The 500th anniversary of the Reformation

Winston Churchill said, “The farther back in history a person can see, the further ahead in the future a person can see.” Churchill was a careful student of history. We need to understand history also! This week marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. We need to remember the Reformation. We need to remember the life of Martin Luther. As we look back to church history, this must guide our actions in the future.

At age 21, Martin Luther was caught in a terrible thunderstorm. A lightning bolt knocked him to the ground. Luther promised to become a monk if God spared his life. Luther was driven — even obsessed — with finding salvation through his own efforts. Luther wrote, “I tortured myself with prayer, fasting, vigils and freezing; the frost alone might have killed me.” He quickly realized he could never achieve moral perfection before a holy God. He struggled to be right with God. He said, “I regarded Him (God) only as severe and terrible Judge portrayed as seated on a rainbow.”

Luther confessed his sins for hours at a time. Five years after becoming a monk he traveled to Rome. In the church of St. John Lateran in Rome was a set of stairs. The Roman Catholic church claimed that they were the original stairs leading up to Pilate’s house in Jerusalem. Luther climbed the stairs on his knees (as pilgrims do to this day) confessing his sins as he went. The belief was that if a person climbed the stairs on their knees, kissing each step God would shorten their time in purgatory.

Luther’s son records that as he mounted each step the words of Romans 1:17 began to overpower him. They echoed louder and louder in his mind. “But the righteous man shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). Luther understood those words contradicted what he was doing. He walked down the stairs never to do so again. It was at that moment the Reformation was born.

Martin understood that he needed a “foreign righteousness” or an “alien righteousness” credited to his life. Romans 1:16-17 reads, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of God, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’”

What is meant by “the righteousness of God”? It is not our own righteousness. It is not self righteousness. It is not living a good life that impresses God. How does a person get to heaven? The average American thinks, “Of course, I sin but I’m not a bad person. I’m a good person. When God evaluates my life, the good will outweigh the bad.” That is not the right answer! We fail to meet God’s standard. The Bible says, “There are none righteous. There is no one who seeks after God” (Romans 3:10-11). “All of our good works are like filthy rags in God’s sight” (Isaiah 64:6). God does not grade on the curve.

Luther understood that God’s righteousness is an imputed righteousness. It is the gift of God’s righteousness credited to the believing sinner. It is an alien righteousness in that it’s a stranger to me. It’s not my own righteousness. It is a foreign righteousness in that it is foreign to men and women. It is someone else’s righteousness credited to our account. It is the righteousness of Jesus credited to your life. It is a gift received by faith.

God credited our sins to Jesus on the cross. In an act of grace God the Father treated Jesus as if He committed our sins. Jesus suffered the wrath of God. Jesus perfect righteousness is credited to the believer through repentance and faith. You and I must put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus. He died as our substitute. He suffered God’s wrath for our sins.

Luther preached a very famous sermon titled, “Two Kinds Of Righteousness.” He said, “Through faith in Christ, therefore, Christ’s righteousness becomes our righteousness and all that He has becomes ours…. Such a faith is called ‘the righteousness of God.’ This is the righteousness given in place of the original righteousness lost in Adam.” Luther in this sermon preached what had been lost for almost a thousand years!

Luther died on Feb. 18, 1546. Just before he died Luther was asked, “Do you want to die standing firm on Christ and the doctrine you have taught?” He answered, “Yes.” His last words were, “We are beggars.” Our only hope is the Lord Jesus. We are spiritual beggars. We, like Luther, must continue to proclaim and live the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus alone.

Ethan Hansen is the pastor of Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake.