Luther later said of himself in a letter to the Duke of Saxony, “I was indeed a pious monk and followed the rules of my order more strictly than I can express. If ever a monk could obtain heaven by his monkish works, I should certainly have been entitled to it. Of this all the friars who have known me can testify. If it had continued much longer, I should have carried my mortification even to death, by means of my watchings, prayers, reading and other labors.”6But Luther found no peace through these exercises. The wisdom of his order instructed him to satisfy God’s demand for righteousness by
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