he rested, reciting, "_I believe in the
forgiveness of sins_."--"And do I not believe that?" said
Luther.--"Ah," said the old monk, "you believe in the forgiveness of
sins for David and Peter and the thief on the cross, but you do not
believe in the forgiveness of sins _for yourself_. St. Bernard says
the Holy Ghost speaks it to your own soul, _Thy_ sins are forgiven
_thee_."

And so at last the right nerve was touched. The true word of God's
deliverance was brought home to Luther's understanding. He was
penitent and in earnest, and needed only this great Gospel hope to
lift him from the horrible pit and the miry clay. As a light from
heaven it came to his soul, and there remained, a comfort and a joy.
The glad conclusion flashed upon him, never more to be shaken, "If
God, for Christ's sake, takes away our sins, then they are not taken
away by any works of ours."

The foundation-rock of a new world was reached.

Luther saw not yet what all this discovery meant, nor whither it would
lead. He was as innocent of all thought of being a Reformer as a
new-born babe is of commanding an army on the battlefield. But the
Gospel principle of deliverance and salvation for his oppressed and
anxious soul was found, and it was found for all the world. The anchor
had taken hold on a new continent. In essence the Great Reformation
was born--born in Luther's soul.

LUTHER'S DEVELOPMENT.

More than ten years passed before this new principle began to work off
the putrid carcass of mediaeval religion which lay stretched over the
stifled and suffocating Church of Christ. There were yet many steps
and stages in the preparation for what was to come. But from that time
forward everything moved toward general regeneration by means of that
marrow doctrine of the Gospel: _Salvation by loving faith in the merit
and mediation of Jesus alone_.

Staupitz counseled the young monk to study the Scriptures well and
whatever could aid him in their right understanding, and gave orders
to the monastery not to interfere with his studies.

On May 2, 1507, he was consecrated to the priesthood.

Within the year following, at the instance of Staupitz, Frederick the
Wise appointed him professor in the new University of Wittenberg.

May 9, 1509, he took his degree of bachelor of divinity. From that
time he began to use his place to attack the falsehoods of the
prevailing philosophy and to explore and expose the absurdities of
Scholasticism, dwelling m