On this day (Oct 31st), 501 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the Castle Church door. An act that would domino into the Protestant Reformation. It might surprise you to know that Solae Scriptura, Solae Gratia, Solus Christus, Solae Fide and Sola del Gloria did not feature in the 95 Thesis and that actually Luther affirmed the position of the pope as Vicar of Christ. The Thesis does contain the protest against the abuse of indulgences, but not because Luther saw them as antichrist, as he would later, but because people were buying blanket indulgences and ceasing in piety and penance and even forgotten my mass. Luther found a drunkard who told him he didn’t have to come for confession because he had an indulgence of absolute absolution and so no longer needed the sacrament of confession and penance. So actually the Reformation began because indulgences threatened Roman Catholic teaching by allowing s pope’s indulgence to nullify the need for Catholic confession and penance. Luther would later see differently and urge that salavation is by grace through faith (Ephensians 2:8-9, Phillipians 3:9), However, in most Lutheran churches the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, and Confession are preserved in a very Roman way. So what did this German monk do if he retained so many romanite sympathies?
When understanding reformation Day, one must not turn one’s mind or eye to mere mortals like Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and Knox. The Reformation which was lit by Martin’s hammer and nail was not a movement of Martin Luther or John Calvin or Hyuldric Zwingli, it was a movement of Christ. For over 1600 years the Roman Catholic Church had shrouded the simple gospel (John 6:40, John 3:16-18) in Turin and kept it in the tomb. The Roman Catholic Church kept Jesus on the cross and in the tomb and had people go to treasury of merits via doing good deeds and acts of penance. The Roman Church failed to heed the warnings of St. Paul and St. Peter, “I do not nullify the grace of God, if one could be saved by the works of the law then Christ died for no purpose,” (Galatians 2:2), “If you try to be saved by the works of the Law, you have been cut off from Christ, you have fallen from grace,” (Galatians 5:4), “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.[a] For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
” (Philippians 3:8-9), “After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are,” (Acts 15:6-11), “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit,” (1 Peter 3:18), “then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12). Peter and Paul’s own words condemned the Roman Catholic Church with its false gospel of merit and need for saints ans talismans (Galatians 1:8-9, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4). Luther may have shifted in his views from time to time, but his contestation of the papal indulgences was a step back to Christ and the simple gospel that we are saved by believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God (1 John 4:15) and confessing Him as Lord God (Romans 10:9-10). The Reformation does not belong to Luther, Calvin, Zwingli or any other man; the Reformation belongs to the God Man Jesus Christ. Our Lord wrought the freedom of His gospel and exposed Roman’s harlotry (idolatry). He used men like Luther, but even they would be humble to admit that the reforms were led by the Holy Spirit and the success of the schism (Reformation) that set us free from a false gospel of works and place faith solely in the work of Christ on the cross and in Christ Himself (Solus Christus) was utterly dependent on the Lord Jesus. The conditions were ripe, Europe was tired of the two-faced Roman serpent that pretended sacredness but denied its power (2 Timothy 3:5), and a priesthood who would not enter the kingdom of heaven nor allowed anyone else to enter the kingdom either (Matthew 23:13).
Reformation Day is s celebration not of men like Martin Luther or John Calvin, but rather Jesus Christ and His gospel set free from captivity. We sing with joy that grace and faith in Jesus saves and that we may lay down all penance, good works, and self mutiliation to put our trust in Jesus and His supreme work that was accomplished on the cross of Calvary! We can shout with glee, “It is finshed!” (John 19:30). Jesus our Lord God and Savior has taken our place and exchanged His Righteousness to us and taken our sin and nailed it to the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Crucifix which Catholics erroneously put up for perpetual Eucharistic sacrifice; they believe Jesus must sacrifice Himself at every mass so they may partake of the sacrament of His blood and body; wine and bread, flies in face of the truth that Jesus does not offer himself over and over but once for all time, “For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal; for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself/ If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.” (Hebrews 9:24-26), and now we Protestants may take the Crucifix and say that it means Jesus died once for all our sins and that eternal life is a free gift from Him and if we place our trust in His sacrifice on the cross and believe in Him we are saved and guaranteed eternal life, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”” (John 6:40), and “If you confess Jesus as Lord and Believers your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are justified (made right with God) and by confessing with your mouth that you are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).
The celebration of Reformation Day is the celebration of Christ and the true gospel. This jubilee is for Jesus and is our day to thank Him do saving us two thousand and eighteen years ago on the cross! If Luther’s misgivings bother you, turn your attention to the Lord Jesus. If Calvin crazy ecclesiastical exercises exhaust you, turn to Christ who has rest for those who are weary and need rest (Matthew 11:28-30). If Zwingli ‘s sausages and sword rattling death disturbs you, then remeber that Jesus is the A and Z (Revelation 21:6 TLB), the Alpha and Omega, both in all ways but also in regards the Reformation. Jesus is the beginning and end of the Reformation, and He is also continuing it to this day. On this Reformation Day, fix your eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), and give thanks that you are not trapped groveling on the steps of St. Peter trying to attain a piece of worthless paper, but you are free born and your name is guaranteed in the Lamb’s Book of Life by simply believing in Jesus Christ the Son of God and Lord God Most High, who is One with the Father and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Some Reformation Day Verses:
“even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction..” (Romans 3:22)
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4)
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
“For if by the transgression of the one (Adam, Genesis 3), death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17)
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8)
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7)
“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14)
“The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:23-24).
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