With this post, I’m beginning
a long-term blog series called Church History 101. Sounds amazing, right? Probably not. Despite the lackluster name, I hope this won’t
be a series of stuffy posts about obscure people and events.
Instead, I intend this series
to highlight the good, the bad, and ugly of the Church over the last two
thousand years. Who were the heroes that
helped guard the gospel and pass it on to future generations? Who were the heretics who unknowingly
undermined the belief in the God they said they loved? How has God acted mightily amidst his people
since the time of the apostles until today?
Whoever said “truth is
stranger is than fiction” is surely right. But it’s also far more interesting
and inspiring. Much can be learned by
looking to our brothers and sisters in the past. More than anything, it will help
us to better love and serve Christ.
Toward that end, I want to kick
off this series with a timely subject: The Protestant Reformation. This is
timely in that October 31 is more than just ‘free candy day.’ It’s also
Reformation Day. And I want you to understand why that matters today.
Back on October 31, 1517 the
world changed forever. And that change came from the unlikely source of an average German monk
in the Augustinian order of the Roman Catholic Church. This monk’s name was
Martin Luther.
Already a monk, supposedly devoted
to Christ and his Church, Luther became burdened with his sin to the point that
he hated God. He believed God demanded absolute holiness. But Luther only saw
was sin in himself. There was no way to be what God required. So, how could God
be considered loving to demand something no one could achieve?
Amidst this spiritual crisis,
Luther’s mentor assigned him the task of learning theology in order to preach
and teach. Luther went to Wittenberg
begrudging. But while there, studying the New Testament for himself, he came to
truly understand the gospel.
Paul’s letters of Romans and
Galatians came alive to him! He suddenly
understood that we did not earn righteousness to be right with God. Instead,
God gave his righteousness to his people through Christ (Rom 1:16-17; 3:21-26).
Sinners did not deserve, nor could they earn salvation. It was a free gift of
God’s grace that one acquired through faith alone.
But the Church of Luther’s
day didn’t teach that. In fact, one abuse of the church came in the selling of indulgences. An
indulgence was a substitute for penance. For example, if you sinned, the priest may tell you to fast
as penance. But if you could not fast, you gave money to the church instead. This
system was originally established for the elderly who were unable to do things
like fasting, but it grew to be abused over time.
Specifically, Pope Sixtus IV opened
it up for those both living and dead. You could buy an indulgence for deceased
loved ones who were supposedly still struggling in purgatory. Luther was a good
catholic in the sense that he saw there was no biblical or historical precedent
for these things and sought to reform the Catholic Church.
Things got worse when the
Pope decided to finish building St. Peter’s cathedral. To do this, he authorized a special
indulgence that would provide forgiveness for all sin. This could be bought for your dead relatives in
purgatory. A man by the name of John Tetzel was given the task of selling these indulgences.
Like most good salesmen, Tetzel had created several little slogans for himself. His most famous was
‘When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs.”
All of this enraged Luther
because it cheapened the death of Christ! Instead of acquiring salvation by repentant faith
in Christ’s work, it was simply a matter of buying forgiveness from the Church.
Eventually, Luther called for
a debate on these matters. He wrote 95 points of debate; 95 Theses, or
assertions, that should be discussed. But
the Church would not debate him. Instead they condemned him for heresy and
threatened him with excommunication if he did not recant his teaching on
justification by faith. Luther took the
evening to pray and think. This was not the response he expected!
The next morning, Luther gave
his defense that he could not recant as several works did not directly address
the issues of justification.
Furthermore, on the key Gospel issue of grace alone by faith alone in Christ
alone, he would not—could not—recant. You can read his entire response here. But he
ended with these words:
I
cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is as
clear as noonday that they have fallen into error and even into glaring
inconsistency with themselves. If, then, I am not convinced by proof from Holy
Scripture, or by cogent reasons, if I am not satisfied by the very text I have
cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God’s
word, I neither can nor will retract anything; for it cannot be either safe or
honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand; I cannot
do otherwise; God help me! Amen.
Luther left the meeting as a
marked man. He was hated by Rome, but loved by many in Germany where he
preached. Though Luther wanted to reform the Church, he ended up splitting it.
Or rather, it would better be said: the
gospel split the Church. For Luther’s
great work was in recovering a clear understanding of the gospel.
In the years to come, that gospel
recovery led to tens of thousands of people coming to faith in Christ across the
European continent. It became the Protestant Reformation of the church.
Out of the Reformation came
five central truths: Scripture alone (sola scriptura), faith alone (sole
fide), grace alone (sola gratia), Christ alone (solus Christus),
for the glory of God alone (solid Deo Gloria). These five truths that
would rock Western civilization and help shape the world as we know it today. From economics and politics, to the freedoms
you enjoy as citizens of this country—all were affected by the
theological convictions of the reformers.
For these reasons, we should
not only remember but rejoice in the work of the Reformation! We should drink
deeply from the same theological well as these men and women who stood against
the ecclesiastical and political leaders of the day, even at the threat of
death. For they drank deeply from the well of Christ himself.
Michael Reeves, The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation.
Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther.
Stephen Nichols and Ned Bustard, Reformation ABCs: The People, Places, and Things of the Reformation-From a to Z.
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