The Reformation

TROWEL & SWORD

The Reformation

Rev. John Zuidema

The beginning

Sometime ago at an evening bible study we watched the latest “Luther” film starring Joseph Fiennes as Dr Martin Luther. In God’s wonderful providence for his people, here was a man that the Lord used in a mighty way to bring the church back to what Scripture taught and what a wonderful blessing that has been.

The vivid images in this film showed that the poorest of people were being blackmailed into paying for indulgences. They paid to view or touch some ancient relics so that their dearly departed relative would leave purgatory and instantly go to heaven. The money so raised from poor people was used to rebuild St. Peters basilica in Rome. On 31st October 1517 Luther wrote to the Archbishop of Mainz to protest against this practice and also nailed a copy of this letter – called the 95 theses - to the door of the castle at Wittenberg. Thesis 86 asks: “Why does the Pope, whose wealth today is greater than the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money”.

There was certainly a great need for a reformation! And God, in His providence, provided a man for the times in Luther. In accordance with his father’s wishes Luther had enrolled in Law School but dropped out almost immediately. He had left Law School, sold all his books and had become an Augustine monk on 17th July, 1505. His father was furious over what he saw as a waste of Luther’s education. However, by God’s grace and providence, Luther was privileged that his earthly father had sent him to study at university but he was even more privileged that his Heavenly Father had directed him to search the Holy Scriptures to try and answer the many questions which burnt him up inside. This ultimately led Luther to challenge the authority of the Papacy by insisting that the Bible is the only infallible source of faith. Although it was not Luther’s desire to cause a schism or split from the Roman Catholic Church, but to ‘reform’ the Roman Catholic Church from within, this was not possible because the Church of Rome was unwilling to rely on the authority of Scripture alone. This was the real starting point for the Reformation which we remember each year on or about Reformation Day, the 31st October.

The Five Fundamentals of the Reformation

Over time the essential elements of the Reformed came to be defined as the “Five Solas”. They are the pillars which the Reformers believed to be essentials of the Christian life and practice. The five solas are five Latin phrases that summarize the Reformers’ basic theological beliefs in contradistinction to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church of the day:

Sola scriptura (“by Scripture alone”)

Sola Christus (“by Christ alone”)

Sola gratia (“by Grace alone”)

Sola fide (“by Faith alone”)

Soli Deo gloria (“glory to God alone”) “By Scripture alone” (Sola Scriptura)

Luther said, “A simple layman armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest pope without it”. “By Scripture alone” is the teaching that the Bible is the only inspired and authoritative word of God, and is the only source for Christian doctrine.

The Roman Catholic Church, on the other hand, believes its authority to be final and absolute and that the Church can be a form of infallible revelation, even in the contemporary church. And not only the Roman Catholics, but Greek Orthodox, Coptic and even some modern sects rely on non-biblical sources.

The Mormons have their ‘Book of Mormon.” The Jehovah Witnesses have their own version of the Bible. And many in Pentecostal and charismatic churches will say God has spoken to them directly. In such cases the “By Scripture alone” principle goes right out the door.

Of course, we also need to be careful to rely on Scripture alone for our ultimate authority. Some regard our ‘reformed’ confessions, or the various creeds as being authoritative, but they remain subordinate to Scripture. This doesn’t mean we should ignore interpretation. As R.C Sproul states, “If we have come up with a new interpretation of a particular Bible passage that has never been thought of in the last 2000 years, then we would be well advised to reconsider, for more than likely we would be in error.”

So when we say “By Scripture alone”, we are stating that the Bible is the only final authority in matters of faith and doctrine. As Dr Martin Luther said, “The true rule is this: God’s Word shall establish articles of faith, and no one else, not even an angel can do so.” Indeed, anything that does not originate from canonical Scripture, while helpful in interpreting Scripture can never be authoritative but must be tested against Scripture.

“By Christ alone”
(Sola Christus)

“By Christ alone” is the basic belief that salvation is through Christ alone and that Christ is the only mediator between God and man. That means no mother of Jesus, no Pope, no Cardinal, no Bishop, no Priest, no Minister or Pastor, nor the works of the saints either past or living, can add to the work of Christ alone as mediator between God and man.

The Roman Catholic Church continues to honour the memory of the Virgin Mary and other exemplary saints. It still teaches if people ask through Mary, they may be assured that their prayers and requests will be heard and answered favourably.

Since we know that this teaching is contrary to Scripture [Jn 14:6], let us also not fall into the trap of relying on anything other than the saving work of Christ alone as our Saviour. There is always the danger that we add something to “Christ alone”: not our ‘reformed’ understanding of Scripture nor our opinion that we are the only “true” church nor our understanding and celebration of the sacraments nor the necessity of a Public Profession of faith. None of these are necessary for our salvation.

However, I do not wish to drive a wedge between what Scripture teaches or what our confessions state or our understanding of them. I believe them to be in harmony with each other. But let’s be aware of the devil’s attempt to trap us into adding anything at all to the wonderful completed work of Christ alone as mediator. His work is 100% sufficient for our salvation.

“By Grace Alone”
(Sola Gratia)

When we say “by Grace alone” we are stating the biblical teaching that we are saved by the unprovoked and undeserved acceptance of God.

This was in direct opposition to the Roman Catholic Church who taught that salvation is made possible only by grace but that the faith and works of men are a means of obtaining greater grace. Hence, it taught that salvation is a mixture of God’s grace and his own meritorious works performed in love.

The reformers on the other hand taught that salvation comes from God’s free act of grace alone, dispensed by the Holy Spirit according to the completed redemptive work of Christ alone. Salvation is not due to a person’s good works, or his associations or memberships, or even the strength of his faith. A person becomes a believer and therefore one of the elect by God’s grace alone. God chose him before the foundations of the world [Eph 1:4] and brings him to saving faith in Christ through the gracious work of his Word and Spirit in the heart of the believer.

Of course this teaching really goes against our human thinking. Deep down, our sinful human nature convinces us that we can save ourselves. We may think that we need divine assistance or some one to lead us back after we have gone astray, but with some help we can find our way back to God. But such thinking undermines the teaching of ‘by grace alone’. There is absolutely nothing we can do to assist in our own salvation.

The Bible tells us that even our very best works are like filthy rags when it comes to saving ourselves out of the mire of sin [Isa 64:6]. Thankfully, God’s word also tells us that God is full of compassion and his desire is that sinners run to the Saviour Jesus whom He has so gloriously provided [Jn 6:40; 2 Pet 3:9]. What’s more the Father sends his Holy Spirit into our hearts and minds and causes us to respond to the glorious message of Christ [Jn 6:44].

“By faith alone”
(Sola fide)

“By Faith alone” is a teaching that distinguishes most protestant denominations from Roman Catholicism and Eastern Christianity. This teaching asserts that it solely is on the basis of God’s grace through the believer’s faith that believers are forgiven their sins. The opposite position is that believers are forgiven solely on the basis of any good works. This is called ‘Legalism’.

Roman Catholicism, Eastern Christianity and Mormonism hold that a combination of faith and good works are required for salvation. The Roman Catholic view tends to exclude “by Faith alone” as grounds for justification, holding instead that salvation is not conferred on the Christian until after the Last Judgment, i.e by God’s grace through faith as perfected by good works. The purpose of grace was to transform a sinner into a saint, a bad person into a good person, a rebel into an obedient son or daughter.

According to Scripture, God declares a person righteous before that person actually begins to become righteous. Therefore, the declaration is not in response to any good works, such as spiritual or moral advances within the individual, but is an imputation of the perfect righteousness that God immediately grants to everyone who is united to Christ by faith alone. At the very moment when a person becomes a believer, he or she is clothed in his perfect holiness. Though still sinful, he or she is judged by God as blameless.

John Calvin, also a proponent of this doctrine “by Faith alone”, taught that “every one who would obtain the righteousness of Christ must renounce his own.” According to Calvin, it is only because the sinner is able to obtain the good standing of the Son of God, through faith in him, and union with him, that sinners have any hope of pardon from sin, acceptance by and peace with God.

One more thing we need to consider. Some people suggest that it is their ‘strong’ faith that will save them [or heal them or whatever the case may be], but those people are in danger of making faith a ‘work’ and our works will never save us. Thankfully, our salvation doesn’t depend on our ‘strong’ or on our ‘weak’ faith, although faith is necessary, but it depends on our strong God who has done it all.

“Glory to God alone”
(Soli Deo Gloria)

The answer to the first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism is, “What is the chief end of man?” is, “The chief end of man is glorify God and to enjoy him forever”. This is the crux of the reformation. The glory should not belong to the Roman Catholic Church, or the Pope or the Bishop or the priest, but to God alone.

This teaching is fundamental to all the church does and to all an individual does and to all a preacher does. The believer’s end is to worship, to serve, and to glorify God and to enjoy him forever, beginning now.

What next?

The above five fundamentals of the Reformed faith should cause the believer to think about his or her response to this wonderful truth: “Is what I am doing or planning or saying aimed at pleasing God or pleasing men? Is my happiness and joy found in God or in someone or something else? Is God’s glory or my self-fulfilment the ultimate goal of my life?”

The way we answer this question will say much about our understanding of the Bible. The way we answer this question will determine how we worship God and serve God. The way we answer this question will determine our witness for Christ in the world we live.

Seeing the recent ‘Luther’ film together made us think about the corruption in the ‘church’ and the sorry state of society at the time. The reformation caused the church to split and a ‘new’ church to be born. It also brought reform to society and long may it continue.

May we never loose sight of how liberating it is for sinners to know that salvation is full and free brought about by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and that this is so wonderfully taught in Scripture alone, the very word of the only true and loving God whose desire remains to save sinners. Glory be to God alone!

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