We are beggars. This is true. Those were the final words Martin Luther scribbled on a piece of paper just before he died on February 18, 1546. His last words echoed the life-changing truths he'd unearthed in the Scriptures—first life-changing, then civilization-altering. Beggars, indeed, because God justly demands a righteousness sinful humans cannot produce. A righteousness, in fact, that if we could produce would nullify the grace of God and make Jesus' death be for no purpose (Galatians 2:23). Embodying deep devotion to the Scriptures, Luther came to understand that we need an alien righteousness for divine acceptance—a righteousness given to us by another. And this life-changing revelation came in no small part by means of study. Luther gave himself to the Book, which he later explained as the primary actor in the Reformation. The legacy of his dying words in 1546 find their roots in this conviction—a conviction that was beginning to emerge when he crafted 95 theses and nailed them to the church door in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, and a conviction that continued to grow and change the world in the Protestant Reformation. John Piper says we have much to learn from Luther. Originally delivered as the biographical message at the 1995 Conference for Pastors, this new ebook features five chapters that present a sketch of Luther's life and distill relevant lessons for not only pastors and leaders, but all Christians.
Author
John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem. John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren. Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
