Letter Forty-Five

You have asked what is the meaning of the words of the Apostle, "Who (Christ) was delivered up for our sins" (Romans 4:25)?

Answer: And here the truth of God was revealed to us. We have all sinned and were worthy of eternal punishment, but Christ the Son of God, by His will and the good pleasure of His Heavenly Father, took our sins upon Himself and the punishment for sins, and therefore was wounded for our sins and bruised for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5). Christ was innocent: He committed no sin, and there was no flattery in His mouth (1 Peter 2:22). Christ our Savior is punished for our sins, so that we, who believe in Him, will not be punished forever. Here we see God's righteousness, filled up by Christ's suffering, and God's ineffable goodness and love for mankind towards us, who have sinned. Glory to His immeasurable mercies, to which I entrust myself and thee.

Save yourself.

Letter forty-six

In the suffering of Christ we also see the wisdom of God, which there invented the way to our salvation, where, it seemed, there was no way. God is righteous and good. Since He is good, He wanted to save the lost human race, and since He is righteous, He had to not leave human sin unpunished. For it would be unlike His righteousness to leave sin without execution. Here the wisdom of God invented and arranged it in such a way that sin did not go unpunished, for the Son of God suffered for sin, and the human race receives salvation, and thus the suffering of Christ confirmed the truth of God and the goodness of God. For this we thank and worship our loving and all-wise God, and we praise His holy name, that He may vouchsafe us, sinners, His love for mankind, to which I entrust myself, as well as you, and all who call His name.

Save yourself.

Letter Forty-Seven

May the good and loving God grant us now to taste and see how good the Lord is. The goodness of God is preached to us by almost all Holy Scripture, and there is hardly a chapter in which it is not mentioned. For God, who knows the heart, knows the weakness of our hearts, and the inclination that is convenient to despair, and the cunning of evil spirits, so everywhere He reminds us of His goodness and love for mankind.

The goodness of God is shown by His works.

1) That He commands His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust, Matthew 5:45.

2) That he does not immediately execute the sinner, but awaits his repentance, as the Apostle says: "The goodness of God leads you to repentance" (Romans 2:4).