Jesu Juva
1 Peter 3:18 Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.
Have you ever had something just nagging at you, but you couldn’t put your finger on it? You knew it was something important, but what? How could you not know?
Then, somehow you realized what was troubling you. Now that you could identify the issue, you could address it. Even if the problem was distressing, at least you knew what it was. That was half the battle.
Something similar happened in the life of an Augustinian monk back in 1507. You guessed it! Martin Luther, the German theologian who brought us the Protestant Reformation is our subject for today. Well, maybe not so much the man as the problem he faced.
Martin Luther was groomed for the law. But his fear of death and facing God at judgment led him to seminary, and he became a monk. He thought he knew where he stood with God. But the mysterious nagging became a demand for answers at some point and would not let him rest.
What was it that was troubling him? Simply, how could he know he was truly redeemed by Christ? Hebrews 4:12
Where is the True path to salvation?
Suddenly, it didn’t make sense that Christ would have willingly died on the cross for sinners, yet His death alone was insufficient to provide salvation. According to the church, at the time, good deeds and money, known as indulgences, would be needed to provide eternal security.
2 Corinthians 11:4 You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. NLT
Martin could not accept that. He began to realize that the Holy Spirit was speaking to his heart. Although most people did not have access to the scriptures back then, Martin Luther did. He read voraciously.
Luther believed that reading scripture and listening to the Spirit of God would help him find the answers he sought. And do you know what? He was right. That is always the right response when we have faith questions.
Eventually, Martin Luther accepted Christ as His Savior by faith, through the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Through the Word of God, Martin learned about grace (Ephesians 2:8) and justification (Romans 5). No need to pay for indulgence from any man. Grace is free.
Gratia
He became the champion of the Protestant Reformation, translated the Bible into the German language so that the common man could read the scripture, and became a thorn in the flesh to the wicked men who used religion to enrich the church, at the expense of his fellow countrymen and others, worldwide.
Now this study is not an expose’ on the Catholic church. Nor is this meant to condemn Catholics. There are true believers of that denomination that I believe are born again because they know what Martin Luther and every true believer would come to know. Salvation is provided to sinners by grace alone and fully paid for once for all by Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. Conversely, I believe there are many in the Protestant faith who claim to know Christ, but who are lost.
Why? Because religion and denomination do not provide salvation. Neither is redemption found in living a morally good life or in keeping all of the commandments. This is an impossibility. Only Jesus ever accomplished that. It also brings us back to Martin Luther’s initial dilemma.
“…if I am saved by keeping the law, Christ died without cause.”
Galatians 2:21 tells us, “I don’t reject the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”
No matter what church you go to it is your responsibility to know the condition of your heart and where you stand on the question of salvation. Read God’s Word. Stay closely connected to your personal walk with God. Be faithful in fellowship with other believers. Share the Gospel. And always, only ever measure sermons, blogs, Christian books, and all other religious teaching by the Word of God.
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Here is the Gospel:
Romans 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart; “Deuteronomy 30:14 that is, the word of faith which we preach: 9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart, one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”Isaiah 28:16
Resources
Getting the Seed out of the basket and into hungry hearts. Matthew 13 