You say that the sins which we commit every day offend God, and therefore we are not saints. To this I reply: Mother love is stronger than the filth and scabbiness on a child, and so the love of God toward us is stronger than the dirt that clings to us. Accordingly, although we are sinners, we do not lose our filial relation on account of our filthiness, nor do we fall from grace on account of our sin. — Martin Luther
[The context is Luther’s argument with those schismatics who believe salvation, once obtained, can be lost].
Zwinglius Redivivus 
Your bracketed comment makes it look like Luther believed in double predistination, or at least “Once saved, always saved”. He did not. Please do make Luther a Calvinist. Not only is it historical revisionism, but it also denies people a proper understanding of the differences, and therefore their ability to be truly informed.
— An old-school Lutheran in a Reformed-dominated country
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your extreme sensitivity is unfounded. i’ve not made luther a calvinist. he couldn’t be that if he wanted to be. i’ve let luther speak for himself and simply clarified the context. a flat luther who always sounds orthodox lutheran is no real luther.
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All I’m really saying is that you haven’t “clarified” the context, you’ve almost certainly botched it, which really means that you’re *not* allowing Luther to speak for himself. Or else you’ve poorly phrased your comment. I read Luther all the time, going on half my life now, and have never once encountered him arguing that salvation cannot be lost once it is obtained. I suspect that Luther is here expounding on what it means to live in a “state of grace,” or to be “simul iustus et peccator”. Perhaps you could offer a citation of some kind?
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you haven’t read luther carefully enough then. see luther’s works, vol 54, p. 70- table talk #437. so. instead of accusing me of botching the context (which i haven’t) perhaps it would be better if you realize, as i said before, that luther isn’t lutheran orthodox- nor is his view flat. let luther be luther, not zastrow-luther.
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