A Moment With Pastor Fred

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed a piece of paper on the castle door in Wittenberg, Germany containing 95 criticisms against the Roman Catholic Church. The castle door was a modern day equivalent to posting something on Facebook. What unfolded changed the world.

In 1521, Luther was called before a tribunal and commanded to retract his writings. It certainly would have been understandable if he had done so, for the command had been issued by the emperor, and his disobedience would carry a death sentence. But as Luther stood there, before church and government officials, he asked for a night to consider his response. Was it wrong to refuse to obey his emperor?  Did God want him to die as a martyr? Can you imagine his inner turmoil? Martin Luther appeared the following day with this statement.

“Unless you can prove from the Bible that I have made wrong statements, I cannot, and I will not take back anything. My conscience is bound to the Word of God. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me.”

Today is Reformation Sunday. As Protestants we recognize the incredible theological debt we owe to Luther – along with other reformers and those before them – men like Zwingli, Calvin, Hus and Wycliffe. We wouldn’t agree with all of them on every doctrinal matter, but we, along with them believe in sola fide – by faith alone. How thankful we are for the gospel found in Jesus Christ.