Reformation Continued
1st November 2021
This past Sunday, 31st October, would be best known for pumpkins, sweets, and dressing-up. It was, after all, Halloween. However, the 31st October is also a hugely significant day in church history. It is the day that marked the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. For on this day, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the doors of his Wittenberg church in Germany. This act sparked the greatest shift in Christianity since the establishment of the church in the days of the apostles. Undercurrents of reform were already beginning to brew around Western Europe in response to the church’s drift from the Word of God. The church of the day was in a mess. Corrupt. And void of the Word of God.
During the October week break, Jillian and I had the chance to enjoy a couple of days in Edinburgh. And during our visit, we walked down the Royal Mile (as I’m sure many of you have before) from the castle towards St Giles Cathedral. And we went inside St Giles Cathedral and were once again reminded of the great tradition in the reformation of our own nation. Standing before a stained-glass window depicting the arrest and execution of an early reformer, I was reminded of the great cost that was paid as men and women contested for the Word of God to be faithfully preached.
And standing before the statue of John Knox, the reformer who befriended John Calvin in Geneva and who returned to become minister of St Giles Cathedral in 1559, I was reminded of the courage and boldness of people, like Knox, who went into exile because of their opposition to the corruption and false teaching in the church of its day.
It is difficult to imagine what Christianity would be like today had God, by His grace and through such faithful servants, not brought His church back to His Word.
But I have entitled this short article, Reformation Continued, for it is not enough to rest on the accomplishments of the 400-year old reformation. As 21st Century Christians, we must continue to seek to apply the principles of the reformation today. And I want to highlight two that I think are so important for our church in our world today.
God’s Word: Our highest authority
It was the belief that God’s Word is the only and highest authority in the church and in our lives that drove the likes of Luther, Zwingli and Calvin. It was the desire that every believer should be able to read God’s Word for themselves in their own tongue that drove William Tyndale to undertake his great mission of Bible translation.
And we are the great beneficiaries of this labour. While there are still people-groups in the world who long for Bible’s in their own language, we can take our pick of translations. Yet, despite our great access to God’s Word, it can fail to take the highest place in our hearts and lives.
As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says,
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
These words remind us that every word in scripture is God’s words. God has spoken. God has revealed Himself to us. And He does this through His Spirit-inspired words that we have now bound in our Bibles. As Christians, God’s Word deserves to take the place of highest authority because they are the words of the one who holds the place of highest authority – the one who made the heavens and the earth. And it is God’s Word alone that has the power to transform our lives; God saves by the power of His Word, God teaches us through His Word, God sanctifies through His Word, and God equips us through His Word.
Therefore, continuing the spirit of the reformation is to allow the light of God’s Word to shine over every area of our lives and our church. For when we are submitting to God’s Word and holding faithfully to it, we know we are living in God’s will.
Jesus Christ: Our only hope
In the days of the reformation, the church had greatly strayed in its understanding of God’s Word in relation to salvation. The phrase, ‘salvation is found in Christ alone, through faith alone, by God’s grace alone, for God's glory alone’ has become a great summary of the reformers teaching on salvation. The most offensive words in that statement were not ‘Christ’, ‘faith’, ‘grace’, or 'glory' - for the church of the day believed in these things. The most offensive word in that statement is ‘alone’.
And for us as Christians today, it is of vital importance that we believe and live in the truth that Christ is truly our only hope. The apostle John wrote these words,
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:12-13)
These are stark words. Those who are in Jesus have life. Those who do not have Jesus do not have life. It is not ‘Jesus plus a moral life’; it is not ‘Jesus plus a life that looks comfortable, functional and respectful’; it is not ‘Jesus plus comfort’; ‘Jesus plus a family where all is going well’; or ‘Jesus plus saying and thinking the right things’. No, it is simply Jesus.
And it is certainly not replacing Jesus with things that we think might just impress God enough to save us.
The reformers battled with the sword of truth to convince people that salvation was only found in Christ. This is a battle that rages today. A battle that rages in our own hearts as we surrender our own desire to justify ourselves and rest in Christ alone. A battle that rages in our churches as we, above all else, proclaim Jesus as our only hope. And a battle that rages in our world as we hold up Christ as the only hope for humanity and God’s creation.
I’d encourage you to spend a few moments reflecting on these lyrics written by Keith and Kristyn Getty:
What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone
What is our only confidence?
That our souls to him belong
Who holds our days within his hand?
What comes, apart from his command?
And what will keep us to the end?
The love of Christ, in which we stand
