Luther's preparation for the priesthood and his continuing theological studies revealed a gracious God to him. Luther then revealed that gracious God to others.

Brother Martin was ordained Father Luther on April 4, 1507. Saying his first Mass, the new priest almost ran away from the altar without finishing the service. Years later Luther explained his terror: "As I read the words, 'I offer Thee, the living, only God' . . . I thought: Who is it to whom I am speaking?' "

Finding a gracious God

The monastic life had not given Luther an answer to the question, "How can I find a gracious God?" Troubled in his conscience and insecure in his faith, he was reluctant when John Staupitz directed him to prepare for the priesthood. How could he care for the souls of others when his own soul was so sick? Under his vow of obedience, however, he could only submit and begin his studies.

In God's providence, Luther's preparation for the priesthood and his continuing theological studies revealed a gracious God to him. He studied the standard theological writings, but he was able to focus especially on the Bible and Saint Augustine. The latter helped him understand that the "righteousness of God" revealed in the gospel is not a righteousness that God has or that he demands of us, but "the righteousness that counts with God." It is a righteousness that God gives and that is ours through faith. Preparing to lecture on Paul's epistles to the Romans and the Galatians confirmed and deepened Luther's grasp of the Bible's "grace alone, faith alone" teaching.

Proclaiming God's truth

Staupitz now directed his gifted friar to become a Doctor of Biblical Theology. Offering many reasons why that was not a good idea, the obedient monk nevertheless began and completed the program. One month shy of his 29th birthday, he swore to teach the Bible faithfully and to remain at Wittenberg University for life. In later life, when asked why he publicly opposed the teachings of the Roman Church, not only in Wittenberg but throughout the world, he could respond: "As a doctor in a general free university, I began, at the command of the pope and the emperor, to do what such a doctor is sworn to do, expounding the Scriptures for all the world and teaching everybody."*

As a professor, Luther delivered a one-hour lecture four days a week. Students liked the way "he put every Latin word into such stout German." His teaching load might seem light, if we did not know that he was the leader of the cloister in Wittenberg, supervised 11 other cloisters, taught fellow monks in the Black Cloister, carried on heavy correspondence, preached almost daily (often more than once), and served from 1515 to 1521 as the dean of the university's theological faculty.