In Disciple Bible Study, we just finished reading the book of Romans and now it’s Reformation Sunday. So, what better thing to focus on today than grace; being justified (made right with God) by grace, through faith alone? And what better time to hear Paul’s important message about being justified by grace because of our faith in God from his letter to the Romans?
Paul wrote this letter from Corinth to the Roman Christians who he planned to visit soon. About this letter, the Disciple manual says: “Martin Luther called Romans ‘the chief part of the New Testament,’ say-ing it contains ‘the very purest gospel.’ It has often brought revival to the church and it profoundly influenced Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and Karl Barth. Many would say it is the most important theological book ever written.”
Even though Reformation Sunday might be considered more of a Lutheran thing, I believe it’s just as important to us as Methodists because not only is the UMC part of the Protestant Christian faith, but one of the key parts of Wesleyan theology is John Wesley’s stance on grace; salvation by grace alone. Eph. 2:8-9 became Wesley’s core passage.
I’m not sure how much you know about Martin Luther, but here’s a little snapshot. (share) Kind of like Paul, while he was still Saul, a very firm orthodox Jewish Pharisee, later converted by Christ to become the main Christian apostle to the Gentiles, Luther’s once very high Church beliefs were transformed by the Holy Spirit working in him to realize salvation can’t be earned or bought, but that we’re justified (made right with God) by our faith in Jesus Christ alone, all through the grace of God.
Needless to say, Luther’s new revelation met with much opposition from the Church (remember – at this point the Western Christian church was only what’s now the Catholic Church, with the Pope as its head authority). When he nailed his 95 Theses – protests - on the Wittenburg church door in 1517 and refused to recant them at the Diet of Worms in 1521, he was excommunicated from the Church and was declared an outlaw by Emperor Charles V.
Luther was forced to live in seclusion for a time at the Wartburg Castle. It was here that he was able to have the luxury to really think his thoughts through and also begin his translation of the Bible into German. This was one of his prominent beliefs that the Word of God needed to be in the vernacular (common) language. If people couldn’t understand, how could they come to fully believe in Jesus?
Paul’s letters became a key vehicle for Luther’s greater understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like the Pharisees had adjusted their own ways and beliefs to the Law of Moses in Jesus’ day, now the Christian Church was doing the same. Martin Luther knew this wasn’t right.
Luther came to believe like Paul had written, we are saved by grace alone; justified – made right with God – as a free gift from God. There’s nothing we can do or buy or pay to earn it. Jesus died once for us all, to forgive our sins and give us life eternal. That’s it! We just have to believe, confess our sin, and proclaim him as our Lord and Savior. It doesn’t matter who we are, where we’ve come from, what we have, own. or don’t have, highly educated or not, age, gender, slave or free, skin color, ethnicity, or anything else; justification is ours as the priesthood of all believers. Yay!
Luther had faith that God had done all of this for us in Jesus Christ, just like the early forefathers had faith way before it happened as Heb. 11:1-2 say. So we should rejoice, shake our tambourines and give glory to God! While we were still powerless, wallowing in our sin, Jesus died for us out of his great love for us. I know I’m blessed with love by many human beings – you are, too. Even though some might say they love me enough to die for me, I’m not so sure they actually would. And even though I do love lots of people, and I might say I would, I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna die for them either. But Jesus did it! Out of love, he paid it all for all of us!
Then he offered to save us and prepare a place in heaven for us so we can live there forever when our earthly bodies die. Who else would or could do that? No one that I know of! But Jesus did, and does it today, tomorrow, and forever. Again by love and grace, even when God should judge and toss us aside, we’re saved from his wrath; reconciled to Christ for God’s glory.
So, this is what we should remember and celebrate, esp. on Reformation Sunday. But it doesn’t mean we can become lazy, complacent Christians, who go on sinning and do nothing to show our appreciation and thanks to God for sending us Jesus.
Now is when we should get off our duffs and share the love and good news of Jesus Christ with others as the Holy Spirit lives and moves in us. This is how we build our relationship with Jesus and discover the peace of Christ Jesus wants to bless us with as we live whatever time we have left, living as the Holy Spirit sanctifies us by grace while we grow in our faith and love of God and receive reconciliation with Jesus.
Friends, by God’s grace and ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, we’re new creations all because of Jesus! I pray we avoid any pitfalls of becoming modern-day Pharisees while at the same time giving credit where credit is due to God: our Creator, Savior, and Redeemer. Remember the glorious good news revealed in Paul’s writings: Sola Scriptura – Scripture only, Sola Fide – by faith alone, Sola Gratia – by grace alone, Solo Christo — through Christ alone, and Soli Deo Gloria — glory to God alone.
May these 5 sola’s help us to continue the Spirit’s work in the world today as we join in the quest to bring about renewal, revival, and reformation in the lives, hearts, and Christ’s church here and the world. By being justified by faith and through the grace of God and love of Christ, may it be so. Praise be to God who continues to draw all people unto him, who reveals his plan of salvation to us. Let us not forget: He who began the good work of faith in us will be faithful to complete it till the day of his glorious return. In Jesus’ name. Amen.