Introduction: Most people hate to study history. How many of you loved history when you were in high school? When we are grown, most of us never study history again. Unfortunately the old saying is true: Those who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat the mistakes and disasters of history. American Christians in our time have forgotten the Reformation. How many of us remember that Martin Luther nailed his "95 Theses" on his church door in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517? Even in PCA churches, it is a rare church that celebrates Reformation Sunday. It is a rare church member who can tell you what happened 500 years ago in Germany, and why that event was so important.
The Reformation restored two fundamental principles to the Christian church: The authority of the Bible, and salvation by grace alone through faith alone.
I. The Authority of the Bible
Five hundred years ago, the Bible was a mysterious, unavailable book. The Bible was being printed, but it was available only in Latin, and it was too expensive for the ordinary person to have a copy. (Johann Gutenberg invented moveable type, and produced the first printed Latin Bible in the year 1454.)
But God was at work, and modern translations were beginning to appear. The Religious authorities were not pleased at all, and tried to stamp out the Bible.
William Tyndale translated the Bible into English in 1525. When he tried to print and publish it, he had to flee the country to avoid arrest and imprisonment. He went to Germany where he met Martin Luther (Luther had published his German New Testament in 1522.) While in Germany, Tyndale published the first printed English Bible. It was shipped to England, and widely distributed, but the Bishop of London had it confiscated and burned whenever possible.
Tyndale thus became the champion of the Reformation in England. He was a hunted man, with a price on his head. Fearing imprisonment, he stayed away from England, but he was betrayed by an English friend in Belgium, where he was was tried, condemned and publicly executed. He was first strangled, and then his body burned, on October 6, 1536. His last words were, "Lord, open the eyes of the King of England!"
The Authority of the Bible was the most fundamental and far-reaching principle of the Reformation.
Heb 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
When the Bible is available, when people are free to read the Bible, and when people care about what God's Word says, then Revival and Reformation comes. 500 years ago people died to make the Bible available, and people risked their lives to have a Bible, and read it. They risked their lives to live by God's Word. We owe a great debt to our spiritual forefathers in Reformation times.
The bishops and priests wanted to keep the Bible out of the hands of the people, because the church of the middle ages had drastically changed Christianity, adding a doctrine here and a doctrine there, and a practice here, and a practice there, until it was no longer real Christianity. For example, the church taught....
The Reformation overthrew these false doctrines, and replaced the authority of the Church with the authority of the Bible. Luther's "95 Theses" were statements, based on the Bible, in which he attacked the sale of indulgences, and the treasury of the merits of the saints. He was saying publicly to everyone, and especially to the Pope: These teaching contradict the Bible. These teachings are WRONG!
Luther was immediately condemned by the Pope and the bishops, and called upon to recant. But when Luther made his famous defense at the Diet of Worms (April 18, 1521), he uttered these words:
"Unless I shall be convinced by the testimonies of the Scriptures or by evident reason, I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is held captive by the word of God."
The Roman Catholic Church, and the Emperor, immediately began to plot Luther's death. But he was kidnapped by friends, and kept at Wartburg Castle for half a year, where he translated the New Testament into German.
2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
2 Tim 3:17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
II. Salvation by grace alone through faith alone.
The church of the middle ages taught that even faithful Christians went to Purgatory at death, where they suffered in the flames for their sins. The church taught salvation by religion, salvation by faithfulness to the church and its seven sacraments.
In order to shorten your stay in Purgatory, you had to confess your sins to a priest on a regular basis. You had to make use of the seven sacraments of the church. You could buy an indulgence to get out of Purgatory early, or to get your relatives out of Purgatory. Many men became monks and led lives of suffering and deprivation in order to win God's approval. They would whip themselves, crawl up scores of stone steps on bloody knees, wear hair shirts, suffer years of imprisonment in little cells, praying for forgiveness, and so on. Martin Luther was such a monk, and struggled with guilt over his sins for years, before discovering the Bible verse "the just shall live by faith."
Luther's heart was filled with joy when he realized that God accepted him on the merits of Jesus' death, and his faith in Jesus. He wrote these words:
At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, "In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live.'" There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith... Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.
Many Americans in our generation believe neither in salvation by works, nor in salvation by grace. They believe in salvation by default. You don't need to be religious. You don't need to do good works. You don't need to believe in Christ. God is so good and loving that He will take everyone to Heaven, no matter what. In Luther's time, people were worried about sin and going to Hell. Nine out of ten Americans are sure they will go to Heaven.
The Reformation re-discovered the Bible's way of salvation. Listen to all these clear passages about salvation:
Eph 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
Eph 2:9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Acts 16:29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
Acts 16:30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
Acts 16:31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."
Rom 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Rom 10:10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Rom 10:11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
Titus 3:6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Titus 3:7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Rom 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." When Luther read these words, "The just shall live by faith," he was saved, and his life was transformed.
Conclusion: Before the Reformation, people did not have the Bible. They were kept in ignorance and spiritual darkness and slavery by a corrupt and money-hungry church. They did not know the way of salvation, but tried to earn forgiveness, or purchase forgiveness with money. After the Reformation, people had the Bible, and the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith was preached and received. Millions of people were born again. What about you? Have you received Jesus as your Savior? Are you trusting in Him for salvation, or in religion, or something else. May God help all of us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.