Luther on Galatians 1: Robbing Jesus

"This passage, then, bears out the fact that all men are sold under sin. Sin is an exacting despot who can be vanquished by no created power, but by the sovereign power of Jesus Christ alone.

All this is of wonderful comfort to a conscience troubled by the enormity of sin. Sin cannot harm those who believe in Christ, because He has overcome sin by His death. Armed with this conviction, we are enlightened and may pass judgment upon the papists, monks, nuns, priests, Mohammedans, Anabaptists, and all who trust in their own merits, as wicked and destructive sects that rob God and Christ of the honor that belongs to them alone."

You can't really mistake Luther for being one who tries to find unity across religious boundaries. Not really a unity/diversity universalist. The charge that Luther accuses these groups of is quite interesting, though simple and a necessary consequence of his reasoning. Any sort of merit by which we think we can earn a good standing with God robs Jesus of the fullness of what He did. He did what no other man could do, and so it is that there is one Mediator between God and man, the man Jesus.