Grace through faith

On October 31, 1517, German monk Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Because it was customary for scholars and clergy to post disputations to that door, there was no fanfare and no reason to give the act a second glance.

Yet, Luther’s sheet of parchment on that wooden door sent shivers down into the very foundation of Christianity.

In a day when cultural Christianity had become so muddled that church fathers taught that a man could literally pay his way to Heaven, Luther armed himself with the Word of God to dispel the confusion. God had already provided a way for man to have salvation: faith in Christ alone. It was that simple reminder that ignited the fuse of what we now know as the Reformation of the church, a calling back to the original foundation of God’s Word without man’s unnecessary additives.

After decades of growing fat with worldly prosperity and turning toward the idols of religious living, the church was being shaken out of its slumber. Light had finally pierced dark clouds of ignorance and shone down on a desert of gospel-thirsty sinners.

The Word let loose

Years after Luther made his bold assertions and the Reformation was in full swing, French minister and theologian John Calvin adopted this motto: Post Tenebras Lux – “After darkness, light.” His motto aptly described the atmosphere of the reforming church.

After countless years of being written in Latin and locked away, read only by clergy and privileged scholars, the Word of God was finally let loose for all men. Like wildfire in a dry field, the gospel spread in transforming power. Men and women were burned at the stake by the unbelieving religious establishment for holding fast to Christ and His truth, but their shed blood only nurtured the roots of change.

Because of God’s work through men like Luther and Calvin, countless believers took hold of Christ alone, building their faith on the Scriptures alone, and beginning a new life in the grace of God alone.

Celebration of grace

So, while many will dress up in ghoulish costumes in a thinly veiled celebration of death’s dominion over man, October 31 should mean much more to the Christian. Consider the apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:4-9:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Do not let October 31 go to waste. Reformation Day is a reminder of more than Martin Luther and the Reformers. It is a reminder of the mercy-rich life of the Christian and the privilege of being seated in the heavenly places with the Savior.

Editor’s Note: An extended version of this article was originally published in the October 2016 issue of AFA Journal.