Luther

There is a fine distinction: inasmuch as I am a man and a child of Adam, I belong to hell. If I had on my side all manner of self-appointed piety, austerity, fervent devotion, and good works, and wished to rely on them, I should be damned and lost. But if you believe that through Christ, who died for your sin and is risen for your salvation, you have become a brother of Christ and a child of God, and have been baptized in that faith, you can say: Now I am no longer Adam’s child, no longer a sinner, so long as I belong to this brotherhood. And if you can be bold and audacious about it, do so.—Sermons, 1530