In his days as an Augustinian monk...
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In his days as an Augustinian monk Martin Luther had a great fear of the Law as set forth in the scriptures. He simply could not live up to the demands of the Law as he understood it. Johann von Staupitz, his compassionate father-confessor, suggested he become a teacher of the scriptures and in the process he might find the solution to his problem. Luther proceeded to lecture on the Psalms: Paul's letters to the Galatians and the Romans. Especially this latter book, Romans, began to speak to him. In the fall of 1515 Luther lectured on Paul's Letter to the Romans. He explains what happened: "Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that 'the just shall live his faith!' Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise."
