To the Christian, there is no doubt. There is no debate. The most well-known Bible verse in the world is John 3:16. We see the reference everywhere. It is found on signs at sporting events, along the highways, on flyers. It is found on necklaces, bracelets, caps, shirts, and bumper stickers. The very words of John 3:16 come to mind simply by seeing the reference in any form that it may take. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” To the world, the month of February brings to mind the celebration of Valentine’s Day. Everyone knows that Valentine’s Day is a holiday when people display their love for family and friends. Some people send cards, candy, and flowers to those they love. Others give expensive gifts such as jewelry. No matter what the gift, it is the love and thought behind the gift that matters. The history of Valentine’s Day is veiled in legend and myth. Numerous stories abound as to the truth behind the history and celebration of the day, but the one common thread is the theme of love. In the early 2000s, right after 9/11, I left the pastorate. I wanted to do something for my county. I was hired as a “Special Investigator” by the U.S. Investigations Service and, after training in Pennsylvania, immediately assigned to the Department of Defense by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). As an investigator, I worked with some of the best of the best in our US Military like the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, the 160th “Night Stalkers” and the 175th Ranger Battalion at Hunter Army Airfield. As I met the men and women of these units, many having tattoos, I noticed one that caught my eye. It was verse from the Gospel according to John. Quite a number of the soldiers had these words inked into the skin, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 16:13). These people were going to war. They didn’t know if they would return to the families or not, but they wanted others to know why they were doing what they were doing. Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus said to His disciples, only hours before His betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” [John 14:15]. Love, true love, is a powerful motivator. Love motivated God to send His one and only Son into the world to redeem His people. Love for country motivates many in our military to the point of laying down their lives for our freedom and liberty. With these words in mind, let’s consider the love of Martin Luther for the Word of God. Just how much did Luther love the Holy Scriptures? This year, February 18th has a special meaning. It is Ash Wednesday, and the first day of the Lenten Season. In church history, February 18th also has a special place. It was on that date in 1546 that Martin Luther died and entered the glorious presence of our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ. His last writing was a short message written on a slip of paper the day before he died. This note was found on a table next to his death bed. That note was filled with words of praise for the Bible and an appeal for all to read it with a humble spirit. These were appropriate last words for a man whose life was marked by an intense love for the Sacred Scriptures, the very foundation upon which the Protestant Reformation was established. Luther’s love and convictions for the Word of God are evident in a comment he made in 1540, “The Bible is the proper book for men. There the truth is distinguished from error far more clearly than anywhere else, and one finds something new in it every day. For twenty-eight years, since I became a doctor, I have now constantly read and preached the Bible; and yet I have not exhausted it but find something new in it every day.” Martin Luther loved the Bible because it was there that he had found Jesus Christ and the message of the Gospel. It was in the Bible that he heard from God the truth way of salvation and peace with God. There he read, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17) and “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-26). Those are the very words Luther desired to hear. Salvation, forgiveness, absolution of sin, is not a work of man, it is the work of God for man! Therefore, we are justified by grace, through faith in Christ according to the authority of the Word of God alone! As Paul wrote, “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). Luther wrote concerning this divine truth: “Here [in John 5:39,40,43] Christ would indicate the principal reason the Scripture was given by God. Men are to study and search in it and to learn that He, Mary's Son, is the one who is able to give eternal life to all who come to Him and believe in Him. Therefore, he who would correctly and profitably read Scripture should see to it that he finds Christ in it; then he finds life eternal without fail. On the other hand, if I do not so study and understand Moses and the prophets as to find that Christ came from heaven for the sake of my salvation, became man, suffered, died, was buried, rose, and ascended into heaven so that through Him I enjoy reconciliation with God, forgiveness of all my sins, grace, righteousness, and life eternal, then my reading in Scripture is of no help whatsoever to my salvation. I may, of course, become a learned man by reading and studying Scripture and preach what I have acquired; yet all this would do me no good whatever.” Luther knew that the love of God motivated the Father to send His Only Begotten Son into the world to pay the price for our sins. He also knew that the only proper response to sin man can render unto God was to embrace the message of the Gospel of grace through faith, which is a gift of God, which frees us from the bondage of Satan, sin, death, and the grave. Luther loved and embraced the written Word of God because he knew that it was a collection of God’s love letters to a fallen and sinful humanity, a humanity without hope in this world or the next. But God, who is rich in mercy, gave us His letters of love revealing to us the good news of forgiveness, hope, freedom, and eternal salvation in Jesus Christ alone! At the end of a sermon on the Monday after Easter in the year 1530, Luther said: “You should diligently learn the Word of God and by no means imagine that you know it. Let him who is able to read take a psalm in the morning, or some other chapter of Scripture, and study it for a while. This is what I do. When I get up in the morning, I pray and recite the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer with the children, adding any one of the psalms. I do this only to keep myself well acquainted with these matters, and I do not want to let the mildew of the notion grow so that I know them well enough. The devil is a greater rascal than you think he is. You do as yet not know what sort of fellow he is and what a desperate rogue you are. His definite design is to get you tired of the Word and in this way to draw you away from it. This is his aim.” John, the beloved disciple, wrote. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us (I John 4:9-12). During February, we need to seriously reconsider our love for Christ. He says to you and me, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Here’s the question before each of us: “How deep is your love for Christ?” He has shown you how much He loves you. Now, it’s your turn and my turn to love Him as He first has loved us. Thanks be to God! Pastor Jim