Happy Reformation Day! On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his "95 Theses" to the door of the All Saints' Church in Wittenberg (Germany), laying out his challenges to various corruptions in the Catholic Church at the time, and inviting open discussion of the issues. He did not seek a split with the church, but a restoration to the truth in the Bible as opposed to man-made doctrines.
Luther had grown exhausted by the weight of guilt and grew to nearly hate God for being so judgemental. Then he started to read the Scriptures and found the truth of the gospel and discovered God's amazing and profound love for him (and for us). He began to see the corruptions of truth in the church body, along with the need for people to read the Scriptures themselves in their own languages. He was driven by a passion for the truth of God's love and the message of salvation by grace, through faith.
Today, on Reformation Day, we do well to remember the message is the same. Not by works (so that no one should boast), but by grace, through faith in Jesus we are saved. God gives us the gift out of His great and deep love for us, in spite of ourselves.
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