reasons for remembering the Reformation

Today is Martin Luther’s birthday. He was born on November 10, 1483 in the small town of Saxony, Germany. He is considered by most to be the father of the 16th century Reformation in which the abuses and failures of the popular church were challenged by God’s Word.

It is called the Reformation because when you reform something, you “make a change for the better as a result of correcting abuses.” Reform brings improvement; change for the better. Change in the church was needed in Luther’s day.

And though they may not be exactly the same, the popular church in our day has abuses and failures as well. “Too many contemporary Christians are lethargic and unenthusiastic, confused and contaminated, compromising and tolerant of error.” We are more like the postmodern world than we like to admit, “where religion is pluralistic, truth is subjective, morality is relative, authority is suspect, and the power of the media reigns.”

I don’t think that any of us would affirm that the church is making the difference she was designed to make. God’s people have “been crippled by the contamination of the world and paralyzed by our own ignorance of biblical truth. Instead of changing the world, the world has changed us” (Rick Holland, What Ever Happened to the Reformation?)

We need a modern day reformation.

Let me share with you three reasons why it is worth our time to remember the Reformation at the 2005 snow retreat:

1. The reforming challenge of personal examples.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

This passage in Hebrews refers directly to the “Hall of Faith” in chapter 11 of the same book. In this great chapter the author of Hebrews points out men who were passionate in their love for God and committed even to the point of death. They are examples to us, and their lives of faith challenge us to run the race better ourselves.

And although this verse relates specifically to the examples of faith throughout Hebrews 11 I think it has application for us in the reading and studying of Christian biographies. “Good biography is history and guards us against chronological snobbery (as C.S. Lewis calls it). It is also theology - the most powerful kind - because it bursts forth from the lives of people. It is also adventure and suspense, for which we have a natural hunger. It is psychology and personal experience, which deepen our understanding of human nature (especially ourselves).” (John Piper, Brothers, We are Not Professionals, p. 90)

We’ll be looking at the lives of five key reformers during the retreat:

William Tyndale was an English reformer, killed for his singular addiction to the Bible as the one authoritative source for doctrine and morals.

Martin Luther was the German reformer, the fiery and forceful former monk who argued for justification by faith, by all accounts the father of the reformation.

Uldrich Zwingli was a Swiss reformer, a determined advocate that grace comes from God by means of the Spirit and not the sacraments or other ceremonies.

John Knox was a Scottish reformer, martyred for his commitment to preaching Christ rather than pleasing the Queen, nicknamed the “Thundering Scot.”

John Calvin was the French reformer, a tireless expositor who was captivated by the majesty of God in Scripture.

Again, Piper says, “Biographies have served as much as any other human force in my life to resist the inertial of mediocrity” (p.90). I am praying that God will use our study of these five preachers to foster in us similar faith.

2. The reforming lessons of church history.

1Corinthians 10:11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Again, both of these passages penned by the apostle Paul explicitly refer to inspired accounts of history in the Old Testament. But perhaps there is some application for us in not only studying the OT history but also the history of the church since the completion of the NT.

James White, author of The God Who Justifies, makes the following observations:

We stand on the shoulders of giants. Modern Christians owe so much to those loyal men and women who sacrificed to give us a wonderful heritage and whose lives are such a testimony to God’s faithfulness to His people. Sadly, for many in the church today, church history extends back, twenty, fifty, maybe a hundred years. The idea that God has been slowly, patiently building His church through many centuries is encouraging to the believer, especially when it is coupled with the recognition that God uses very flawed people–like us! But so many today miss out on the benefit of knowing about God’s faithfulness over time because they simply ignore the study of church history altogether. (p. 13)

Frequently this situation results in the contemporary church making the same mistakes over again–not learning from history tends to cause us to reinvent the wheel on a nearly generational basis. There are historical issues that are directly related to the purity of the church and to the gospel of Jesus Christ that have been addressed in the past by godly believers with great insight and understanding. The Reformation showed quite clearly what those matters were. (pp.13-14)

I am praying that first, God will use our study of the church’s history to help us avoid the past problems of the church, and second, that we might hold fast to the lessons they learned in sticking to the Scriptures.

3. The reforming power of biblical truth.

It is a sad fact that “[p]opular evangelical faith has developed a bias against theology (not to mention the intellect), and what is more, it has elevated the bias to a level of virtue” (David Wells, No Place for Truth, p. 188).

But ‘no theology’ is really just bad theology, and bad theology only leads to more bad theology and eventually to how ministry is done and life is lived. Ultimately, really bad theology can lead to loss of salvation and eternal life. A person’s understanding of theology (correct or incorrect) will impact them in this life and the next.

“A truth not worth defending very soon comes to be seen as a truth not worth professing” (Gary Johnson, The Coming Evangelical Crisis, p. 66). The 16th century Reformation demonstrates the power of preaching absolute truths from God’s Word. There were five fundamental principles of the Reformation that we will be studying:

sola scriptura - scripture alone

The Bible is the only authoritative Word of God, not tradition, or any continuing revelation. The Scriptures are the highest court of appeal.

So William Tyndale exhorts us to “Seek the word of God in all things; and without the word of God do nothing, thought it appear ever so glorious. Whatsoever is done without the word of God, that count idolatry.

sola fide - faith alone

Salvation comes through faith only, not works. At the same time, this saving faith will always be accompanied by good works.

So Luther proclaims to us that the doctrine of justification by faith alone is “the article with and by which the church stands, without which it falls.”

solus Christus - Christ alone

The exclusivity of Christ; Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and there is no other name by which men can be saved.

So John Knox said, “The Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ together affirm that the death of Christ is sufficient, and no more is needed.”

sola gratia - grace alone

Salvation comes by grace alone, not through any merit on the part of the sinner. Salvation is an unearned gift. Neither are the means of grace to be found in sacraments or ceremonies but in God’s Spirit.

So Uldrich Zwingli preached, “Do not imagine that God is in this temple more than in any other part of creation…Can unprofitable works, offerings, images, the invocation of the Virgin or of the saints, secure for you the grace of God?…What avails the multitude of words with which we embody our prayers?….God looks at the heart, and our hearts are far from Him.”

soli Deo gloria - the glory of God alone

All the glory is God’s, since He did all the work in our salvation, not only in the atonement of the cross, but even granting the faith through which men receive the benefits of the atonement.

So Calvin’s stated aim of all his life was to “set before [man], as the prime motive of his existence, zeal to illustrate the glory of God.”

I am praying that God may save some by the preaching of the living and abiding Word (1 Peter 1:23) and that He will build up believers by the preaching of the word of His grace (Acts 20:32).