Saturday, October 26, 2013
Jude 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
FAITH OF OUR FATHERS: MARTIN CHEMNITZ
Sometimes we might get the sense that the struggle for the truth of the gospel was essentially completed by the end of Martin Luther's life in 1546, as if after a generation the Protestants no longer tangled much with the Roman Church and most all of them were agreed on the teachings that the reformers had brought to light. But that was far from the reality of things. The central Scriptural truth of "salvation by grace -- through faith -- on account of Christ" as well as the idea that the Bible is God's authoritative word were points of contention even among the Protestants themselves in the decades after Luther.
Several significant controversies arose among the Protestants. False teachers promoted corrupt doctrines concerning the Lord's Supper and the person of Christ. There were others who claimed that salvation was not entirely a free gift from God but depended in part on the deeds of man. Human reason threatened to take precedence over clear passages of Scripture. A "second Martin" was needed to remind everyone again to stand on the truth of the Bible -- and the Lord provided one.
Martin Chemnitz was born in 1522. He took his schooling in many different cities in Germany, including Wittenberg and Koenigsberg, where he received his Master's degree in 1548. In 1554 he was made a member of the faculty at the University of Wittenberg. He was ordained into the ministry on November 25, 1554 by none other than John Bugenhagen (see Monday's devotion).
Chemnitz' pen was busy defending the Scriptures. He wrote a large four-volume work "The Examination of the Council of Trent" in which he responded to continuing errors in the Catholic Church. In 1560 he wrote extensively on the Lord's Supper and in 1570 on the two natures of Christ, answering the false teachings that had arisen. The Lord used him in particular, however, as the principle author of the Formula of Concord, a foundational document of the Lutheran Church. Written in 1577 and taking its stand on the Bible, the Formula of Concord restated the Christian teachings of the Reformation and brought about agreement among German Lutherans. It is still confessed by our churches today.
Martin Chemnitz died in 1586, but his life and work remind us that in every generation and in every age there will be those around us who hinder and obscure the gospel of Christ. We need to be on our guard and be ready to "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." The gospel of justification by faith in Jesus is simply too precious to let go!
On the calendar of the Lutheran Church, Martin Chemnitz is remembered on November 9, the day of his birth.
