecks who want to patch things up, to remove the issue, and to mediate the quarrel by suggesting that both sides ought to yield. We shall let them try to do what they can. They are welcome to their efforts. But if they succeed, they will be the first to make the devil become godly and agree with Christ. For my part, I think that kind of patchwork is the same as trying to glue potsherds together, as Jesus Sirach also says (Ecclesiasticus 22:7). There have been a lot of cobblers at this business; but they have worked in vain, losing both the thread and the stitch. In matters where we may dispose regarding ceremonies or other such external things, let us conciliate and patch whatever we can. But Christ wants no improvement or patching of matters concerning the faith of His kingdom, which would result in bending and twisting His scepter. Anyone who attempts to do this will only make things worse and lose the scepter. Like a ruler or a measure, this scepter must remain undamaged and straight, without breaks or gaps, as a guide to how a man should believe and live.
From Commentary on Psalm 110 (Luther's Works 13:277)
PSALM 94:20
+
No Compromise
Now, we have some smart alecks who want to patch things up, to remove the issue, and to mediate the quarrel by suggesting that both sides ought to yield. We shall let them try to do what they can. They are welcome to their efforts. But if they succeed, they will be the first to make the devil become godly and agree with Christ. For my part, I think that kind of patchwork is the same as trying to glue potsherds together, as Jesus Sirach also says (Ecclesiasticus 22:7). There have been a lot of cobblers at this business; but they have worked in vain, losing both the thread and the stitch. In matters where we may dispose regarding ceremonies or other such external things, let us conciliate and patch whatever we can. But Christ wants no improvement or patching of matters concerning the faith of His kingdom, which would result in bending and twisting His scepter. Anyone who attempts to do this will only make things worse and lose the scepter. Like a ruler or a measure, this scepter must remain undamaged and straight, without breaks or gaps, as a guide to how a man should believe and live.
From Commentary on Psalm 110 (Luther's Works 13:277)
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