Reformation: Lesson 5

Overview

Why the Reformation Still Matters

The Reformation began not as a campaign to splinter the church but as a call to stand on God's Word alone. From the corruptions and schisms of the late medieval church, through Wycliffe and Hus, to Luther's posting of the 95 Theses, the trajectory was the same: return the church to Scripture. The fruit of that movement reshaped politics, society, and worship—putting the Bible into the hands and languages of ordinary people and giving the church the great rallying cries of sola gratia, sola fide, sola scriptura (grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone).

The Reformation also produced unintended consequences. The Western church fragmented into branches and denominations—over 200 in the U.S. and an estimated 45,000 globally. Some splits arose from genuine theological conviction (such as disagreements with Zwingli over the Lord's Supper and infant baptism), and some, sadly, from mere quarrels. This does not erase the legitimacy of other Christian traditions. Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants together confess the triune God and the saving work of Christ as expressed in the Apostles' Creed, even where we disagree on important matters of doctrine and practice. Differences are real and worth addressing charitably, but shared confession of Christ remains.

The solas are not historical slogans; they are lifelines. Salvation is by grace alone, received through faith alone, revealed in Scripture alone—wholly the work of God and not our cooperation. Scripture is clear that we are saved "by grace through faith…not a result of works" Ephesians 2:8-9, and that Christ chose us before we chose Him John 15:16. Like Lazarus called from the tomb, we are summoned to life by a word we did not generate. Luther's stand still rings true: "My conscience is captive to the Word of God." God has spoken finally and fully in His Son Hebrews 1:1-2—not in feel-good devotionals claiming new revelations, and not in books that quietly deny the Trinity.

The pastoral application is straightforward but costly: don't settle for convenience in your faith. Christ's sheep know His voice John 10:27, and we come to know that voice by digging into Scripture itself, letting Scripture interpret Scripture, and leaning on trusted helps—the Small Catechism, sound theologians, small groups, Bible studies, and your pastors. Then pass it on. The best way to learn is to teach, and every one of us has at least one person in our life who needs to hear grace alone, faith alone, Word alone. That is how the Shepherd's flock grows—and that is why the Reformation still matters today.

Transcript

Okay, well let's turn to the Lord in prayer because that is always a good place to start. 2s

Let's pray. 8s

Lord we thank you so much for this morning, this day. 9s

It is a day that you have made and we do rejoice in it. 14s

We thank you for calling us to your house and for the opportunity that we have to worship 17s

with one another and to sing your praises. 23s

Lord we ask that you would at this time lead us, lead us by your spirit and unfold to us 25s

the meaning of the Reformation for our lives even today and that we would be able to know you better 34s

through your word and through those who have come before us. 41s

We lift all of this to you in the name of Jesus. 46s

Amen. 48s

Okay, so just quick review because we haven't been here for a little while for Reformation 49s

but which next Sunday is Reformation Sunday so where you're red, where you're red, 56s

gotta get my red shoes out. 62s

So if you remember we began by laying out the whole lead up to the Reformation, the political, 65s

the clerical, the social corruptions, the schisms between the East and the Western Church, 73s

the three popes stand off, that was bizarre and you can have all of that or you do have all of 77s

that in your timeline. Then we looked at Wycliffe and Huss or Huss or Huss, Huss, Huss, yes. 84s

The goose, Huss the goose, okay and how they saw the corruption in the church and they were 97s

drawing attention to it and standing firm and trying to get some reform happening and then that 106s

led to Martin Luther who speaks up and he posts the 95 Theses and he wasn't trying to start a 114s

Reformation, he wasn't trying to start a split of the church but it happened. It happened. His intent 122s

was to stand on God's word and God's word alone and the Reformation then we see how it really changed 131s

the landscape for everything. It changed the landscape for politics, for the church, for society. 141s

It put the Bible into people's hands, it put the Bible into people's languages, it helped to 149s

format languages because it gave one central source for language and so after our last class 157s

together the question or a question was emailed to me where someone had asked this person had a 169s

neighbor who said, well Catholics aren't Christian and this person from our class said, well I 178s

thought that they were considered Christian because they believe in Jesus as their Savior but they 187s

do have Mary and all the saints that they pray to so are they considered Christian and the answer 193s

is yes. The Roman Catholic Church is a Christian church, it is a denomination within the Christian 200s

church. We have differences in theology, we have differences that we're not going to agree on 207s

until the end and then we'll all be Lutheran but but no and all seriousness you know there 220s

there are going to be differences with with different Christian denominations but if you recall 233s

last year we had a class on the creed the Apostles creed and all all Christian denominations 239s

hold to that creed that statement of belief. The triune God the Father Son Holy Spirit that we are 248s

saved by Christ's death and resurrection that the Holy Spirit gathers the church calls the church, 258s

we go forth by the power of the Holy Spirit so though we will when we get into the nuts and bolts 266s

or even broader issues we may disagree with other Christian denominations but it does not mean 275s

that they are not Christians so I you know we would disagree with with Roman Catholics who 282s

push forth praying to Mary praying to the saints we would disagree on that but it does not mean 290s

that they are not Christian we would just try to correct the misguided theological understanding. 296s

So today to wrap everything up and I only have one piece of paper so we're not going to take too long 307s

but today we are going to talk about how the reformation affects us because it started in 1517 317s

that like longer than 20 minutes ago so why does it even matter? Well it matters we know that 325s

one of the things that happened was Luther standing up for God's word and standing up for the truth of 333s

both his law and his gospel it really was the push that others needed others who were not happy 344s

with the church at large and saw the corruption also in their own countries it really pushed that 352s

ability for others who saw the need for reform to bring reform into their own countries into their 363s

own cities and so we saw a lot of ripple throughout Europe and then throughout the world 371s

where there was a lot of reform so if you think about it we had the church right we had the church 379s

then we had the Roman church and the Eastern Orthodox church so we had this split which if you 386s

study the Eastern Orthodox church that just like the Roman church turned Protestantism in the 394s

oh my goodness with the reformation so there are some ups and downs some bumps and trials 407s

within the Eastern Orthodox religion as well and there are splits that happened there as well as 416s

so they've got denominations within the church there too so then we so we had those then 423s

then within the Western church all of a sudden after the reformation that's where we see a lot 431s

of different branches or denominations within the Christian faith start to really take off 437s

and others was really interesting there was a study done and it said that it estimates or 446s

estimations show that there are more than 200 Christian denominations in the US and a staggering 452s

45,000 globally according to the center for the study of global Christianity so one of 460s

I would say one of the problems with coming out of the reformation 471s

and the split with so many denominations is that just like anything that is good can 479s

go wonky you think about it there are denominational splits throughout history over just arguments 489s

nothing theological just an argument and then there are theological arguments also that lead to 500s

splits and denominations but there was one one colleague or cohort of mine in seminary who 506s

talked about a small town I believe is in Colorado a small town in Colorado that you walk down 516s

the street and there's church after church after church after church and how those 523s

how those churches came to be was that this family and this church was angry with this family 528s

of this church so then they were going to go ahead and start this church and so that entire town 533s

was infested with anger churches right so so there can be some issues and and so out of the 539s

reformation then you have people like Zwingli in Switzerland who who wants to reform is inspired 550s

by Luther and but then he does not like what Luther which Luther is saying no we're basing we're 559s

pulling everything all of our theology is coming out of scripture and and so then there's this big 568s

split over the Lord's Supper over communion and and and that's where and infant baptism we get a big 575s

split out of that and then you've got the anabaptists running out and and coming out of that and 584s

so there are a lot of splits in the Christian church that came out of the reformation which was 589s

not started with the intention of splitting the church at all it was started with the intention 598s

of being unified in scripture but then man gets involved and we go right so so that is how we have 605s

so many so many split so many denominations and the reformation really emboldened people and 618s

that is it's wonderful but it also has some difficult consequences and and that doesn't take away 627s

from the need for the reform it doesn't take away from the power of the reformation and and God's 634s

work in it but I think it's important that we see the big picture and and we see what can happen 641s

uh when we take over something and so then that leads us to today does the reformation still matter 651s

I mean because we have enough denominations we can all almost everyone in the world has access 663s

to God's word so does the reformation I mean we're not we're not needing that anymore we're not 670s

you know I mean you know are the same benefits the same matters the same uh purpose of the 676s

reformation do they does it pertain today yes yes absolutely what came out of the reformation 683s

is so important um think of the solace the solace faith alone grace alone word alone 694s

if we don't have that in the church that is where we go wonky do and never come back 707s

we have to stick and maintain even in our modern church today grace alone faith alone word alone 716s

it's vital that we as a Christian people know the word not just know about the word that there 730s

is a word but that we know the word looser when he was told to recant um he said unless I am convinced by 740s

scripture and plain reason I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils for they have 750s

contradicted each other my conscience is captive to the word of God I cannot and I will not 756s

recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe God help me amen 765s

we have to go back to God's word over and over and over again it is part of our call as God's 776s

sheep to know the shepherd and how do we know the shepherd Jesus tells us my sheep know my voice 788s

and we have God's voice speaking to us from his word that is where we know the shepherd and so that 801s

word alone that solar scriptura out of the reformation is absolutely vital for us to hold onto the 813s

reformation really opened up to us to all of the Christian church the word which is the grace of 824s

God it is the holiness of his law and it is the grace of his mercy the promise of life for us 835s

and one of the um we'll call it a bugaboo one of the bugaboo's that I have as a pastor as a Christian 848s

as a mom as a person with kind of the Christian church at large is that we like it easy we like life 864s

easy we like life convenient and so we take that love of convenience that love of easy and we bring it 876s

right into our faith lives and we don't invest and I don't mean like a stock market investing right I 887s

mean like we don't invest in knowing the truth of God's word and so we'll pick up a book that says this 898s

is from a pastor but it's from a pastor who denies the Trinity so that's not a Christian book 910s

or we pick up a devotional book that claims these are new words of Jesus Christ 918s

but God in various and old ways spoke to people of old by the prophets but now in these last days he 927s

has spoken to us by his word that is not this devotional the word is complete in the Bible that we 934s

have been given and so we can't exchange the fullness of God's word for for a variety of 947s

feel good or self-empowered theology this is where the reformation is so vital for us today 959s

and we are all we are all in the sermon today we talk about the the talents that God gives us 971s

and and the generosity and and he gives to each of his servants according to their ability 979s

we are not all called to the same to the same place right we are not all called if we were all 986s

called as preachers then we are all going to be talking over each other right but we are all 995s

called as the sheep to know our shepherd and to know him intimately he already knows us intimately 1002s

and so we are called to know him and called to know him better and we do that by diving in 1011s

to his word and so so okay so um so what I want us to take out of this study from the reformation 1017s

I mean it's a great historical study it's fascinating to know how things move shift change um so 1031s

that's just from a historical perspective that's a fun study to do but it also has a practical 1038s

study for us or a practical purpose application for us today as Christians we are called to dig in 1044s

to study to not only know about God but to know God and we do that by digging in by diving in 1052s

to our bibles and not everything in the Bible is going to be easy to um to discern but we have 1062s

a long history of church fathers of theologians who will walk with us through those passages 1071s

we have certain passages in scripture that are difficult but we know that it's there for a reason 1083s

and that's why we turn to good sound foundational sources we first look to scripture to 1091s

interpret scripture and then we look to solid theologians to help us to walk with us 1101s

um pastor eyeball myself Steve David we are here also to walk with you um and as you know I mean 1110s

I'm more than happy to jump in and study if I don't know something it's fun um we have uh the small 1121s

catechism what a great place to start the small catechism just very basic explanations very very basic 1128s

guidance with God's word and with our Christian beliefs we have small groups and there are small 1140s

groups that are doctrinally founded there are small groups that are um on biblical studies biblical 1147s

Bible or biblical books we have um different Bible studies for men and women for kids 1153s

and have you ever heard that the best way to learn is to teach okay so think about someone 1162s

someone in your life who needs to be taught who can be taught 1171s

who can you teach because we all have at least one person in our life that need 1180s

grace alone faith alone word alone and as Christ's disciple that is our call to know our shepherd 1188s

and then to share it so that his flock continues to grow and be called to him so I hope that you 1205s

understand the significance of the reformation um not only in history but uh but really in our lives 1214s

even today and does anyone have any questions or thoughts yes 1222s

yeah yeah yeah can I explain what we mean by grace alone word alone faith alone so um yes 1235s

absolutely so so with the early church um in in Catholicism bless you um we had uh it was a matter of 1241s

I needed to do in order to have righteousness and um and so we are not made righteous 1252s

and we are not saved by anything that we do but it is only by the grace of God that 1261s

we are saved it is only by the grace of God that we are called into faith and that faith 1270s

in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior saves us and so we find that it is through God's word alone 1279s

that um that we are led that we are taught that we are saved that we are um that we know God and 1291s

because there were even just in the very first early church with the Apostles there was a um uh uh uh 1297s

the judyisers who were saying you know yes we are saved by grace saved by faith 1307s

plus by doing this by doing these works by maintaining these ceremonies by keeping up with 1314s

this law of the Jewish law this you know this mosaic law does that make sense? 1322s

okay yes does it make sense now okay good yes so it's not anything we do it's not anything we can do 1331s

um it is it is God and God alone which is really hard even for us who say 1342s

face alone grace alone word alone that alone can be a real tricky thing because um we are all about 1348s

together we are all about how do I get to pitch in um and what do I need to do in order to gain 1356s

this this or this right so this is emptying ourselves of our pride um emptying ourselves of thinking 1364s

that we have anything to offer because we don't not in matters of salvation 1376s

huh no oh goodness we really no we don't so there is so okay so this is getting into um 1386s

decision theology where there is a synergistic indecision theology there is an idea that there 1402s

is a synergistic um happening in our salvation that we have a part to play but if we have any part 1409s

to play at all then why can't we do most of it or all of it there's um the Mormon church teaches 1418s

that um that we are saved by grace after we've done everything else that we can so that's still a 1424s

synergistic and and that's a whole different Mormonism is not a Christian non-denomination we 1433s

can go there another time but um so then but but this is a monogistic salvation that Christ 1437s

and Christ alone saved us polygianism or semi-pollegianism is um is the idea that 1447s

that we are born with that little spark of goodness that we can do something um to earn you know 1454s

or we can participate with God in our salvation but we can't scripture is very clear that we are 1465s

born as enemies of God we are born with evil in our heart that we are intent on um on 1472s

I'm trying to be polite about this but it's like um it's like 1483s

shove off God I mean right that is that is kind of that is how we are born we are born 1489s

not wanting to seek God we are born blind to God and in his grace and his mercy he calls us through 1497s

his gospel we hear both his law convicting us showing us our sin and we hear his promise of salvation 1507s

so God calls us to himself if Eeson says it is not by our own work it's a gift from God we are called 1518s

to him and so we respond when Lazarus was called out of the tomb of death 1526s

he didn't have to sit in there covered going I hear Jesus calling me 1536s

should I get up right no he hears that and I don't I'm honestly not trying to be like 1546s

snarky at all like he hears that called Lazarus come out Lazarus live by my word by my calling 1553s

and Lazarus comes out there isn't a choice now once we are called into faith we have choices of 1563s

matters this side of heaven right but the salvation we do not have a choice in we are called 1575s

and invited by Christ we don't invite him he has invited us he told his disciples you did not 1583s

choose me I chose you I have called you and that is the same today it is he who called us 1590s

yeah 1600s

yeah right right absolutely so it's it's a reversal of the choice so instead of 1610s

and I'm hoping I'm going to say this right because I know I got to sort this so instead of like 1618s

there are some Christian denominations that that say you need to make a choice to follow Jesus 1626s

and then after that everything becomes under God's will Jesus what shoes should I wear today Jesus 1636s

what direction should I take at this stop sign right and it's the reverse it's the reverse of that 1646s

it is I have called you as my child I have made a choice about you you are mine all right I am a 1655s

Christian which way should I go well this seems right and good to me Lord protect me and you go 1664s

and it's we have free choice in matters of earthly things this side of heaven this kingdom we have 1673s

free choice but God has called us so all right I don't know if we have any time for anymore 1683s

anything else nothing deep okay this has been such a fun study really really fun so I thank you 1697s

so much for going on a ride through the reformation with me and I'm really excited about pastors 1714s

numbers class so anyway if you have any other thoughts or questions anything you can always email 1721s

me and I will eventually get to it all right God bless 1727s