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Luther's Little Instruction Book:
I. The Ten Commandments
What does this mean?
We must fear, love, and trust God more than anything else.
What does this mean?
We must fear and love God, so that we will not use His name to curse,
swear, cast a spell, lie or deceive, but will use it to call upon Him, pray to
Him, praise Him and thank Him in all times of trouble.
What does this mean?
We must fear and love God, so that we will not look down on preaching or
God's Word, but consider it holy, listen to it willingly, and learn it.
What does this mean?
We must fear and love God, so that we will neither look down on our
parents or superiors nor irritate them, but will honor them, serve
them, obey them, love them and value them.
You must not kill. (Exodus
20:13)
What does this mean?
We must fear and love God, so that we will neither harm nor hurt our
neighbor's body, but help him and care for him when he is ill.
You must not commit adultery. (Exodus
20:14)
What does this mean?
We must fear and love God, so that our words and actions will be clean
and decent and so that everyone will love and honor their spouses.
You must not steal. (Exodus
20:15)
What does this mean?
We must fear and love God, so that we will neither take our neighbor's
money or property, nor acquire it by fraud or by selling him poorly made
products, but will help him improve and protect his property and career.
What does this mean?
We must fear and love God, so that we will not deceive by lying,
betraying, slandering or ruining our neighbor's reputation, but will
defend him, say good things about him, and see the best side of
everything he does.
What does this mean?
We must fear and love God, so that we will not attempt to trick our
neighbor out of his inheritance or house, take it by pretending to have a
right to it, etc. but help him to keep & improve it.
What does this mean?
We must fear and love God, so that we will not release our neighbor's
cattle, take his employees from him or seduce his wife, but urge them to
stay and do what they ought to do.
What does God say to us about all these commandments?
This is what He says:
"I am the Lord Your God. I am a jealous God. I plague the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who hate me with their ancestor's sin.
But I make whole those who love me for a thousand generations." (Exodus 20:5)
What does it mean?
God threatens to punish everyone who breaks these commandments. We
should be afraid of His anger because of this and not violate such
commandments. But He promises grace and all good things to those who
keep such commandments. Because of this, we, too, should love Him, trust
Him, and willingly do what His commandments require.
"I believe in God the Almighty Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth."
What does this mean?
I believe that God created me, along with all creatures. He gave to me: my body and soul, my eyes, ears and all the other parts of my body, my mind and all my senses. He preserves them as well. He gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and land, wife and children, fields, animals and all I own. Every day He abundantly provides everything I need to nourish this body and life. He protects me against all danger. he shields and defends me from all evil. He does all this because of His pure, fatherly and divine goodness and His mercy, not because I've earned it or deserved it. For all of this, I must thank Him, praise Him, serve Him and obey Him. Yes, this is true!
"And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, descended to Hell, on the third day rose again from the dead, ascended to Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Almighty Father. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead."
What does this mean?
I believe that Jesus Christ is truly God, born of the Father in
eternity and also truly man, born of the Virgin Mary. He is my Lord! He redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, bought and won me from all sins, death and the authority of the Devil. It did not cost Him gold or silver, but His holy, precious blood, His innocent body--His death!
Because of this, I am His very own, will live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him righteously, innocently and blessedly forever, just as He is risen from death, lives and reigns forever. Yes, this is true.
"I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the community
of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
and an everlasting life. Amen."
What does this mean?
I believe that I cannot come to my Lord Jesus Christ by my own
intelligence or power. But the Holy Spirit called me by the Gospel,
enlightened me with His gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true
faith, just as He calls, gathers together, enlightens and makes holy
the whole Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus in the one, true
faith. In this Church, He generously forgives each day every sin
committed by me and by every believer. On the last day, He will raise me and all the dead from the grave. He will give eternal life to me and to all who believe in Christ.
Yes, this is true!
Introduction
"Our Father, Who is in Heaven." (Matthew 6:9)
What does this mean?
In this introduction, God invites us to believe that He is our real
Father and we are His real children, so that we will pray with trust
and complete confidence, in the same way beloved children approach their beloved Father with their requests.
The First Request
"May Your name be holy." (Matthew 6:9)
What does this mean?
Of course, God's name is holy in and of itself, but by this request, we pray that He will make it holy among us, too.
How does this take place?
It happens when God's Word is taught clearly and purely, and when we live holy lives as God's children based upon it. Help us, Heavenly Father, to do this! But anyone who teaches and lives by something other than God's Word defiles God's name among us. Protect us from this, Heavenly Father!
The Second Request
"Your Kingdom come." (Matthew 6:10)
What does this mean?
Truly God's Kingdom comes by itself, without our prayer. But we pray in this request that it come to us as well.
How does this happen?
It happens when the Heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that we believe His holy Word by His grace and live godly lives here in this age and there in eternal life.
The Third Request
"May Your will be accomplished. As it is Heaven, so may it be on Earth."
(Matthew 6:10)
What does this mean?
Truly, God's good and gracious will is accomplished without our prayer. But we pray in this request that is accomplished among us as well.
How does this happen?
It happens when God destroys and interferes with every evil will and all evil advice, which will not allow God's Kingdom to come, such as the Devil's will, the world's will and will of our bodily desires. It also happens when God strengthens us by faith and by His Word and keeps us living by them faithfully until the end of our lives. This is His will, good and full of grace.
The Fourth Request
"Give us today our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11)
What does this mean?
Truly, God gives daily bread to evil people, even without our prayer.
But we pray in this request that He will help us realize this and
receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What does "Daily bread" mean?
Everything that nourishes our body and meets its needs, such as: Food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, yard, fields, cattle, money,
possessions, a devout spouse, devout children, devout employees, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors and other things like these.
The Fifth Request
"And forgive our guilt, as we forgive those guilty of sinning against
us." (Matthew 6:12)
What does this mean?
What does this mean?
We pray in this request that our Heavenly Father will neither pay
attention to our sins nor refuse requests such as these because of our sins and because we are neither worthy nor deserve the things for which we pray. Yet He wants to give them all to us by His grace, because many times each day we sin and truly deserve only punishment. Because God does this, we will, of course, want to forgive from our hearts and willingly do good to those who sin against us.
The Sixth Request
"And lead us not into temptation." (Matthew 6:12)
What does this mean?
God tempts no one, of course, but we pray in this request that God will protect us and save us, so that the Devil, the world and our bodily desires will neither deceive us nor seduce us into heresy, despair or other serious shame or vice, and so that we will win and be victorious in the end, even if they attack us.
The Seventh Request
"But set us free from the Evil One." ( Matthew 6:12)
What does this mean?
What does this mean?
That I should be certain that such prayers are acceptable to the Father in Heaven and will be granted, that He Himself has commanded us to pray in this way and that He promises to answer us. Amen. Amen. This means:
Yes, yes it will happen this way.
The Small Catechism of Martin Luther
The Simple Way a Father Should Present Them to His Household
The First Commandment
You must not have other gods. (Exodus
20:3)
The Second Commandment
You must not misuse your God's name. (Exodus 20:7)
The Third Commandment
You must keep the Sabbath holy. (Exodus 20:8)
The Fourth Commandment
You must honor your father and mother. [So that things will go well for you
and you will live long on earth]. (Exodus
20:12)
The Fifth Commandment
The Sixth Commandment
The Seventh Commandment
The Eighth Commandment
You must not tell lies about your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16 )
The Ninth Commandment
You must not desire your neighbor's house. (Exodus 20:17)
The Tenth Commandment
You must not desire your neighbor's wife, servant, maid, animals or
anything that belongs to him. (Exodus
20:17)
The Conclusion to the Commandments
II. The Creed
The Simple Way a Father Should Present it to His Household
The First Article
On Creation
The Second Article
On Redemption
The Third Article
On Becoming Holy
III. The "Our Father"
The Simple Way a Father Should Present it to His Household
We pray in this request, as a summary, that our Father in Heaven will save us from every kind of evil that threatens body, soul, property and honor. We pray that when at last our final hour has come, He will grant us a blessed death, and, in His grace, bring us to Himself from this valley of tears. Amen