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)
