Here's an obscure Martin Luther quote making the cyber-rounds:"When I look at myself, I don't see how I can be saved. When I look at Christ, I don't see how I can be lost." Dr. Joel Beeke says he has this quote taped to his computer! I also saw that another popular apologist referenced it on his X feed. Did Luther actually write this? In this form, I'm not sure... but I don't think so.
Cursory searches reveal this popular quote is either attributed to Luther or left unattributed. Interestingly, the oldest usages of the quote I found are from Seventh-day Adventist publications. Here's an obscured partial hit going back to an Adventist magazine from 1979. Because the quote isn't visible in the search result, I can't know for sure if the quote is attributed to Martin Luther. I contacted this SDA magazine to find out if I there was a way to gain access to the entire article... but received no response. Fast forward to 2001and here's an example of a page from a Seventh-day Adventist devotional. Here's a few more SDA examples.
Luther's Commentary on Galatians?
A few years ago, someone else sought to track this quote down and was given a response saying the quote is from Luther's Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians:
In the Apostolic Creed we confess: "I believe in the holy Christian* Church." That means, I believe that there is no sin, no curse, no evil in the Church of God. Faith says: "I believe that." But if you want to believe your eyes you will find many shortcomings and offenses in the members of the holy Church. You see them succumb to temptation, you see them weak in faith, you see them giving way to anger, envy, and other evil dispositions. "How can the Church be holy?" you ask. It is with the Christian Church as it is with the individual Christian. If I examine myself I find enough unholiness to shock me. But when I look at Christ in me I find that I am altogether holy. And so it is with the Church (source).
Frankly, I do not think this is where this quote comes from. True there is a comparison being made between self and Jesus Christ. However, the comparison is about holiness, not salvation and the main subject is the church. While these are all symbiotically related, the nuance Luther is making is in regard as to how it's possible to refer to the "holy Christian church." I do think there is a sense in which the quotes can be harmonized by the perfect righteousness of Christ, but yet the quotes seem too different to me:
"When I look at myself, I don't see how I can be saved. When I look at Christ, I don't see how I can be lost."
"If I examine myself I find enough unholiness to shock me. But when I look at Christ in me I find that I am altogether holy."
One curiosity of this proposed source is that it comes from an abridged English translation in which the translator wanted "to make Luther talk American." The superior unabridged English translation in LW 26 reads differently and demonstrates the point Luther was making about the Church:
If I look at my own person or at that of my neighbor, the church will never be holy. But if I look at Christ, who is the Propitiator and Cleanser of the church, then it is completely holy; for He bore the sins of the entire world (LW 26:285).
Conclusion
Frankly, "When I look at myself, I don't see how I can be saved. When I look at Christ, I don't see how I can be lost" is ambiguous enough to work in almost any form of Christian theism. Because of ambiguity, I think it's possible the quote could be used by a Roman Catholic as well as a Jehovah's Witness. If someone wants to use this quote and attribute it to Luther, be faithful to Luther's theology. Use the quote so that it is harmonious with his thought that a Christian is simultaneously a saint and sinner (Simul Iustus et Peccator):
Thus if I look at Christ, I am completely holy and pure, and I know nothing at all about the Law; for Christ is my leaven. But if I look at my flesh, I feel greed, sexual desire, anger, pride, the terror of death, sadness, fear, hate, grumbling, and impatience against God. (LW 26:350).
Certainly insofar as I am a Christian, that is, for to the extent I am righteous, godly, and belong to Christ. But insofar as I look at myself and my sin, I am wretched and the greatest sinner. so in Christ, there is no sin while in our flesh, there is no peace and quiet, but a constant battle as long as this old Adam and this corrupt nature remain and they will not be destroyed except by the same death (LW 73:176).
These are only two examples, I'm sure many others could be dug up. The quote certainly sounds like something Luther may have said or written, but I can't shake the suspicion that the 1979 Seventh-day Adventist magazine is the key to solving the mystery. If you have any verifiable Luther quotes that sound like the quote, please post them in the comments section!
Addendum: 2001 Seventh-day Adventist devotional
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