We call it “cancel culture.” If you don’t like something, organize a protest against it. Call for a boycott. (I think I have decided to boycott boycotts.) It seems the only thing we aren’t boycotting these days is sin.
Today marks the 507th anniversary of one of the most important protests in history. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther – a German priest and professor – composed a list of 95 complaints against the Church. He nailed his list to the Wittenburg church door the day before the church celebrated All Saints Day, inviting a discussion on these issues. His timing guaranteed a wide reading.
Had that happened in a Baptist church, the deacons would’ve fired the pastor for ruining the door. Just kidding folks. Sort of.
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Luther’s Reformation
Luther had grown disenchanted with the Church’s departure from Biblical faith and practice. Historians have identified his demonstration on that day as the catalytic moment of a movement called The Protestant Reformation.
The Reformation took place in a number of places throughout Europe over centuries. But the movement changed the church landscape for years to come. Most Christian denominations other than the Catholic church can trace at least some of their roots to the Reformation.
Five general emphases developed over the centuries of the Reformation that identify its central teachings. They are widely known today by their Latin titles.
Sola Scriptura. (Scripture Alone) The Word of God alone is the authority for Christian belief and behavior. Not the Church as an institution or its hierarchy.
Sola Gratia. (Grace Alone) Only the grace of God – not man’s religious practices – provide salvation from sin and right standing with God.
Sola Fide. (Faith Alone) A person experiences this saving grace of God by placing trust in Jesus and His death on the cross. Salvation is a result of one’s belief not in their partaking of church sacraments.
Sola Christus. (Christ Alone) Salvation comes only through Jesus and His death. The Church cannot confer salvation as a condition upon a person.
Soli Deo Gloria. (God’s Glory Alone) Man exists for nothing less than the glory of God. We do not exist to for the church, but for God.
The Need for a New Reformation
I believe a new protest is in order. Unfortunately, I believe churches in general and believers in general have wandered from our early protestant roots.
Is the BIBLE still our ultimate authority for belief and behavior? Or do we listen to other voices? Even in our pulpits, preachers use the Bible loosely to speak what they want to say. Reformers lost their lives defending the right of the common person to read and study the Bible for themselves. We need a return to letting the Bible speak for God. We need to return to the practice of personal Bible study in stead of merely reading devotional material.
Do we truly believe that salvation comes only by God’s grace? Many believers act as though their performance determines God’s opinion of them. They judge deem others spiritual or not according to how those others measure up to their own ideas about how things should be.
Do we really believe salvation is obtained by the exercise of our faith? In fact, we hardly live by faith at all these days. We do what is comfortable. We play to our strengths and stick with what we KNOW WE can do. But do we take God at His Word? Do we live as though we believe God is trustworthy and that He means what He says? We need to return to a faith that takes God at His Word.
Do we believe that Christ alone plus nothing is all we need to be made right before God? We baptize children (and sometimes adults) who have no concept of sin and repentance. We lead people to believe that if they walk an aisle and join a church they can expect eternal security.
Do we live for God’s glory or our own? Are our lives more about us or all about God?
[Tweet “We lead people to believe that if they walk an aisle…they can expect eternal security.”]
A Personal Reformation
I invite you to join me in a new reformation, a personal one. These are 5 things I am asking God to help me do on a daily basis. And I encourage you to join me in this quest.
- I am asking God to give me an insatiable hunger for His Word. May I let His Word shape my agenda rather than my agenda shaping my use of His Word. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
- I am asking God to help me realize that I bring NOTHING of any value to this relationship. Anything in my life that is good and godly is a gift of grace from Him. I deserve nothing. I have earned nothing. God owes my nothing. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
- I am asking God to give me a bold faith. With His help and by His prompting may I stretch beyond my comfort zone. May God give me the faith to trust Him and take Him at His Word. (Hebrews 11:1, 6)
- I am asking God to let Jesus shine through the blazing center of my life. As John said, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
- I am asking God to remind me daily that He is the one deserving all the glory in my life. I live to please and serve Him. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
May God reform my heart as He reformed the church over 500 years ago.