Luther and Christ crucified

 The heart of Luther’s understanding of Christ crucified is Christ our Redeemer, who “brought us back from the devil to God, from death to life, from sin to righteousness” (Large Catechism, 434) and maintains us in this. Christ is the heart of it, and without Christ nothing would be accomplished because we can do nothing apart from Christ.

Christ took ourselves upon himself when he took on human flesh, and in that incarnation and our union with Christ through faith we are given his righteousness and he takes our sin. Luther called this Christ wearing our mask. “Therefore when, inside our mask, He was carrying the sin of the whole world, He was captured, He suffered, He was crucified, He died; and for us He became a curse. But because He was a divine and eternal Person, it was impossible for death to hold Him. Therefore He arose from death on the third day, and now He lives eternally; nor can sin, death, and our mask be found in Him any longer; but there is sheer righteousness, life, and eternal blessing” (Galatians commentary, 6). This is called the happy exchange or the fortunate exchange. Christ takes all our death and sinfulness and gives us his righteousness and life. Luther likens this to a marriage, saying that when Christians are united to the bridegroom, Christ, as his bride, what was his is ours and what was ours is his, and he has conquered our sin (Freedom of a Christian, 4). Christ had mercy on us in our distress and in our sin, had mercy on us, and was crucified, died, and raised for us. Christ could take us on because of his divinity, and because of his humanity we could share in his conquering of sin, death, and the devil. Those things no longer have the final word, because Christ has overcome them. Luther says this is the comfort Christ gives us through faith.

In Luther’s Freedom of a Christian he talks about the two natures of humanity, the inner man and the outer man. The inner man is who receives the righteousness of Christ through faith after he realizes he is sinful and needs Christ and then believes in Christ. The state of the inner man determines the actions of the outer man, and this is where good works are involved. Just as a tree is known by its fruit, so is a man by his works. Luther gives an example: “A bishop, when he consecrates a church, confirms children, or performs some other duty belonging to his office, is not made a bishop by these works. Indeed, if he had not first been made a bishop, none of these works would be valid. They would be foolish, childish, and farcical. So the Christian who is consecrated by his faith does good works, but the works do not make him holier or more Christian” (Freedom, 7). Because a Christian is justified by Christ, because Christ has traded his holiness for our sinfulness and conquered sin, death, and the devil so that we might have life and righteousness, we do good works because they flow from the depths of our redemption and our new holiness we have received.

Thus Christ crucified and raised for us is the heart of everything. We trust Christ for our redemption and salvation and we receive faith to hold us in these promises and this new life that has been wrought through the death and resurrection of Jesus.