Monday, October 26, 2015
John 8:31-36 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."
THE TRUTH THAT SETS SINNERS FREE
On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted those ninety-five sentences for debate on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. With them he challenged the Roman Catholic Church regarding some crucial theological issues.
Four years later (1521) Luther would be called to an official meeting in the city of Worms, where he would take his famous stand before Emperor Charles V and potentates of the Roman Church. When asked to retract everything he had written against the church, Luther responded: "Unless I am shown by clear reason or Scripture, I cannot and will not recant. My conscience is bound by the Word of God. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen."
Have you ever wondered what those writings were which Luther was asked to repudiate? They included three essays written the previous year (1520). Those three hard-hitting writings the Reformer could not, for conscience' sake, recant unless shown from Holy Scripture that he was wrong.
1) "An Open Letter to the Christian Nobility." He wanted the civil rulers to know that the breach between him and Rome was complete. He challenged the claim that the pope alone could interpret Scripture aright (papal infallibility). He upheld the Bible truth that every believer is a priest before God.
2) "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church." The Reformer challenged how Rome was keeping God's grace (the forgiveness of sins) from the people by misusing the sacraments, especially the Lord's Supper.
3) "On Christian Liberty." Luther defended the core Bible truth that justification before God--salvation--is by faith, not works. He showed that the teaching of salvation by works enslaves while salvation by faith in Christ alone FREES a person to live for God. In this writing we find Luther's paradoxical remark: "A Christian man is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none; a Christian man is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all."
Christian liberty is the Savior's teaching that "if the Son makes you free you shall be free indeed."
In one of his hymns the Reformer sings of this freedom, as we hear the Father say to the Son:
Then go, bright Jewel of My crown,
And bring to man salvation;
From sin and sorrow set him free,
Slay bitter death for him that he
May live with Thee forever.
The Jewel of the Father's crown is Jesus who "has redeemed me a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death ..." (Luther's explanation to the Second Article, 1529).
