Author: drthomasclothier

“Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.” Martin Luther

I always found the title Diet at Worms to be somewhat amusing. I mean, who would want to eat a handful of worms anyway. Even Gummy Worms are not at all appetizing for me.

For Martin Luther, the Diet at Worms was not an item on a menu, or a new fad way of losing weight, but rather a legal hearing or trial conducted at the city of Worms, Germany in April, 1521. It was there that Martin would appear before the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, and church authorities in order to answer their questions about his writings against the church’s doctrines.

Many thought that Luther would either be killed on the journey to Worms, or executed while there. With at least the assurance of safe passage, Luther made the trek by horse and wagon.

He arrived in the city on April 16 and received thunderous applause from the people. Some 2,000 supporters escorted him to his lodgings. However, Luther was not naïve. He said that he would have gone to Worms even if there were as many devils there as there were orange tiles on the rooftops.

The following day the hearing began. The assembly hall was packed. Luther stood before German princes, church leaders and Charles V. On a table before Martin was a collection of his pamphlets and books. He was asked by his interrogator if he would “recant” of his writings and teachings. He asked for 24 hours to think before giving his answer. His request was granted.

That night Luther wrote a prayer. The prayer was a window to the soul of this monk who tried so hard to become righteous before God by his own works, but who God declared righteous on the basis of grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. When the day final dawned, Luther was ready to give his answer.

How would you have answered? If you were on trial for being a Christian and asked to recant your beliefs, how would you respond? How do you respond when friends, family or co-workers ask you to give an answer for the hope which is within you (I Peter 3:15). Martin requested the time to prepare an answer. We too must take the time to prayerfully prepare. Let’s not waste the time God has given us to do so. Soli deo Gloria!

 

Following the nailing of the Ninety-Five Thesis on the church door in Wittenberg, and the three debates which followed that, Martin remained a busy man. Not only did he continue teaching at the university, but he also began writing various tracts, articles and books.

The two main themes in Luther’s writings, notwithstanding his articles on various other subjects, were on the superiority of the Scriptures as the believer’s authority and that salvation from God was by faith alone and not through the rites and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther’s books were widely circulated and discussed in Germany and his views were gaining momentum.

It was because of Luther’s growing influence that Pope Leo X finally issued a Papal Bull, or an official denouncement, of Martin Luther and his teachings in June, 1520. The article began with these words, “Arise O Lord, and judge thy cause. A wild boar has invaded they vineyard. Arise, O Peter, and consider the case of the Holy Roman Church, the mother of all churches, consecrated by thy blood. Arise, O Paul.”

Pope Leo wanted Luther to recant his teachings. Luther refused to do so. In fact, one of his written, combative responses to the Pope’s official edict, which at the time Luther had yet to see and read, included these words: “I ask, thee, ignorant Antichrist, does thou think that with naked words thou canst prevail against the armor of Scripture? It is better that I should die a thousand times than that I should retract one syllable of the condemned articles. And as they (his enemies) excommunicated to me for the sacrilege of heresy, so I excommunicate them in the name of the sacred truth of God. Christ will judge whose excommunication will stand. Amen!”

After three months of waiting its arrival, the Papal Bull finally arrived in Wittenberg. When Luther read it, he was even angrier. There was no way he was going to back down from what he was convinced was the truth of God’s Word and the errors of the church. In reaction to the many reports of Luther’s books being burned in other German towns, the city of Wittenberg decided to burn the Pope’s Papal Bull. Wittenberg reacted to the burning with a joyous celebration.

Luther appealed to the pope for a hearing. Pope Leo ignored him. Luther than appealed to Emperor Charles V. Charles eventually granted Luther his hearing regarding his views. The date was set for April, 1521. The place: Worms, Germany. Things were brewing to a boil. The climax between one German monk and the entire Roman Catholic Church leadership was about to take place.

Have you ever felt all by yourself in defending the truth of God’s Word? Imagine what Martin must have felt. Remember, with God on our side, we too can be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:1-9; Psalm 27).

Soli deo Gloria!

One of the books Martin Luther wrote during this period of time was entitled The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. The thesis of this book was to show that the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church were not the exclusive means of grace unto salvation as ministered to by the priests.

Martin Luther wrote that the sole instrumental means of God’s grace to the sinner for salvation was God-given faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Luther was committed to the doctrine of Sola Fide (Faith Alone), or the biblical teaching that salvation was received from God through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone by the sovereign grace of God alone.

Pastor Erwin Lutzer explains, “The title for the Babylonian Captivity of the Church was derived from the experience of the Jews in the Old Testament when they were held as captives in Babylon for seventy years (2 Chronicles 36:17-21). In Luther’s view, the pope actually chained people to the church as captives by using the sacraments to control the populace and withhold salvation from whomever the priests wished. Hence, the people were in perpetual slavery.”

Dr. R. C. Sproul has an interesting perspective on this subject. “Shortly after the Reformation began, in the first few years after Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, he issued some short booklets on a variety of subjects. One of the most provocative was titled The Babylonian Captivity of the Church.”

Dr. Sproul continues by saying, I’ve often wondered if Luther were alive today and came to our culture and looked, not at the liberal church community, but at evangelical churches, what would he have to say? Of course I can’t answer that question with any kind of definitive authority, but my guess is this: If Martin Luther lived today and picked up his pen to write, the book he would write in our time would be entitled The Pelagian Captivity of the Evangelical Church. Luther saw the doctrine of justification as fueled by a deeper theological problem. He writes about this extensively in The Bondage of the Will. When we look at the Reformation and we see the solas of the Reformation — sola Scriptura, sola fide, solus Christus, soli Deo gloria, sola gratia — Luther was convinced that the real issue of the Reformation was the issue of grace; and that underlying the doctrine of solo fide, justification by faith alone, was the prior commitment to sola gratia, the concept of justification by grace alone.”

What exactly is Pelagianism? Pelagianism is a theological title given to those who follow the teachings of a 5^th century British monk by the name of Pelagius. The basic teaching of Pelagius was that the fall of Adam and Eve into sin (Genesis 3) only affected Adam and Eve. Pelagius believed that when people are conceived and eventual born, they are correspondingly conceived and born sinless in their nature and behavior. Pelagius was convinced that people could live sinless lives, and believed many already had. Pelagius in effect was teaching that there was no original sin.

Augustine disagreed with Pelagius as did the Church. In the fifth century, the Church condemned Pelagius as a heretic. Pelagianism was condemned at the Council of Carthage (418-419), and also condemned at the Council of Orange (529), at the Council of Florence (1431-1439), and also at the Council of Trent (1545-1563). The Church has consistently condemned Pelagiansism because Pelagianism denies the fallenness of our nature; it denies the doctrine of original sin.

Today, so-called liberal churches have embraced Pelagianism. Unfortunately, there is still a movement in the evangelical church which also embraces the teachings of Pelagius. It is often referred to as semi-Pelagianism. It seeks to establish a middle ground between the biblical teaching of original sin and historical Pelagianism.

Semi-Pelagianism teaches that while man is fallen and is in need of grace, man still possesses within himself the ability to come to God in and of his own free will. There remains, therefore, a so-called “tiny island of righteousness” by which fallen man can endear himself to God. In effect, God may take a thousand steps towards the sinner, but in the final analysis the sinner must take that one decisive step to God to determine his eternal destiny of either heaven or hell. How often have you heard this teaching?

Ironically, the early Church condemned semi-Pelagianism as passionately as it had condemned original Pelagianism. Yet by the sixteenth century, the Church basically rejected what Augustine and Thomas Aquinas taught. The Church concluded that there still was this freedom that remained intact in the human will and that man must independently cooperate with the grace that is offered to them by God. If we exercise that free will, with whatever ability we have, we will be saved.

While semi-Pelagianism teaches that fallen sinful person is like a man deathly ill, or a man desperately drowning, the Bible teaches that fallen, sinful man is spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-3), his will is in bondage (John 1:12-13) and he is helpless before God as an object of God’s righteous wrath (Romans 1:18).

Martin Luther taught the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. However, Martin also understood that underneath the doctrine of faith alone, was the foundational doctrine of grace alone meaning that the ability to believe the gospel was also a sovereign gracious gift by God enabling the dead and fallen sinner to come to Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 1:29; 2 Peter 1:1). Therefore, the Bible teaches that even our faith is a gracious gift from God. A gracious gift God decided to give to those He chose. He made this decision before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:1-5). Therefore, the conclusion is “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36).

Unfortunately, people have left churches when the pastor preaches the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. They are offended that the Bible teaches, and their pastor preaches, that every part of their salvation is of God and that He determines our ultimate destiny and not we ourselves. They would rather believe the lie of fallen man’s free will or liberty to come to Christ then embrace the truth of God’s sovereign will which brings fallen man to Christ.

Only when the church re-embraces the doctrines of grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, to the glory of God alone will the 21^st century church experience a true reformation as did the 16^th century church. May it come Lord, may it come!

Soli deo Gloria!

“Out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light…” Martin Luther

Martin Luther’s problem with the Roman Catholic Church was not merely with its leadership’s moral laxity, which he saw firsthand during his pilgrimage to Rome. Rather, Luther’s primary problem was with the church’s doctrine. He saw the church’s traditions as the source of its corruption.

What was, therefore, the solution to this dilemma? Luther believed it was a commitment solely to the Scriptures as the ultimate authority to which the church must submit. Luther believed that the Scriptures alone, Sola Scriptura, was the only infallible guide in matters of faith and practice.

Great importance is placed on Luther’s posting of his Ninety-Five Theses, as it should be. But the years following this historical act would also prove significant for the movement known as the Protestant Reformation.

Catholic theologians invited Luther to two debates in order to ultimately indict him for heresy against the church. The first was in Heidelberg. The second was in Augsburg. A third debate would follow in 1519 in the town of Leipzig. In all three, Luther not only defended the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, but also defended the doctrine of justification by faith alone, Sola Fide, in Jesus Christ alone, Solus Christus, as the only way sinners could be forgiven of their sins and be saved by God through His sovereign grace alone, Sola Gratia.

The Catholic theologians, as expected, accused Luther of being a heretic, as they did his predecessors John Wycliffe and Jon Hus. Luther’s response was as follows: “I am a Christian theologian; and I am bound, not only to assert, but to defend the truth with my blood and death. I want to believe freely and be a slave to the authority of no one, whether council, university, or pope.”

The breach between Luther and the Catholic Church was set. Even though many of Luther’s friends abandoned him, he refused to back down from his conviction that the Scripture was the supreme authority. Luther remained strong and courageous (Joshua 1:1-9). May we have the same commitment to truth as Martin did.

Soli deo Gloria!

“Out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light…” Martin Luther

As the church as a whole, and in Wittenberg in particular, anticipated the observance of All Saints Day on November 1, 1517, indulgence vendors were in full force.

So on All-Hallows Eve, October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posed his Ninety-Five Thesis to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Martin had no intention of breaking from the church by his actions. Rather, he was hoping to inspire debate within the church and in the community. Posting such a notice on the church door was a common practice. He did not realize that he would unwittingly tap into a growing resentment among the people that the church cared more about money than it did them.

The preamble to the Ninety-Five Thesis says, “Out of love and zeal for truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following theses will be publically discussed at Wittenberg under the chairmanship of the reverend Martin Luther.”

Thesis 1 stressed the importance of repentance and that it was God’s will the believers life be one of repentance. Thesis 32 declared that those who believed that they were saved because of the payment of an indulgence would be eternally damned to hell along with those who taught such heresy. Thesis 79 declared that it was blasphemous to compare the papal coat of arms or a human cross as equal in worth to the cross of Christ. Thesis 82 questioned why the pope did not open all of purgatory and allow the people to enter heaven? The answer was that the pope wanted people to continue to contribute money to the St. Peter’s Basilica’s building program, and selling indulgences was a way to do it.

Luther originally wrote the Ninety-Five Thesis in Latin. However, university students copied the theses and had them translated into German. Copies were then made, thanks to Gutenberg’s printing press, and distributed throughout Germany. Within months, Luther’s objections were the talk, not only of one town, but in many towns.

The church’s leadership were not happy. Pope Leo X said, “Luther is a drunken German. He will feel different when he is sober.” Rather than address Luther’s concerns, the pope dismissed them and this German monk. The fires of the Reformation began to blaze even higher.

Luther found himself in the middle of an ecclesiastical firestorm. It soon blazed beyond anything Martin could have imagined. The controversy Luther created eventually addressed not only the particular subject of indulgences, but ultimately how sinners were justified before God and what by authoritative, objective standard of truth ruled the individual believer along with the church?

While justification by faith may have been the instrumental cause of the Reformation, the foundational issue was the Bible being the sole and ultimate authority binding both Christian and church. The battle continues to this day.

More to come.

Soli deo Gloria!

The church as a whole, and in Wittenberg in particular, anticipated the observance of All Saints Day on November 1, 1517. Therefore, indulgence vendors were in full force. The most notorious of these peddlers was Johann Tetzel.

When entering a town, Tetzel proceeded with a great deal of pomp and circumstance. A cross bearing the pope’s official declaration was held high on a gold-embroidered cushion. The cross, or crucifix, was then planted in the town square, and then Tetzel would begin his sermon. An excerpt follows:

“Consider the salvation of your souls and those of your departed loved ones. Visit the holy cross erected before you. Listen to the voices of your dear dead relatives and friends beseeching you and saying, ‘Pity us, pity us. We are in dire torment from which you can redeem us for a pittance.’ Do you not wish to? Open you ears. Hear the father saying to his son, the mother to her daughter, ‘We bore you, nourished you, brought you up, left you our fortunes, and you are so cruel and hard that now you are not willing for so little to set us free. Will you let us lie here in flames? Will you delay our promised glory’?”

There was a little song which was composed in light of Tetzel’s motivational speaking. It went like this: “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, another soul from purgatory springs.”

Talk about a guilt trip! What was a person to do in such an atmosphere but to comply and by so doing alleviate the suffering of their departed dead, as well as their guilt. The tragedy is that this does not, and cannot, happen. There is no such thing as purgatory, but only the promise of heaven for the believer, and the promise of hell for the unbeliever.

How many candles have been lit, and prayers said and monies given for the deliverance of the dead? Tetzel even had people believing that the cross he brought to a town square was of equal value to the cross Jesus Christ bore to Calvary.

As far as Martin Luther was concerned, he had had enough.

I encourage you to rest in the knowledge that in Christ alone, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1) by grace alone, through faith alone. Reject any notion that forgiveness can be purchased by anything other than the precious blood of Christ (I Peter 1:17-18).

Soli deo Gloria!