condemned and cursed before God and one ought only do what is
contrary to the law as it is said in Rom. 3: "Why not do evil so
that there might be more good?" which is what that one divisive
spirit of our time was doing. Should one reject St. Paul's word
because of such `offense' or refrain from speaking freely about
faith? Gracious, St. Paul and I want to offend like this for we
preach so strongly against works, insisting on faith alone for no
other reason than to offend people that they might stumble and
fall and learn that they are not saved by good works but only by
Christ's death and resurrection. Knowing that they cannot be
saved by their good works of the law, how much more will they
realize that they shall not be saved by bad works, or without the
law! Therefore, it does not follow that because good works do not
help, bad works will; just as it does not follow that because the
sun cannot help a blind person see, the night and darkness must
help him see.

It astounds me that one can be offended by something as obvious as
this! Just tell me, is Christ's death and resurrection our work,
what we do, or not? It is obviously not our work, nor is it the
work of the law. Now it is Christ's death and resurrection alone
which saves and frees us from sin, as Paul writes in Rom. 4: "He
died for our sin and arose for our righteousness." Tell me more!
What is the work by which we take hold of Christ's death and
resurrection? It must not be an external work but only the
eternal faith in the heart that alone, indeed all alone, which
takes hold of this death and resurrection when it is preached
through the gospel. Then why all this ranting and raving, this
making of heretics and burning of them, when it is clear at its
very core, proving that faith alone takes hold of Christ's death