Martin Luther died on February 18, 1546, at 3:00am. His last words echo to this day, resounding the truths he discovered: "We are beggars. This is true."

Beggars, indeed, because God demands a righteousness we can't produce. One, in fact, that if we could produce would nullify the grace of God and make Jesus's death be for no purpose (Galatians 2:23). Embodying devotion to the Bible, Luther came to understand that we need a foreign righteousness. We need a righteousness given to us by another.

And this understanding came in part by means of study. Luther gave himself to the Book, which he later explained as the primary actor in the Reformation. The legacy of his dying words in 1546 find their roots in this conviction — a conviction when bloomed into Ninety-Five Theses and nailed to All Saints' Church Wittenberg on Ocotber 31, 1517, changed the world.

John Piper says we have much to learn from Luther. Originally delivered as the biographical message at the 1996 Conference for Pastors, this new ebook features five chapters that present a sketch of Luther's life and distill relevant lessons for all Christians, epecially pastors and leaders.