The Reformation was the greatest religious movement for Christ since the early church. It was a revival of Biblical and New Testament theology. The Reformation officially began in 1517 when Martin Luther challenged the Roman Church on the matter of Indulgences. While Luther had no idea of the impact this would make on the German society and the world, this event changed the course of history. The Reformation of the sixteenth century is, next to the introduction of Christianity, the greatest event in history. It marks the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern times. Starting from religion, it gave, directly or indirectly, a mighty impulse to every forward move-ment, and made Protestantism the chief propelling force in the history of modern civilization (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church). There had been numerous attempts to reform the Roman Church before the 16th cen-tury, but they had always been squelched by the Inquisition. There were also groups outside the Roman Church, such as the Albigenses and Waldenses. They opposed the Roman Church and their blood flowed like water in martyrdom. Men such as John Wycliffe (1320-1384), John Huss (1360-1415), and Gerolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) spoke out against the papacy, auricular confession, purgatory, pilgrimages, worship of saints, relics, etc. Huss and Savonarola were burned at the stake as heretics. Rome herself made some halfhearted attempts to reform at the Councils of Pisa (1409), Constance (1414-1418) and Basel (1431), but these were not successful. There was a group within the Roman Church called The Brethren of the Common Life that came into existence around 1350 for the specific purpose of bringing reform. Some famous men who belonged to this group were John of Wessel, Erasmus and Thomas à Kempis. God appointed the 16th century to be the time of reformation, and had pre-pared the Church in many ways for this reformation. Religious, economic and political factors that had been brewing for centuries set the stage for the Reforma-tion. The papacy was corrupt; monasticism and scholastic theology had declined; mysticism was on the upswing; there was a revival of the Greek and Roman classics; men with a spirit of inquiry and independence were discovering the new world; the printing press had been invented, and the Greek New Testament republished. The Renaissance was also a factor in that it chal-lenged men to use their minds - but the Renaissance was purely secular, not religious. The Renaissance brought humanism, but the Reformation brought true Christianity. These things were all part of Gods plan to bring about the greatest religious revival since the first three centuries of the Church. The Reformers, while not free from fault, were men with pure motives and high aims. They were unique in the history of the church as men of intellectual ability and passion for Jesus Christ. Most of what they wrote is still as relevant today as when it was written, for most of the same issues prevail at this very hour. The Reformers set forth the Bible and opposed all false religious systems. What the Reformers maintained was in the main truth - Gods own truth as revealed in the Scriptures. It should be remembered that the Reformers were all born, baptized, confirmed and educated in the Roman Catholic Church, and most of them had served as priests at her altars with the solemn vow of obedience to the pope on their conscience. THE DOCTRINAL UNITY OF THE REFORMERS Bible Only (Sola Scriptura): The Reformers declared the Bible to be the only rule of faith and practice. They believed that God had made a revelation in written form to men in the Bible. They taught that the Bible was inspired by God and authoritative, and that it took precedence over the declarations of popes, church tradition and church councils. They asserted that men, under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, are to study the Bible to learn about God, Christ, salvation, and church government and practices. They encouraged Christians to read and study their Bibles in a scholarly way so as to form a biblical theology based on the authority of the Scriptures alone. The Bible, hitherto written in Latin and read only by the clergy, was translated anew into the vernacular tongues of Europe and made a book of the people. Christ Only (Solo Christo): Salvation is located not in the church, an organ-ization, but in the person Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ actually secured and pro-cured the salvation of all who are saved by grace through faith in Christ. Grace Only (Sola Gratia): The Reformers believed that salvation was caused totally by Gods grace. Man is not saved by works but by Gods grace in Christ. No man deserves salvation, and if he is saved it is because of Gods uncondi-tional grace. Faith Only (Sola Fide): Faith alone is consistent with Gods grace in calling to salvation. Thus the Reformers taught that salvation was appropriated by faith alone. Good works could not save but only Christ can save those who believe in Him. Every and any person who trusts the Saviour will be saved, but even a persons faith is a gift from God. Gods Glory Only (Soli Deo Gloria): The underlying, foundational doctrine of the Re-formers was that Gods glory was the ultimate purpose of all things. They held tenaciously to the doctrines of Gods sovereignty in election, predestination and the efficacious call of God in salvation, and saw how these contributed ultimately to Gods glory rather than to mans or to the churchs. The Reformers taught supernaturalism and the necessity of a new birth from God. The Reformers did not believe that Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were just two different forms of Christianity. They believed and taught that Roman Catholicism was heretical and apostate. Roman Catholicism was a religion of works, but Protestantism was the true Christian religion based on Gods grace appropriated by faith. The Reformers were not tolerant of Rome, for they sincerely believed that Rome was holding souls in bondage with no hope of salvation. I believe what the Reformation stood for over 400 years ago is true, as relevant, and as vital today as it was then. Justification by faith alone on the authority of Scripture as Gods inspired Word is the gospel. The gospel does not change from age to age; it is never surpassed; it never will become out-dated; there will never arise a new message that outstrips the gospel in importance, so that we may lay the gospel aside to concentrate on the more important matter. This is how we must view the relationship between the Reformation of the church in 1517 and our time. This is how we must understand the application of that Reformation to ourselves. The truths it set forth, we are to hold and hold dear today, for they were the truths of Gods Word. It is possible that we have deeper insight into those truths - indeed, we are called to have deeper insight - but we repudiate those who pay lip-service to the Reformation as some heroic event, while they deny the truths which the Reformation proclaimed. The Reformation is no historical curiosity which we only admire, but a living, on-going reality, because of the gospel of grace it preached. What conclusions, practical, urgent conclusions for a living church and for living believers, can we come to, from this understanding of the Reformation? The first is that the Roman Catholic Church has not changed, not one whit, for the better from the time in the 16th century when Luther and the Reformation, in grief, had to renounce her in Gods Name. In our day, many Protestants would give the impression that she has changed, so much so that now it is conceivable to have friendly relations with her and even to contemplate re-union. The reason why they say this is that they no longer know what the Reformation was really about, or care for the gospel. The Reformation was not about nice Popes and bad Popes, not about meat or fish on certain days, not about any of those superficial things that Rome lately has bestirred herself with. It was about salvation by Gods grace in Jesus Christ alone! It was about Scripture, the only authority in the church and over the church! On these issues, Rome is unchanged. This is not a charge, but a statement of fact. It is Romes own confession in The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent that justification and salvation depend also upon mans works and merits, and that they are anathema who preach justification by faith only. The Second Vatican Council of 1963-1965 reiterated Romes doctrine that, in addition to Scripture, tradition is authoritative in the church (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation). In the same Constitution, this Council stated that The task of authenticity interpreting the word of God. . . has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church, that is, to the Pope. So little is it true that Rome has changed on any important matter, that the Council of Trents blessing of indulgences as most salutary, and approved of stands to this day. ~ Dudley Davis ~
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 17:27:55 +0000
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