October 31 is an important vacation. No, I’m not talking about Halloween, although any trip that involves eating chocolate is worth celebrating. Rather, I’m talking about Reformation Day.
Advertisement
On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his renowned 95 Theses to the entrance of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. For the laws scholar turned Augustinian priest, it was the culmination of years of wrestling with philosophy. In the end, that deed resulted in Luther’s condemnation and a new way for believers to worship and study philosophy as they please.
Luther saw a Catholic Church in need of radicalization. Church frontrunners kept the Bible out of the language of the people, making them rely on priests to know what God’s Word said because the power of the church had taken precedence over gospel. However, the method of indulgences was the most severe abuse of power he saw.
” Spiritually earnest people were told to justify themselves by charitable works, pilgrimages, and all kinds of religious performances and devotions”, Justin Holcomb explains at Christianity .com. ” They were encouraged to get this’ significance,’ which was at the disposal of the chapel, by purchasing credentials of pleasure. They were left to wonder whether they had done or paid enough to defuse God’s righteous indignation and avoid his view as a result.
In addition to being corrupt and greedy, pleasures also come from a works-based perspective of redemption, which is the idea that our contributions to the church would improve our standing in the eyes of God.
Advertisement
The medieval bishops and priests had generally forgotten the truth that our own good deeds is by no means significance God’s pursuit, writes Robert Rothwell at Ligonier Ministries,” Though taught evidently in the New Testament and found in the writings of many of the temple fathers.” The phrase” salvation is only by grace through faith alone, and good works are the result of our faith, not as grounds for our right standing in the eyes of the Lord” ( Eph. 2: 8-10 )”.
( Side note: I do n’t believe that the same corruption that plagued the Roman Catholic Church characterizes today’s church. Although we may disagree on many issues, I have some Christian buddies who are great believers.
Connected:  , On International Religious Freedom Day, This Remember Those Whose Freedom Is in Risk
Had Luther have initiated a radical change in the Church? Maybe, but that’s not the way that God took him down. Instead, he and other reformers created a distinctive philosophy that the Five Solas sums up.
Matthew Barrett explains at The Gospel Coalition:
What set the religion of the Renaissance apart from the the religion of the Roman Catholic church in the 16th century was at the core of these five claims of the christian faith. Sola scriptura is the belief that because Scripture is God’s inspired Word, it is the only inerrant, enough, and last power for the cathedral. Install Christus , is the claim that Christ alone is the foundation on which the wicked are justified in God’s view. According to Sola fide, the disciple just receives the atonement Christ has accomplished through faith. Sola bonum declares that all of our forgiveness, from beginning to end, is by grace and grace alone. Because of these points, the Reformers held quickly to the term solo Deo maria,  , that only God receives splendor for our redemption.
Advertisement
While it is true that the Christian Renaissance caused much more flexibility for Christians by dividing them according to their theology. There are no telling how many non-denominational churches are out there, and I do n’t know how many there are these days. Christians have freedom to choose as long as they believe in the elements, thanks to Luther and the other reformers, and this liberty allows them to do their relationship with God as they see fit.
Flashback: Why I Am a Non-Denominational Christian
One of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses just declares,” The Church’s real wealth is the gospel of Jesus Christ”. That is Reformation Day’s sole purpose. Because it had long before covered the pages of God’s Word with layers of history, the church had lost sight of the church. There are networks of works that are frequently developed by tradition to bring about ways to earn your way back to God. It was true of the Pharisees, and it was true of mediaeval Roman Catholicism. Did n’t Christ Himself say,” My yoke is easy and My burden is light”? The pleasant elegance of the free gospel of Jesus Christ is celebrated on Reconciliation Day.
What a wonderful idea! Now, I remember the elites, and I’m glad to them for their work. At the same time, I devotion, worship, spread the gospel, and seek to make followers alongside my Catholic brothers and sisters. After all, we’re still community.
Advertisement
