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                                                                                                                 Luther on the "Double Blessing"

1. Luther says: "God hath a double blessing: one corporal for this life, and another spiritual for the everlasting life" (Galatians, 243).

2. This needs to be understood against the background of his statement at the beginning of the same commentary, "there be diverse sorts of righteousness. There is a political or civil righteousness. . . . There is also a ceremonial righteousness. . . . Besides these, there is another righteousness called the righteousness of the law, or of the Ten Commandments, which Moses teacheth. This do we also teach after the doctrine of faith. There is yet another righteousness which is above all these: to wit, the righteousness of faith, or Christian righteousness, the which we must discern from the other afore-rehearsed:  for they are quite contrary to this righteousness . . . because they consist in our works, and may be wrought of us either by our pure natural strength (as the sophisters term it) or else by the gift of God. For these kinds of righteousness are also of the gift of God, like as other good things are which we do enjoy. But this most excellent righteouenssrighteousness, of faith I mean (which God through Christ, without works, imputeth unto us), is neither political nor ceremonial, nor the righteousness of God's law, nor consisteth in our works, but is clean contrary: that is to say, a mere passive righteousness, as the other above are active. For in this we work nothing, we render nothing unto God, but only we receive and suffer another to work in us, that is to say, God" (21 f.). 

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