Reformation Day

Today is a significant day–it’s October 31. While many will celebrate Halloween at this time, we want to take advantage of this day to acknowledge a far more significant event that took place on the same day, some 491 years ago. It was October 31, 1517 when a young monk named Martin Luther walked to the Castle Church at Wittenberg, mallet in hand, to nail his famous 95 Theses to the door. Luther was primarily concerned about the role of indulgences (essentially, buying favor & forgiveness from God) and he wanted to have a public discussion about this heinous abuse of the gospel.

Through the providence of God, Luther’s act–which was merely aimed at reforming some of the more egregious practices of the Roman Catholic Church–became the symbolic spark that soon launched a wildfire of reform throughout Europe. As scholars turned back to the Scriptures in their original languages, as God’s Word was treasured above tradition, as the corruption of the church was challenged–and most importantly, as the clarity of the gospel call of Justification by Grace Alone through Faith Alone was recovered–the Protestant movement grew and the Reformation had begun.

Though the Reformation had many and far-reaching effects, there have been five key areas, and five corresponding slogans, that are employed to capture the meat of the Reformation. They are referred to as the 5 solas, from the Latin word for “alone” or “only.” Each day next week, we will be posting on one of the solas as we see how God led the church to recover what had been lost and/or obscured for many years. This truly is a day to celebrate God’s kindness in leading us into truth.

Reformation Solas from Crossway Life, posted by Steve Heitland