A Scripture Saturated Conscience

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to CONTEND for the FAITH that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have CREPT IN UNNOTICED who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude 1:3-4

It was October 31, 1517 when Martin Luther introduced his 95 theses to the world. Little did he know what was about to happen from his actions, but his conscience no longer permitted him from being silent. Spending time in God’s Word is a very dangerous thing and will cause conviction and change from deep within to come bursting forth. Martin Luther was no exception.

Martin never intended to be a spiritual hero or even the man who started the Reformation. His story is very similar to most people in many respects. He started his life off pursuing one direction, a lawyer, but a near death experienced caused him to switch gears and he became a monk. Ok, so most of us don’t just happen to become monks, but he made the transition without fully realizing what he was committing to.

He committed to becoming a monk, but then was made a priest and eventually became a professor of theology. It was his pursuit of understanding the Bible, specifically Romans, that began to open his eyes to the unrighteous actions of the Catholic church. The Roman Catholic Church had established a practice of selling indulgences, a way to pay to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo because of sin. Luther saw the Church making promises it had no right to make and propagating a doctrine that was nowhere found in Scripture.  

His 95 theses began a discussion that became a movement, and later became the beginning of the Protestant church. He was put on trial and told to recant his teachings, but he famously stated:

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen” – Martin Luther, Diet of Worms 1521

Luther not only attacked the practice of the indulgencies, but believed every common person should have access to the Bible in their own language. So he translated the Bible into German and began printing the Bible for distribution. Much of his writings were to help the common man learn to understand Scripture and not be dependent on the corruption that was in the church.  

There is much for us to learn from Luther. No he was not a perfect man. But he took a stand. He did not set out to be a spiritual giant, but he did want to faithfully live for the glory of God each day. This led him deeper and deeper into the Scriptures, which opened his eyes to the errors of the day.

What needs reformed in our lives? Where have we erred from the truth? Are we spending enough time in the Scriptures to allow it to affect our conscience to the degree that we would take a stand, even if it meant our very life?

Jude wrote to us to “contend for the faith,” that we should fight hard to keep what was delivered to us pure from human error. There are always people trying to down play God’s Word, His Laws, and change who He is. May we learn from Luther to fight against anything that attempts to diminish God’s glory or takes anything away from the finished work of Jesus Christ!

(Just for Fun)