Doubly Decentered

For Luther, the believer has a doubly de-centered existence. “He who trusts in Christ exists in Christ; he is one with Christ, having the same righteousness as He.”

But the believer who lives by faith outside himself in Christ also lives by love outside himself in his neighbor: “a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor. Yet he always remains in God and in his love” ( Freedom of a Christian ).