This Life Is Not Righteousness But

From Luther's Defense and Explanation of All the Articles (Grund und Ursach, 1521), written in response to the papal bull Exsurge Domine that condemned his teachings. Luther was defending his controversial claim that sin persists even in the justified believer's good works, a position that stressed the Christian life as perpetual growth rather than achieved perfection. The full passage continues: "We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it… this is not the end, but it is the road."