This is a very poor comment on Luther and seriously distorts understanding his theology. It is taking a word, "predestination", and its current meanings, and reading that issue back into Luther. Ridiculous. Two points.

First, for Luther the issue is faith versus works. Our "works" do nothing to earn salvation, only faith. And even that is the work of the Spirit, it is all God's work, so we don't have to worry if we have done enough. This frees the sinner from worry over self and death. Speculation about what this means about God and election, etc., is not important and cannot be known (and your article reads as if one's view on this can be clear; no). So, you distort Luther by focusing on a false issue.

Second, while there is no role for reason or other human agency in salvation after death, there is important use of reason in loving the neighbor now in this life, and that is the vocation of the Christian. That teaching shifted the attention of the West from heaven to earth, from praying to get into heaven to leaving the monastery and doing good in the "secular" world, building up the community of neighbors, eventually resulting in modernity. This is a very "high" view of human being in the world. On this point too many get Luther wrong.

Luther wanted to preach the gospel of God's grace to free people from having to worry over such silly things as predestination so they could go do what God wanted them to do in the first place, Love God and Neighbor. It is a little startling that a professor of Public Theology would get Luther this wrong and misuse him this way.