Thursday, October 30, 2025

          In Romans 1:17, Paul wrote, “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”  These words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would profoundly impact a young Catholic priest named Martin Luther.  One could argue that this single verse, as much as or more than any other verse, helped to propel the Protestant Reformation onto an unstoppable trajectory that forever changed the world and our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Salvation, Luther learned, was not by works, not available for purchase, not inherited and not gained by the goodwill and favor of the Catholic Church.  No, salvation is by grace through faith.  Period.  We are justified (forgiven, declared innocent and redeemed) by our faith in the finished work of Christ at the cross alone.  There is nothing added to Christ and His cross and nothing to be taken away from them.  Jesus cried “it is finished” at His death at the cross because it was finished.  The atonement for sin had been decisively made for all times. 
            Tomorrow, October 31, is noted as Halloween on most calendars.  But we are better served to see it as the anniversary of Martin Luther’s historic and courageous act of conscience when he nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg. The more technical name for this seminal work by Luther is “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.”  But we more commonly refer to this as the ninety-five theses. These theses were protests or points of debate and dispute with the Church’s doctrines and practices of Luther’s day.  Luther emphasized and argued that, since forgiveness was God's prerogative alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved people from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error.  In Luther’s day, the Catholic Church sold “indulgences” to people much like merchandise is sold in stores today.  An indulgence was seen as a way to buy God’s favor and forgiveness.  Just like you buy bananas, you could buy an indulgence and know that your sins are forgiven.  There was even a clever jingle associated with their marketing and sales.  The jingle was “as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory (or 'into heaven') springs.”  Imagine that—a marketing campaign in the sixteenth century based on everyone’s desire to go to heaven and equal fear of going to hell!
            The sale of indulgences, however, had much more to do with the Church’s lust for money and the papal thirst for power.  The power to castigate people to hell or send them to heaven was enormously troubling to the average man or woman.  The offer of a simple transaction where the quick purchase of an indulgence guaranteed one’s place in heaven was almost irresistible to a public trembling with fear.  But Luther corrected this heresy and others as he pointed people back to the Scriptures and emphasized the authority of the Bible over papal authority, church tradition and the whims of the pope. 
            Luther would go on to emphasize the primacy of preaching in worship and for the edification of God’s people.  Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  He would lead us to an understanding of justification by grace through faith—not by good deeds or indulgences or any other contrived human means.  He would help us to understand the priesthood of all believers.  As we approach October 31, we can recall and rejoice that Luther and other reformers helped us to rediscover and affirm the five great Solas...Christ alone, faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone and the glory of God alone!  These five great truths continue to transform and encourage us today.  We are grateful for grace that saves and redeems.  As we sing, “grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin!”  Have a great Thursday!  And Happy Reformation Day on October 31!