Martin Luther's Revelation

Martin Luther's revelation: Salvation = Faith + Grace

Salvation comes by your own power, "faith" and the power of another "grace". 

Psychologically speaking, grace is somehing in you that is not your "self". It is something encompassing, upholding, and letting ascend the self. It is the unconsciousness.

The seperation, the space between consciousness and unconsciousness, self and not-self is made of fog. This fog gets heavier the more you seperate yourself from yourself, by not listening to yourself, lying to yourself or others, choosing the easy way instead of the right way. Consequently fog blinds your eyes and dulls your mind. You no longer perceive reality for what it is but a distored version of it. Not seeing clearly you cannot act clearly. Life gets more difficult. 

You may live like a sailor on the sea trying to find his way home through the fog without a compass: Although he may find happiness for a short time when reaching different islands, he will forever be frustrated for not finding his home, not finding that thing which grants him permanent happiness.

On the other hand, when you live decently, life gets easier. The fog clears, the goal is visible, and finally the sailer gets home. And at one special place on this way, the way leads back to itself. Like a circle. At this place the duality of life ends, self and unconsciousness, both aspects of ones being meet, become integrated, become one. 

This place, "home" is actually not the end of your journey, and it is also not the beginning, where you started it. It is both. It has been there all along. 

It is a place of final rest, of breathing out without ever to have to inhale again. A place where you do not have to go away or come back. A place where you can just be, without having to be.  You may call this place the place of oneness, of "love", "ultimate truth", or "God" if you like. 

Martin Luther's revelation was this: He realized, that no matter how hard he prayed, "he" cannot "achieve" perfection, cannot make the integration mentioned. Something has to happen of itself. 

This something is called "grace", undeserved kindness.
Grace is like a present: 
It can only be received, never archieved. 
It can only be "given", never taken. 
It cannot be the effect of a cause that the "self" initiated, because the state of integration, salvation, liberation does not contain any "self", it is self-lessness. But it would be "of self", if it were just the effect of a self-initiated cause. 

Therefore salvation comes, when we act with an indiscriminating, undualistic mind, a mind that does not discriminate between now and the future, hence does not do something to achieve something else (cause-and-effect-thinking) but with nothing else in mind, with no "Hintergedanken". This is doing something without reason, doing something just for the sake of doing it, it is meaningless doing. This is only possible, if we live completely in the here and now. Only if we are fully present in this moment, we will receive the present. So for the present to be received, being fully present is required.

Therefore, you, your "self" can do everything just before that moment of salvation, but without letting go of "self", without just trusting that something else will just give what you worked for, nothing will happen. 

It is like holding open your hands, hoping, trusting to receive a present. As a present, the receiver must regard it as a symbol of undeserved kindness, not something he deserved, had worked for or is his right to get.  You never earn or deserve a present. As long as you do this, you will not get it. 

Hence to receive the present, the ONLY thing necessary is to have faith in receiving it. But don't hope too hard, because then the "self" would be there again. Hope "softly". 

Having faith is like trusting a promise that all will be fine if you just make an effort, run as fast as you can towards a canyon. And then, give up control, jump, and just trust in this promise. 

This is the proverbial "leap of faith": A believe without reason, and it must be without reason, because if it had one, it meant that the self could somehow control the outcome of the leap. 

"The confidence and knowledge of God's grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. [...] Because of it, you freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone." Then the promise gives what the command requires. (Luther)

So salvation is keeping a promise that is given only, if you believe, if you have faith, that it will be kept ultimately. 

To summarize Luther's revelation: Only grace (undeserved, not self-initiated kidness) brings about salvation, not works. All that is required is faith.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Excerpt from the PBS documentary on Martin Luther.