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Was Martin Luther the only leader of the Protestant Reformation? Who were some others who were actively involved in the initial days of God’s great movement? I direct your attention all too briefly to two: Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin.

Zwingli was born seven weeks after Luther in early 1484. He lived in Switzerland and was converted to the gospel. He was called to the priesthood but when he became the pastor of a church in Zurich on January 1, 1519, he abandoned the traditional methods of worship, preached from the Gospel of Matthew and began to teach the Word of God systematically.

While he encouraged his congregation to read Luther’s books, he refused to be called a Lutheran. He looked to the Scriptures for his understanding of the gospel, and not to Luther.

The primary difference between Luther and Zwingli was over the Lord’ Supper. Luther initially believed the elements became the actual body and blood of Christ, but adjusted to eventually say the body and blood were present, while Zwingli, like Calvin, believed the bread and wine only represented the body and blood of Christ.

The two actually met, in Marburg, Germany just north of Frankfort. They never did come to an agreement over the Lord’s Supper. In fact, Luther did not shake Zwingli’s hand upon leaving their meeting because he did not believe Zwingli to be a Christian because of not only his view on Communion, but also because Zwingli taught to take up arms against Catholics.

John Calvin was born in northern France in 1509. He was 26 years younger than his two peers. Calvin and Luther never met. Calvin was converted to the gospel, perhaps in some measure through the influence of Luther’s writings on the gospel. Calvin would call Luther his “most respected father.” Calvin’s lasting importance would undoubtedly be his Institutes of the Christian Religion and his Five Doctrines of Grace.

Like Luther, Zwingli denounced papal authority and preached justification by faith alone. He denied the merits of the saints and indulgences. He, like John Calvin, believed in predestination and urged there be only two church sacraments: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Zwingli would eventually publish Sixty-Seven Articles against the Roman Catholic Church.

For Luther, the primary doctrine to defend was justification by faith. It was the article, he said, by which the church stands of falls. Luther stressed the wonder of redemption while Calvin stressed the sovereignty of God in salvation.

Luther believed all methods of worship could be employed, unless strictly forbidden by Scripture. Calvin and Zwingli worshipped according to only that which was expressly taught in Scripture. Luther used instruments in worship, Zwingli and Calvin did not.

Luther still held, interestingly enough, that infant baptism was the entry point into the Christian Life. Lutheran churches hold to this doctrine today. Zwingli and Calvin believed that infant baptism was a sign of “future faith” and that God was making a covenant with the parents for their child’s eventual salvation. They all agreed on the Five Solas of the Reformation. 

There is no way we can with great depth and detail chronicle the lives of Zwingli and Calvin in this brief blog. Let me say that all three Reformers were human beings just like you and me. They possessed great spiritual strength from God, but they were also men who possessed feet of clay; they weren’t perfect. Their greatest legacy I think would be their perspective that people should seek to follow God and His Word, and no human beings such as themselves.

While we respect these men, we do not follow these men. We follow Christ, as they most certainly did.

Soli deo Gloria!   

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

That night before Martin Luther was to give an answer before the council at the Diet of Worms, he 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. This is Martin’s prayer.

O God, Almighty God everlasting! How dreadful is the world! Behold how its mouth opens to swallow me up, and how small is my faith in Thee… Oh! The weakness of the flesh, and the power of Satan! If I am to depend upon any strength of this world – all is over… The knell is struck… Sentence is gone forth… O God! O God! O thou, my God! Help me against the wisdom of this world. Do this, I beseech thee; thou shouldst do this… by thy own mighty power… The work is not mine, but Thine. I have no business here… I have nothing to contend for with these great men of the world! I would gladly pass my days in happiness and peace. But the cause is Thine… And it is righteous and everlasting! O Lord! Help me! O faithful and unchangeable God! I lean not upon man. It were vain! Whatever is of man is tottering, whatever proceeds from him must fail. My God! My God! Dost thou not hear? My God! Art thou no longer living? Nay, thou canst not die. Thou dost but hide Thyself. Thou hast chosen me for this work. I know it… Therefore, O God, accomplish thine own will! Forsake me not, for the sake of thy well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, my defense, my buckler, and my stronghold.

Lord – where art thou…? My God, where art thou?… Come! I pray thee, I am ready… Behold me prepared to lay down my life for thy truth… suffering like a lamb. For the cause is holy. It is thine own!… I will not let thee go! No, nor yet for all eternity! And though the world should be thronged with devils – and this body, which is the work of thine hands, should be cast forth, trodden under foot, cut in pieces,… consumed to ashes, my soul is thine. Yes, I have thine own word to assure me of it. My soul belongs to thee, and will abide with thee forever! Amen! O God send help!… Amen!

When the day final dawned, Luther was ready to give his answer. However, the delay caused even more people to attend the diet and so a larger assembly hall was used. Eck, the council’s interrogator once again asked Luther if the books and pamphlets on display before Martin were his. He replied that they were. Eck then said, “I ask you, Martin – answer candidly and without horns – do you or do you not repudiate your books and the errors which they contain?”

Luther’s answer was as follows:

Since then Your Majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.

The following words were added: “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.”

The council’s decision was to honor the safe passage they had given Martin, allow him to return to Wittenberg, where he would then be arrested and executed for heresy. As Luther was returning to Wittenberg following the hearing, he was captured by friends who took him, for his own protection, to the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach. He would remain there in seclusion for ten months.

Pastor Erwin Lutzer writes, “It was here in isolation that Luther had one of the most productive periods of his life. Amid his doubts, depression, confusion and insomnia, he feverishly wrote books and pamphlets, and most astoundingly of all, translated the New Testament into German in just eleven weeks.”

Luther’s life parallels those mentioned in Hebrews 11:36-38: “³⁶ Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

Luther did not recant a single item of what he had written. Because of this, he would spend the rest of his life as a fugitive. Luther was willing to evaluate and count the cost for his commitment to biblical truth. Are we so willing? We recognize Martin Luther’s legacy. What will be your legacy?

Soli deo Gloria!

Following the nailing of the Ninety-Five Thesis on the church door in Wittenberg, and the three debates which followed, 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’s citizens 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.

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!

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!

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).

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.”

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).

May we have the same commitment to truth as Martin did.

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.

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.

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!

Martin Luther was a man who was all in. That is to say that when he was committed to something, whether it was becoming a monk or striving to make himself acceptable to God by good works, he gave his all. Therefore, it should not be surprising that when young Martin was converted by the pure, biblical gospel of grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, he became a man obsessed with biblical truth like never before.

God brought Luther to the realization that God’s saving grace was mediated to the believing sinner by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. The medieval Roman Catholic Church’s answer was that grace came only through the church’s sacraments which included the sale of indulgences.

In his continuing quest for a greater understanding of God’s Word, and the communication of such as a professor of theology and a lecturer, it was only a matter of time before Luther’s passion for the biblical gospel, and the traditions of the Catholic Church, would clash. This growing tension between the two came to a head during the summer of 1517. 

The Catholic Church was dominated by religious relics, centuries of traditions and unbiblical superstitions in 1517. It remains so five centuries later.

In 1513, Leo X became pope following the death of his predecessor Julius II. Leo wanted to make Rome the artistic and creative center of the Western world. In hiring such artists as Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and others, Leo consequently plunged the church into even deeper debt than what he inherited from Pope Julius.

Pope Leo needed money specifically to pay for the new St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Albert, archbishop of Magdeburg, wanted to also become bishop of Mainz. However, since holding two or more bishoprics was unlawful according to the church’s laws, Albert needed a papal dispensation or exemption, from the pope. Pope Leo was willing to grant such an exemption for a price.

Therefore, Albert took out a loan and agreed to give half the money to Pope Leo. This gave the papacy much needed cash flow. In return, Pope Leo granted that indulgences could be sold in Albert’s territories, whereupon Leo and Albert would split the proceeds. Therefore, Pope Leo would continue to receive the money he needed to pay for St. Peter’s, while Albert would have a steady income of cash to repay the bank. If you think this was rather unethical, imagine what Martin Luther thought. 

This growing controversy became centered on the abuse of the church’s sale of indulgences. What exactly are indulgences? What did the buyer receive? Are indulgences still sold by the Catholic Church today?

Indulgences were then, and are now, part of the sacrament of penance within the Roman Catholic Church. While there were many unbiblical practices observed by the church in the 16^th century, the practice and abuse of indulgences were the focal point of Martin Luther’s ire.

Indulgences are the payment of a gift to the church in order for the payer to avoid the temporal consequences of their sin. By paying an amount of money, the church leader or priest would remove the temporal consequence the individual could face because of a sinful act on their part. Consequently, the more that was paid the more effects of sin could be avoided.

The indulgence could be applied not only to the living and also to the dead in purgatory. One pastor explains, “Notice that the definition says that it (the indulgence) can also be applied to the dead because, after all, purgatory itself is seen as temporal penalty for sin. Although most people at death are too good to go to hell, they nonetheless are not good enough to go to heaven. Therefore, in the fires of purgatory, their sins are purged and they are made ready for heaven.”

Indulgences remain a most important sacrament in the Catholic Church today. While only God can forgive sin according to Catholic theology, the church continues to teach that an indulgence can cancel the temporal penalty the sinner may incur.

Nowhere in the Scriptures do we find a teaching of, or a validation for, indulgences. Rather, the Bible teaches the avoidance of sin altogether, even its appearance (I Thessalonians 5:22). Believers are to confess their sins to God (I John 1:9) in order to have intimate fellowship with God restored. However, even though sin can be forgiven, its consequences may remain. Avoidance of sinful behavior on the part of the believer is the key, not the purchase of an indulgence.

The increasing sale of indulgences were to become the focal point of Ninety-Five Thesis or criticisms Martin Luther would write and post about the 16^th century Romans Catholic Church. His thoughts would ignite the fires of Reformation.

The passionate pursuit for biblical truth spurring Martin Luther should also spur ourselves to ever remain committed to the Scriptures alone as our final and supreme authority.

Soli deo Gloria!

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”(Romans 1:16-17).

It is ironic that the portion of Scripture which God used to bring Martin Luther to saving faith, and to deliver him from the apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church, was Paul’s magnum opus epistle to the church at Rome. Romans 1:16-17 were the two verses which broke through the darkness of Luther’s attempts at salvation by works righteousness, unto a salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, based upon the Scriptures alone and ultimately to the glory of God alone.

Following his pilgrimage to Rome, Martin continued in his pursuit of becoming right with God based upon the monk’s most sincere efforts to attain that righteousness by his good works. The Apostle Paul knew well the arduous spiritual road upon which Luther traveled because Paul had traveled upon it himself. He says as much in Philippians 3:1-9.

The apostle trusted in all his works righteous accomplishments in Judaism as Luther pursued the same works righteousness system in Roman Catholicism. As God shown the light of the gospel on the Damascus Road for Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9), so too would the sovereign Savior accomplish the same gracious work for a monk in Wittenberg, Germany. 

“Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.” Martin Luther

When Martin Luther returned from his three month pilgrimage to Rome he became a professor of philosophy at the University in Wittenberg. In 1511, he began teaching philosophy. Observing Luther’s continuing struggle regarding salvation, his mentor, Staupitz, counseled the young professor to begin teaching the Bible. This would become the final key God would use to unlock and free the deadened soul of the German monk.

In 1513, Martin began teaching from the Psalms. Shortly thereafter, he began teaching from the Apostle Paul’s magnum opus: the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. How ironic that God would use Paul’s letter to the church at Rome to convert Martin Luther and to repudiate the abuses and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.

Martin trembled when he came across Romans 1:17 and the phrase “the righteousness of God.” Pastor Erwin Lutzer explains, “The righteousness of God struck fear into his heart because he knew that it was because of God’s unbendable righteousness that sinners were cast away from His most holy presence.” It was then the Holy Spirit unlocked the meaning of the phrase.

When Martin came across the words “the just shall live by faith” the Holy Spirit brought to his understanding through regeneration what the apostle truly meant. Luther wrote, “Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.”

Martin grasped that not only is the righteousness of God one of His attributes, but it is also a free gift from God to sinners. Luther came to the understanding that sinners are saved by the sheer grace and mercy of God through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God declares sinners righteous through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, as our sins were imputed to Christ while He suffered the wrath of God while on the cross. Luther was miraculously converted by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, on the basis of Scripture alone to the glory of God alone.

Luther concluded it this way: “Thou Lord Jesus, art my righteousness, but I am thy sin. Thou hast taken upon thyself what is mine and hast given to me what is thine. Thou hast taken upon thyself what thou wast not and hast given to me what I was not.”

This great exchange (2 Corinthians 5:21) is at the core of the gospel. May we praise God daily for this wonderful truth.

God’s method of saving sinners has not changed. The people, names, faces and circumstances may differ from person to person, but the gracious work of God in saving a soul from hell is through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This heralding brings about the regenerating work by the Holy Spirit unto salvation within the soul of the sinner. It is this sovereign work of God which brings glory and praise to God from the life and lips of the sinner saved by the grace of God.

May we continue to hold this pearl of great price ever dear, while at the same time always willing to share its wealth with others.

Soli deo Gloria!

The monastery provided Martin Luther with a disciplined life. In fact, Luther was a disciplined man of prayer throughout his life. However, Luther was such a student of the law, he understood that he could not perfectly fulfill the law of God. It troubled him to his soul. He was filled with guilt and driven to discover forgiveness. A forgiveness he would not find in the monastery.

Luther was preoccupied by guilt while he was in the monastery. He would spend long hours in the confessional. He was involved in self-flagellation. He afflicted his body with great pain in order to purge himself of his sinful guilt.

At this time in church history, the church was very corrupt. The clergy were horrible in their ungodliness. Therefore, to enter into a monastery gave a person an inside track to heaven. Luther was hoping he would gain salvation by entering the most rigorous of monasteries.

Luther was asked once if he loved God. Luther responded, “Love God? Sometimes I hate God.” For Martin, there was always the question of guilt. Luther understood the law of God. He knew his soul was exposed to damnation. Luther did not rationalize his guilt. He did not ignore his guilt. The law of God terrified Luther. God terrified Luther.

This terror Luther felt towards God was visibly witnessed by many, including Luther’s family.  This was strikingly evident when Martin celebrated his first mass as an ordained monk. In recognition of this momentous occasion in his son’s life, and perhaps as a way to further reconcile himself to his son, Hans brought his associates to the celebration of the mass.

However, when Martin was at the point of the transubstantiation of the elements, at the prayer of consecration, he froze. He couldn’t speak. Someone else said the prayer for Luther. Hans was embarrassed. When he later approached his son and began berating him, young Martin said to his dad, “Don’t you understand? I was holding the body and blood of Christ. I was utterly stupefied and terror-stricken.”

Johann von Staupiz was the vicar general of the Augustinian Order in Germany during this period of the 16^th century. He received information about the intense monk known as Martin Luther and began to take an interest in the young man. It was Staupiz who recognized Luther’s academic abilities and sent him to Wittenberg to study the Bible and theology. Luther earned his BA in 1509 whereupon he returned to Erfurt and began to teach.

In 1510, the second “crisis” occurred in Martin’s life. Staupiz decided to send Martin on a pilgrimage to Rome so the Augustinian Order and the monasteries in Erfurt could renew their credentials. The pilgrimage to Rome would also give young Martin an opportunity to visit the holy city, see its various religious relics and perhaps even visit the Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs), reportedly the very steps Christ ascended at Pilate’s judgment hall in Jerusalem. But Luther’s trip to Rome would become the single most disillusioning experience of his life.

The trip was roughly 800 miles. Travelers would walk by day and then stop and spend the night at monasteries along the way. For Luther, the round trip took close to three months to complete.

When Luther arrived in Rome, he was shocked to witness the immoral behavior of the priests. Masses were spoken with little thought or interest. Priests engaged in heterosexual and homosexual behavior. Martin viewed Rome as having become a harlot. However, it was Luther’s visit to the Scala Sancta where his disillusionment reached its height. 

One church historian explains, “These twenty-eight marbled steps are believed to be the very steps that led up to the praetorian of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem – the very steps Jesus walked on the way to His trial. The Emperor Constantine apparently had them removed and relocated to Rome. In 1510, there would be a table set up at the base of the steps where priests collected coins and handed out indulgences. Pilgrims, after they had turned over a few coins, would climb the steps on their knees, praying the rosary as they shuffled up and down. Luther waited his turn and then joined the stream of penitent pilgrims. When Luther reached the top, no spiritual awakening greeted him. No waves of peace rolled gently over his soul. All he could say was, ‘Who knows whether it be so’.”

What sincere act(s) are you pursuing in order to make yourself right with God? What sacrifice are you willing to give in order to assure yourself that your sins are completely forgiven? The Bible says there is but one way to know that you are reconciled to God and forgiven of your sins; faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone.

Soli deo Gloria!

Upon earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University at Erfurt, young Martin Luther was set to begin studies for his doctorate to eventually become a lawyer. His father Hans wanted his son to not only be a lawyer, but also to become a successful lawyer. This would mean that Martin would be able to take care of his parents when they were old.

Dr. R.C. Sproul explains that Luther seemed to encounter a crisis every five years. The first of these “crises” happened in 1505 when an event occurred in which Luther’s life would be irrevocably changed.

Following a visit with his family in Mansfield, Luther was returning to Erfurt. He encountered a violent thunderstorm. Lightning struck so close to him that he feared for his very life. At that moment, he cried out to St. Anne, the patron saint of miners and exclaimed, “Help me, St. Anne, and I will become a monk!”

St. Anne was supposedly the mother of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Superstition during Martin’s day taught that St. Anne would bring protection and prosperity to those who worked in the mines. This was Martin’s theological background.

As Pastor Erwin Lutzer explains, “And so it was—partly to fulfill this vow and, most assuredly, because of his own inner turmoil—that Luther went against his father’s wishes, left the university in Erfurt, and entered the Augustinian monastery in the same city.”

When physically entering the monastery, Martin was asked what he sought. He responded, “God’s grace and your mercy.” Luther moved into the Augustinian Monastery in Erfurt. It was known as the most rigorous of the Augustinian monasteries. Martin would now begin a rigorous and disciplined regimen of living which he hoped would satisfy the longing in his soul. More than anything, Luther sought relief from the guilt he felt because of his sins. 

Luther’s father, Hans, was furious at his son for going into the monastery. He was disappointed that Martin would not become a lawyer thereby enjoying a salary which would help the family financially. However, for Martin the making of money was not nearly as important as was the salvation of his soul.

You must understand that then, and now, salvation according to the Catholic Church is not a declaration by God and appropriated by God-given faith in the person and completed work of Christ. Rather, salvation is a rigorous process of one’s own righteous works in which you can never be certain you have done enough to avert hell, avoid purgatory and enter heaven.

Still there was hope that while salvation was difficult, it was not impossible. The rigors of monastic life included renouncing self-will, living on a meager diet, rough clothing, vigils day and night, working during the day, and the mortification of the flesh, the reproach of poverty, the shame of begging and the distastefulness of a secluded existence.

Luther renounced his past, and entered into the monastic life. He was given a cell. He then began to pursue his peace with God.

We often hear the expression that a person, who has recently died, has made their peace with God. However, the Bible says that we do not make our peace with God, but rather God makes His peace with us, through the substitutionary atonement accomplished by Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1-5).

In who or what are you trusting in for the salvation of your immortal soul? The only hope is Jesus Christ. Repent of your sins right now and trust Jesus to be your Lord and Savior (John 1:12-13).

Soli deo Gloria!