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Correspondingly, being a Christian also has to do with this world as well as with the other. This is presumably why Luther can say or imply – -- apparently self-contradictorily – -- both that being a Christian is a matter of "person," as distinct from "office," and that being a Christian is itself a matter of "office," as distinct from "person." Insofar as being a Christian is understood in the strict and proper sense to mean having come to obedient faith in God through Jesus Christ (i.e., unreserved trust in God's love and unqualified loyalty to its cause), it is clearly a matter of "person," as distinct from "office." But insofar as being a Christian is understood in the broad and improper sense to mean sincerely believing and doing all the things that a Christian at least implicitly believes and does, it is clearly a matter of "office," as distinct from "person."

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