When Martin Luther read and studied Paul’s letters from the Bible, he came to recognize, that if our salvation depended on our efforts, we would have no hope. For as Paul says, and as each of us knows by our own experience, we have all sinned and fallen short. But God in Jesus tells us that our identity, our worth, and our well-being are not determined by our successes and failures, but by God's gift alone. And precisely because salvation is NOT up to us, but is instead up to God, we are free to do, and to try, and to risk all things in the meantime. Because whether we succeed or fail, God has promised to bring us and all things to a good end.
