Keep Reforming
Galatians 2:15-21: “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”
October 31st, 1517, is arguably one of the most important days in history, for it was in the mid-afternoon hours of that day that a German monk, Martin Luther, approached the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. With hammer and nail in hand, he posted the 95 Theses to the door of that church—a document which contained within it a series of 95 different errors and problems he saw plaguing the Medieval church of his day.
Luther had no idea that with just a hammer and a nail, he would spark a spiritual fire that would soon sweep across all of Europe, resulting in one of the most important events the world has ever known: The Protestant Reformation. In just a few short years, by 1521, Luther would be branded a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church, and they would actively seek to kill both him and those who followed him. But the movement had already begun to spread like wild fire, and there was no stopping it.
As more and more broke away from the false teachings of the Roman Catholic Church at that time, there were a number of biblical doctrines central to the Protestant Reformation, perhaps best summarized today by what we call the Five Solas: Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Sola Scriptura, and Soli Deo Gloria. In short, these five “Solas” relate specifically to our salvation in Christ, the Lordship of Christ, and the authority of Scripture. In English, they are: Faith alone (saves), Grace alone (saves), Christ alone (is Lord), Scripture alone (is authoritative), and all glory (is to be given) to God alone.
As glorious as these doctrines are, we can perhaps dig even deeper and see that most central of all to the Protestant Reformation was the idea that salvation is through faith alone apart from works. This is, for all the many tomes written both for and against it, one of the central teachings of the Reformation, and one of the central truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It’s also one of the most misunderstood doctrines, even to this very day. Yet, we desperately need to understand it. Hebrews 5:12-14 warns us that, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
If we will ever mature in the faith, we need to reform and get the gospel right. We need to return to the truths of Scripture.
1. Reformation requires that we first get the gospel right.
Galatians 2:15-17: “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ…”
You may wonder, how important is it really to get the gospel right? I’ll tell you: It’s everything. If we get the gospel wrong, we will get everything else wrong. We won’t live as Christians, but as pagans. We won’t be men and women of faith, but children of wrath trying to earn our own merit and salvation before God.
The Apostle Paul thought that getting the gospel right was so important, he was willing to call a curse down upon those who got it wrong. Galatians 1:6-9: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”
How many of us quickly turn from the wonderful truths we learn about Christ? How many of us, after understanding the gospel, then try to add to the gospel? To do so is to be accursed.
There’s a Latin phrase that I often think about: ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda. It has, since the 1600’s, been used as a slogan of sorts which means, “The church reformed, always reforming.” It was birthed out of the Protestant Reformation of the 1500’s, when men like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, and Cranmer worked tirelessly to purify the Church of her twisted doctrines and false gospels. Ultimately, what these men were aiming to do, was reform the Church in such a way that they would leave behind the fables and myths of previous centuries which had come to dominate their doctrine and dogma, and return to the truth of Scripture as foundational to both faith and practice in the life of the Church.
Yet, by the time the 17th century rolled around, it was clear that the work of reformation was not yet complete. There was still a great deal more work to do. Countless people, including church leaders, were still getting the gospel wrong. Thus, the phrase above came to define the work of the Reformers and later the Puritans: “The church reformed, always reforming.”
The Magisterial Reformers, along with their descendants, were in no way blind to the fact that there is no perfect church upon this earth. They recognized that, until Christ returns, there will always be room for improvement within the Church as a whole—there will, without a doubt, be times where the purity and doctrinal clarity of the Church seems to ebb and flow. Yet, our mission as Christians remains the same:
“By the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom. 12:1-2).
Why ought this to be our goal? Because the great desire of Jesus is that the Church would be reformed, renewed, and purified. In Ephesians 5:24-27, we read that, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
One of the things my wife and I teach our boys is that we follow Christ, and that means doing hard things. Hard things are often the right things. The right thing is not always easy. Look to any of the Reformers of the 1500’s, and this becomes abundantly clear. But as hard as the right thing may be to do, we are called to do it all the same.
2. Reformation requires we believe that justification is by faith alone.
Galatians 2:17: “so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
You cannot—under any circumstance—earn your salvation. You cannot work enough for it. You will never deserve it.
Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
When Paul writes, “this is not your own doing,” “this” is referring to both the “grace” and the “faith” we see previously in this text. In other words, even the faith by which you believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ does not come from within. It is not something we conjure up, or make happen.
The Bible is clear that, left to our own devices, we would remain spiritually dead forever. Ephesians 2:1-3: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
We are dead. We’re not partially alive, we’re not almost dead, we’re not drowning, and we’re not dying. We’re spiritually dead. And the only thing a dead person can do is stink. This is illustrated for us in texts like:
Romans 3:10-18: ““None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
So, with all of this in mind, Martin Luther and the other Reformers realized that the Bible was not teaching them to try to somehow earn their salvation, but to rest in the finished work of Christ in order to be saved. The idea was not to try really hard, but to simply grasp Jesus by faith and be saved—not that righteous works would not flow out from such faith, but those works would not be the means of salvation. Even the faith itself would not be something in which men could boast, but which God alone could gift.
As Luther realized these things, he began to argue for the truth of the gospel with greater determination and boldness. Eventually, in 1517, he stood before a court at the Diet of Worms, wherein he was summoned to recant of his teachings, writings, and beliefs, or face death. Pope Leo X had condemned 41 of the Ninety-Five Theses. Presiding over the Trial would be the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and representing everything would be the papal theologian, Johann Eck.
When Luther was requested to recant or face the penalty of being named a heretic, he—uncharacteristically—requested to have a night to think it over. When the meeting reconvened the next day, it became clear that he would not recant his writings, teachings, or beliefs.
Johann Eck was confounded and said, “Martin, how can you assume that you are the only one to understand the sense of Scripture? Would you put your judgment above that of so many famous men and claim that you know more than they all? You have no right to call into question the most holy orthodox faith, instituted by Christ the perfect lawgiver, proclaimed throughout the world by the apostles, sealed by the red blood of the martyrs, confirmed by the sacred councils, defined by the Church in which all our fathers believed until death and gave to us as an inheritance, and which now we are forbidden by the pope and the emperor to discuss lest there be no end of debate. I ask you, Martin—answer candidly and without horns—do you or do you not repudiate your books and the errors which they contain?”¹
Luther, with all the boldness he could muster, responded, “Since then Your Majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.” The earliest printed version added the words: “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.”²
Luther was willing to die for the sake of the gospel and the purity of the church. We must have this same sort of boldness and courage when it comes to defending the gospel. If we want Reformation and Revival, this is what we need to do—we need to know the gospel and stand for the gospel.
3. Reformation requires that we give no quarter to false teachings.
Galatians 2:17-21: “But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”
How do we nullify the grace of God? How do we rebuild what was already torn down? By adding anything at all to the gospel, or by taking anything away from it.
So, what do we do to see Reformation continue? We give no quarter to the enemy. We allow no inch of advancement from the adversary. We stand indomitable and bold in the face of evil, and we pursue righteousness, truth, goodness, and beauty at all times.
If we’re going to see Reformation, we need more men like Luther. We need this courageous spirit, which only comes through knowing Christ, being known by Him, and loving the gospel above all other things.
¹ (Roland Bainton, Here I Stand, 181)
² (Ibid, 182)
