Reformation: Lesson 3

Overview

Luther's 95 Theses: A Call for Conversation, Not a Call for Schism

When Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in 1517, he was not attempting to break from the Roman Church. He was a faithful priest deeply troubled by what he saw: parishioners abandoning confession to purchase indulgences, the preacher Johann Tetzel terrorizing villagers with the slogan "when the money clinks in the box, the soul springs up to heaven," and the construction of St. Peter's Basilica funded off the backs of poor sheep. Luther wrote his theses as questions for academic debate, framed respectfully and grounded in Scripture, the Church Fathers, and canon law. Though he had not yet arrived at sola scriptura, he was beginning to recognize that something in the church's practice was deeply at odds with the gospel—a corruption not only of the institution but, more urgently, of souls.

Repentance as a Whole Life, Forgiveness from God Alone

Luther's first thesis sets the foundation: when Jesus said "Repent" Matthew 4:17, He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. This is not the despairing self-hatred our culture rightly resists, nor the showy piety Christ condemned; it is the daily denial of self, the daily turning to Christ, the daily prayer "forgive us our trespasses." Repentance cannot be reduced to a sacramental transaction administered by clergy or settled with a coin.

Luther's sixth thesis presses further: the Pope cannot remit guilt except by declaring what God has already remitted. Forgiveness belongs to God alone. As Isaiah 43:25 declares, "I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake." John 1:29 points to "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," and Psalm 130:3-4 reminds us that with the Lord "there is forgiveness." When the church reserves cases or denies absolution to extract payment, it usurps what belongs to God.

The Law, the Dying, and the Burden the Gospel Was Meant to Lift

Theses 8–10 confront the cruelty of imposing penalties on the dying or extending them into purgatory. Drawing on Romans 7:1—"the law is binding on a person only during his life"—Luther argues that canonical penances belong to this side of heaven. To impose them on the dead is no more reasonable than expecting the dead to keep fasts or feast days. A deathbed confession is a true confession, and the church exists to speak the word of forgiveness, not to withhold it.

Luther also exposes how indulgences harmed daily Christian life. Believers were taught to bypass needy neighbors to fund their indulgence purchases—a betrayal of the very love Christ commended in Luke 10:25-37. Fathers were squandering money their families needed for bread. Worst of all, people were placing their trust in slips of paper rather than in the mercy of God, breaking the First Commandment in the very act of seeking forgiveness.

The True Treasure of the Church

Thesis 62 stands as the heart of the matter: "The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God." Not the basilica, not the clergy, not even the people—but the gospel itself. The church's burden-lifting message had been replaced by burden-piling demands, but the gospel remained, and God's hand remained on His church even through her corruption. His Word does not return empty.

For us, the pastoral application is clear. Live as people of daily repentance, not occasional transactions. Trust God alone for forgiveness, never substituting any human work or payment for the finished work of Christ. Care for the neighbor in front of you rather than buying spiritual security at his expense. And hold fast to the true treasure—the gospel of grace—knowing that no corruption, in any age, can extinguish what Christ has established.

Transcript

Good morning. 2s

Let's begin with prayer. 3s

Lord, we thank You so much. 7s

We thank You for this day. 8s

It is a day You have made and we do rejoice and we are glad in it. 10s

We thank You for all the blessings that You provide for us, especially in the midst 14s

of the bumps and blips in life. 21s

We know that Your hand continues to stay upon us. 26s

We ask that You would make us bold proclaimers of Your love, the righteousness that we have 29s

in Christ and the mercy that You have called all of us into. 34s

Let us be Your missionaries and let us learn from those who have gone before us such as 40s

Martin Luther. 44s

We lift all of this to You in the name of Jesus Christ. 45s

Amen. 48s

Okay. 50s

So, we talked a little bit last. 50s

I almost said last night. 53s

We talked last night, but so we talked a little bit last week about what was leading up 55s

or a couple of the pre-reformation reformers who had influenced Luther. 65s

We talked about Jan Huss. 71s

And we talked about John Wickliffe. 74s

I guess it was actually opposite. 78s

John Wickliffe and then Jan Huss. 79s

And so the little story about Jan Huss, who came up that his surname Huss, who means goose, 82s

and before he was martyred, he said that they can cook the goose, but that a swan will rise. 94s

And so someone had shared with me, I said, I don't quite know where the swan comes from. 103s

So someone had shared with me that he thought it probably was because Luther came forward 109s

and was very eloquent in his speaking, in his words and in his writing. 118s

And so perhaps that is where it comes from, the elegance of Luther, which some of Luther's 127s

writings are, he swears. 133s

He just lays it out. 139s

But yeah, I enjoy reading Luther, he's fun. 141s

So all of this corruption had been happening in the church for years and years and years, 146s

centuries and centuries. 152s

And whenever people pointed out any of the corruption in the church, the church would smash it down 153s

and say, no, absolutely not, that person would be martyred, burned at the stake, 161s

or something else, and they would be cast out as a heretic and killed. 166s

And the church did not seem to like being called out for its corruption, or those who were 174s

corrupt within the church did not like being called out for corruption. 179s

I don't know why, but they didn't. 184s

And so Luther comes along and he was a good Catholic in far as, or in as much as that he took 189s

the guilt of his sin very seriously. 201s

And he would hurt himself and he would confess his sins over and over and over again. 205s

And he wrestled with this wrathful God who expected perfection. 211s

And then he saw these, he saw, well, first he saw that some of his congregants, 218s

some of his parishioners stopped coming to him for confession. 227s

And that's a huge no-no. 232s

You have to confess your sins in order to be given jobs to do to pay your penance. 233s

And he found that they would be going to another church to buy indulgences, 240s

to buy those free, easy, quick passes. 246s

And he didn't like that. 250s

And then he saw that there were indulgences being purchased or being sold in order to gain money 253s

for the church, whether it's to build or to remain solvent as a church or as a specific parish. 264s

And then he saw that the priest, John Tetzl, who was going around and scaring people into paying 272s

indulgences. And Luther really, really didn't like that. 284s

Tetzl, which we'll get to one of a very direct commentary on him in the indulgences. 289s

But one of the things he was known for saying was when the money clings in the box, 296s

the souls spring up to heaven. Luther didn't like that. 301s

Thank God. He did not like that. 306s

So he had preached against the indulgence trade. 309s

And he was hoping to use this in 1517. 315s

He was hoping to use the 95 feces as a way to make this a discussion. 319s

Bless you. To discuss this with the theologians, with the church leaders, with the laity. 326s

And he wrote in preface, he says, out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, 334s

the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, an ordinary lecturer 341s

therein at Wittenberg intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in 346s

that place. Therefore, he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally 351s

shall do so in their absence by letter, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. 357s

He just wanted to have a conversation. He was saying, these things are happening in the church. 363s

These indulgences are wrong. We should not be doing this. And as we get to them, 369s

many of his feces within the 95 feces were saying, this is being done in the Pope's name. 374s

I don't think he would like this at all. So we'll get to that. But he was just trying to bring 380s

about the conversation. He didn't like the corruption. He saw it everywhere. He didn't like the 387s

tactics that Tetzel was using. He didn't like, and he still held, remember, he still held that 395s

confession and doing your penance. Those were, that was sacramental. That was very linked to salvation. 400s

And here his congregants are not going to confession. They're just paying for quick indulgences. 410s

And so this was not only a matter of corruption in the church, but this was corruption of the soul. 417s

This was harming his people's souls from what he knew. So it's really important to remember that 423s

Luther did not go into this, expecting a Protestant reformation where there's a split in the church 433s

in any sort of way. He didn't want to split from the church. He also, as he wrote these, or when 442s

he wrote them, and when he wrote his explanation to the 95 feces, he was still in a process of 449s

developing, theologically. He did not have it all nailed down. He just, and that's no pun intended. 457s

He just, he was just figuring things out. And, and he was trying to make sure that God's word, 464s

and the plain truth of God's word, was before the people, instead of, and so he wasn't, he wasn't 473s

trying to divorce scripture from the church. He was trying to say, no, no, the church upholds 482s

scripture, right? Right? And so he didn't expect or want or seek for a split, but 488s

alas, the swan swam in, and we have a split. So we're going to look at a few of these, a few of 496s

okay. So the first thesis is, when our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, repent, he willed the 513s

entire life of believers to be one of repentance. And we're going to, we're going to look at this, 522s

also in, in, with the second one that links to that. This word cannot be understood as referring 531s

to the sacrament of penance, that is confession and satisfaction is administered by the clergy. 537s

So he declares, as he's writing this, he is, he is writing out of respect for the Pope, he's writing 544s

these theses as questions, he just wants some answers, and he wants to make sure that the church 551s

is adhering to God's word and that he upheld scripture as authoritative, but he had not yet come 557s

to the point where it is soul authority. He thought that the Pope, the, the councils, the church 568s

fathers, they all had authority. It was under the authority of God's word, but it wasn't, it wasn't 576s

quite yet to the solar of solar scriptura, word alone, okay. Does that make sense? I'm assuming, 584s

I mean, yes, it should. Okay. So, so he says that he, he desires to say or maintain absolutely 591s

nothing except what is in the holy scriptures and can be maintained from them. What is in and 598s

from the writings of the church fathers and is accepted by the Roman church and preserved both 606s

in the canon and papal decrees? If any cannot be proved or disproved from them, I shall simply 610s

maintain it for the sake of debate on the basis of judgment, of reason, and experience. However, 617s

without violating the judgment of any of my superiors in these matters. So still, he was being 624s

very respectful and, and coming to it, not from a position of strength or authority in his own 630s

mind, but really coming from the, the perspective of, let's just get to some answers together and 640s

make sure that we are in God's word. So, when our Lord, a master Jesus Christ, said repent, he will 647s

the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. And he talks in his explanation about this, 653s

that, that the hatred of one's self should be involving the entire or whole life. And we hear 662s

that idea of hatred of one's self. And immediately our kind of hackles go up and I don't want to 674s

hate myself and we live in an era where we need to love ourselves and, and be happy with who we 680s

are and find ways to seek that. And he's not saying, hate yourself as in, you should all go out 685s

and commit suicide because you're horrid, right? He is saying very clearly understand that, 694s

that we are to take up our cross and follow Christ. We are to deny ourselves so that we follow 703s

Christ. So, it's, it's really that beginning stage of where he writes in the first commandment 713s

explanation that, that we shouldn't love or trust in anything above God. Love, your trust, anything 721s

above God. So, it's getting to that point of idle worship, right? He's saying that we, we put 732s

Christ first, we follow him first. It also says that Christ is the master of the spirit. And Christ 739s

teaches the kind of repentance which is done in spirit and in truth, not that which is done by the 749s

arrogant hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite. That's worse than us. Where, and Christ tells about this, 756s

he talks about this in Matthew where he says, don't, don't go distorting your faces when you're 768s

fasting, put oil on your head and, and come together, you know, in front of the people, don't, 774s

don't heap up phrases of empty words. He's saying, don't make a show of your faith, don't make a show 780s

of your repentance, but it will involve your whole self. It will be a part of your whole life. 787s

And so we pray throughout our entire lives, forgive us our debts or forgive us our trespasses. 796s

We can never tire of praying that because we live our lives always needing and seeking and wanting 805s

that forgiveness and not by our doing, but in Christ. So, with that, he's just saying that the 815s

sacrament of penance, it's not, it's not a matter of something that the church alone gives, 825s

that this is something that is our whole being, that we are, we are making satisfaction, we aren't 834s

making satisfaction, but we are, we are asking for forgiveness, we are denying ourselves and we are 842s

turning to Christ, to God. Number six, the Pope cannot remit any guilt except by declaring and 849s

showing that has been, that it has been remitted by God or to be sure by remitting guilt in cases 858s

reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in these cases were disregarded, 865s

the guilt would certainly remain unforgiven. Everyone who confesses that their guilt to God is to be 871s

forgiven and it is God alone who can forgive. In Isaiah chapter 43, Isaiah the prophet writes, 883s

speaking for God, I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember 893s

your sins. In John the first chapter, John the Baptist says, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the 900s

sin of the world, Psalm 130, if thou O Lord should mark iniquities who could stand, but there's forgiveness 907s

with you. So he is pointing out that forgiveness comes from one and one alone, which is or who is, 917s

God. It is God alone who can grant forgiveness for sins. Also Jesus says, he who rejects you rejects 926s

me. So if the Pope is rejecting certain cases, reserving cases to be rejected by his own, 939s

own thoughts and own ideas, then all of a sudden the Pope is again taking it upon himself to 949s

decide who and who is not worthy of forgiveness, which in the matter of indulgences, if you are not 957s

paying your indulgences, then easily the church can say, you're not going to get forgiveness. You 965s

have to give us that money. Number eight, okay, and eight, nine and ten are all built on one another. 975s

Eight, nine and ten are built on one another. Eight, the penitential canons are imposed only on 992s

the living and according to the canons themselves, nothing should be imposed on the dying. Therefore, 997s

the Holy Spirit, this is number nine, through the Pope is kind to us in so far as the Pope in his 1003s

decrees always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity. And number ten, those priests 1009s

act ignorantly and wickedly who in the case of the dying reserve canonical penalties for purgatory, 1015s

which you read that and that's like holding off and not like purposefully holding back forgiveness 1023s

from someone on their deathbed and saying you get to deal with that in the afterlife. You get to 1032s

deal with that in purgatory. So the penitential canons are imposed only on the living and according to 1036s

the canons themselves, nothing should be opposed on the dying. So Romans seven says that the law 1044s

is binding on a person only during his life. The law is binding on a person only during his life. 1051s

So we have the law which has authority over us and we talk about the three parts of the law, 1063s

the three working, it shows us our sin, it keeps us from sinning and it guides us, right? So it 1073s

shows us, it curbs us and it guides us. And that is all for this side of heaven, the law acts upon us 1080s

this side of heaven. But it does not reign when we are in Christ, it does not reign eternal for us 1089s

because we are forgiven eternally of our offenses against the law and we are brought into eternal 1099s

righteousness through Christ. So the one who is dead is discharged from the law which applies to 1109s

the one who is still alive. Canon laws like all other man-made laws are bound by the circumstances of 1118s

time, place and persons as everybody knows. It's only the word of Christ that it has been said, 1126s

thy word, O Lord, endures forever thy truth to all generations. So there is one, one that is 1133s

eternal and it is the word of God. Everything, everything in this world will pass away. 1142s

But God's word will stand forever. It will remain forever. And so all of these laws, all of these 1152s

restrictions, no matter how wonderful they are and right and good and salutary to follow here on 1162s

earth, no matter what law it is, it is kept in the realm of this earth. It is bound by time, 1170s

place, person. And when we die, when we are released from our earthly lives, then we are no longer 1183s

bound by those same rules because we are now living fully in the redemptive freedom of Christ. 1192s

If the penitential canons apply to the dead, then by the same token, all the other canons apply. 1204s

Therefore the dead should observe the festivals, keep the feasts, the fasts and watches, 1210s

observe the canonical hours on certain days, eat no eggs, milk, meat, but only oil, fish, fruit, 1215s

vegetables, wear black or white clothes according to the different days, and bear other exceedingly 1220s

heavy burdens which oppress that wretched church of Christ which formerly was most free. And I 1226s

on the living only and not the dead, can you imagine if we expect all of these heavy laden burden 1241s

laws to carry on into purgatory, into the afterlife where people are still working it off, 1250s

well then certainly we should expect of the dead that they have to fast, that they have to keep 1259s

the feast days, that they have to go with all of these other laws that are written into God's 1266s

Word that are good for us, that lead us in goodness this side of heaven. But we don't expect that 1273s

from the dead. So why would we expect that they have to pay off the laws that they had broken 1282s

in life? We don't expect that. The church was bringing the message of freedom. Think of the first 1291s

early Christians, the first church and how those believers and the apostles would go and there 1300s

was the big first council at Jerusalem where they were deciding that no freedom in Christ is freedom 1307s

in Christ, it is not freedom in Christ and works. They were saying no, the works are no longer 1314s

part of this freedom. We cannot earn our salvation. And here now you're adding the works in death 1322s

as well as in life. Yeah, that oppresses the church. And I like that he uses the word the 1332s

wretched church because that brings such a wretched burden upon the believers when the whole gospel 1341s

is to relieve that burden, to lift that burden from their backs. And yet here we have the church 1353s

putting it right back on if not more so. Suppose some healthy person will have omitted 1361s

performing the imposed penances and will confess this when he is about to die. In this case it appears 1371s

that such a person must of necessity pay these penances in purgatory even if no other penances 1378s

needed to be imposed or would be imposed. And Luther says not at all. For by such an omission he has 1385s

done nothing more than sin against the precepts of the church. He is not required to make up. And on 1392s

his deathbed when he is confessing that sin he should be able to receive the word of forgiveness. 1400s

He is making a confession to which then the authority of the church, the office of the keys, 1408s

is to offer that word of forgiveness. And he quotes from Jesus in the gospel of Matthew where Jesus 1415s

says let the days own trouble be sufficient for the day tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 1424s

No one needs to lie on his or her deathbed. Fearing purgatory, fearing having to work off 1430s

the deaths incurred in sin this side of heaven. When we make a deathbed confession is that a valid 1443s

confession. Yes, scripture is very clear that this side of heaven it is never too late to repent, 1453s

to confess our sins, to take up our cross and follow Christ. It is never too late this side of heaven. 1464s

And so while these expectations of working it off after death that's outrageous but quite frankly to 1474s

deny forgiveness to one on his or her deathbed is cruel. And the church is not sent or established 1490s

here on earth by Christ for cruelty. It is established here to proclaim his word of forgiveness and his 1499s

word of freedom by him and through him not through our own working. In 27, thesis 27 this is where he 1509s

has that little commentary to tetzle. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the 1525s

money clings into the money chest the soul flies out of purgatory. Right there he is already saying that 1532s

this is not God's doctrine. This is not what we're finding in scripture. And while he's in the process 1539s

of developing this and understanding it better he still knows it's wrong. Has that ever happened 1546s

where someone preaches something or says something not here, BTWs. But when someone you hear someone 1555s

who proclaims to be a Christian preacher and they say something and it just doesn't seem right. 1567s

And you don't know that you can quite articulate it but you just know that that's I just know that's 1575s

against scripture. I know that's against what we have heard and read and been taught at living 1582s

word. I know something's wrong in this. And then when you start digging in deeper 1590s

then you realize indeed that is a false teaching or a false doctrine. And that's what's happening 1597s

here with Luther. He's going through these things saying we need to discuss this. Something isn't 1605s

right here. And throughout the rest of his career he continues to seek and search truth in God's 1612s

Word and continues to get bolder in his proclamation. So these 95 these these are really just that 1622s

starting point but he is calling out Tetzl here. Very kindly, very respectfully not naming names 1630s

but he's quoting exactly what Tetzl was going town to town or village to village saying and claiming. 1639s

It is certain that when money clinks in the money chest greed and avarice can be increased 1649s

but when the church intercedes the result is in the hands of God alone. Again you hear that 1653s

love for the church and that support of the church saying the church this is not the church is doing 1661s

surely this isn't the church is doing. When the church steps in it's in God's hands but at this time 1671s

it was the church and it was the church people who were demanding the money and who were paying the 1683s

money and so this is that start of the schism because that is not the true church and really you 1694s

can say that indeed this does uphold that when the church intercedes it is in God's hands alone 1705s

because when the church intercedes through reformers such as Martin Luther it is in God's hands 1716s

and God's hands bring out the full truth of the gospel. There may be periods of time 1724s

between Christ's death and the Reformation where the church was corrupt, was hurting, was damaging 1733s

but the church came forth still. The church that Christ established still comes forth and is still in 1743s

God's hand and his truth will not return to him empty. Christians are to be taught that he who 1750s

sees a needy man and passes him by yet gives his money for indulgences does not buy papal 1760s

indulgences but God's wrath again. So now we're getting into a lot of the very specific indulgences 1765s

issues so he's saying anyone that is not paying attention to the brother or sister who is in need. 1775s

The person who who bypasses it's the good smaritan right? The priest who bypasses the other 1783s

church leader who bypasses that man on the side of the road who is dying in order to get to where 1790s

they need to be in order to not deal with this mess. Well these people are passing by the mess in 1798s

order to get their indulgence paid. That is not to their benefit because they're turning their 1807s

back on their brother. They're turning their back on the child of Christ who needs help. 1816s

Christians are to be taught this is 46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than 1824s

they need they must reserve enough for their family needs and by no means squander it on all 1830s

indulgences. Okay so who here has ever squandered money? One radio commentator calls it stupid tax. 1836s

You know I think we've all done that paid for things where we went oh my gosh I just wasted that 1844s

money. Well in this day and eight not in this day and age in Martin Luther's day and age you 1849s

don't squander money you can't squander money that is that can come down to a matter of life and 1856s

death. You have to be able to provide for your family. You have to be able to put food on the 1861s

table and anyone who is bypassing not only their brother but their children their wives. Yeah 1867s

wasn't really the wives who made money. Anyone who would forsake their family in order to pay the 1877s

Pope was not doing a Christian service and they were not living into into the call that they have 1886s

in Christ. They were squandering it squandering it. If they had extra money he says sure go ahead if 1898s

you have extra money pay to the church that's fine but take care of your family first. Christians 1907s

indulgences is a matter of free choice not commanded. Again nowhere in scripture does it say that you 1916s

can pay for your sins that you can pay off your sins and so it is not certainly not commanded. He 1923s

is not yet at the point of denying purgatory though. He's still in the process of learning and 1933s

growing so he's not denying purgatory yet but he's saying it's not it's not commanded. It's not 1941s

commanded. Christians are to be taught that papal indulgences are useful only if they do not put 1947s

their trust in them but very harmful if they lose their fear of God because of them. So again we're 1952s

getting to that first commandment they're putting their trust in these little pieces of paper 1958s

that has been given to them. They are not putting their trust in the mercy and the grace of God 1965s

and so it's making an idol out of these indulgences it's making an idol out of what they can pay 1972s

for their eventual freedom or what they can pay for their loved ones eventual freedom. 1980s

Christians are to be taught this is 50. Christians are to be taught that if the Pope knew the 1988s

exactions of the indulgence preachers he would rather that the Basilica of St. Peter were burned 1992s

to ashes than built up with the skin flesh and bones of his sheep. No. Oh Luther so badly wanted 1998s

so badly wanted the church not to be corrupt so badly wanted the Pope not to be corrupt 2010s

and so he's saying if the Pope knew what was being done in his name if the Pope knew what was being 2019s

done on behalf of the church he would tear this Basilica down he does not want this built off the 2026s

backs of his poor sheep and the Pope says yeah do you want this I do want this. 2035s

Christians are to be taught that the Pope would and should wish to give of his own money 2049s

even though he had to sell the Basilica of St. Peter to many of those from whom certain hawkers 2054s

of indulgences could Joel money same thing same sort of thing the Pope doesn't want this surely the 2059s

Pope doesn't want this but as we learn through history indeed the Pope does want this. Sixty-two the 2068s

true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God we're going to 2077s

end on this one because I am almost out of time here but this is beautiful so beautiful that the 2085s

true treasure treasure of the church is the holy gospel of the glory and grace of God it's not 2094s

talking that the treasure of the church is the Basilica it's not talking that the treasure of the 2100s

church is its clergy the treasure of the church isn't its people the treasure of the church 2106s

is what the church is built upon which is the grace of Jesus Christ his glory his goodness 2113s

that is the treasure so we're going to we're going to continue we will probably do a little bit more 2123s

with the 95 Theses next week just a smidge and more but do you see how these these discussion points 2133s

they weren't they weren't meant to be zingers they weren't meant for anything other than we need to talk 2141s

about this the Pope needs to know about this can you believe this is happening we need to discuss this 2148s

and we'll find that that led to a lot of trouble for Martin Luther and for his cohorts 2155s

in the Reformation so we will continue with this next week um I think I think next week our topic 2163s

is the history or the historical significance of the Reformation so we're going to look not only at 2171s

the significance within the church but then how it really began to shape even the world around it 2178s

okay I will see you next week and god bless 2186s