Being A Protestant Monk...Sometimes (Transcript)

So much has been written over the years about how the Church should be, how it should meet, and what's wrong with the way we do things.

Now, I'm speaking primarily of the Church in the United States, because that's where I live. And some of what I say will apply in other areas of the world, and some of it probably won't. But I hope to bring in some spiritual principles that will apply to every Christian everywhere.

I've had my own complaints with various church practices and states of being. And I admit to sort of swaying back and forth from time to time, on the one hand from being too picky and perfectionist about the Church, and on the other hand saying, “Oh well, there's no perfect church, so just bite your tongue and don't say anything.”

Neither of these extremes are probably biblical, and they're certainly not satisfying. But what's at the bottom of the What's-Wrong-With-The-Church conversation? Why is it always a discussion? Or in some cases, why is it forbidden to discuss, as though one were being disloyal and merely critical?

Legalism An Ongoing Problem

Now, if you have followed my writings at all, you know that I think a big problem with the Church has always been legalism, the idea that our individual performance is not only what's ultimately important, but that our individual performance is how we earn God's love and favor.

And you know that I believe that this legalism stifles the spirituality of the church, because it doesn't honor the radical grace of God by which we are not only saved initially, but kept and favored by the Lord Who loves us, even when our performance falls short. And that when we DO understand this wonderful grace, it actually encourages us to follow the Lord willingly and lovingly. Which furthermore is the desire of our own spirit, because we have been given a new nature, indeed made a new creation who loves Christ and hates sin in our heart of hearts.

Fellowship With Christ Revolution

But as I've written elsewhere, this grace is not for it's own sake, but that we might have a close fellowship with Jesus Christ. That His very life might flow through us, as we commune with Him, rest in Him, and think His thoughts.

And it's this fellowship with Christ where I believe we have the most opportunity to revolutionize the Church. It's this fellowship which is the fountain from which flows the water of a spiritual life. To switch metaphors, It's this fellowship which forms the tree from which the Lord produces the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, etc.

And that's why I believe this fellowship with Christ is where we have the most opportunity to revolutionize the Church.

Protestantism

Now I should make very clear that I am a Protestant. I believe the Bible teaches that salvation comes completely by grace through faith, and that this comes through the regeneration brought about by the Holy Spirit as He, like the wind, blows wherever He wills, and causes those whom He has chosen before the foundation of the world, to be born again.

I believe the Bible teaches that neither baptism, or any other sacrament, is instrumental in our salvation. I believe the Bible teaches that no good deed, no good work, no following of any law or ritual, has anything to do with our salvation.

I believe the Bible teaches that we are declared righteous, justified, by faith alone in Jesus Christ, through His dying on the cross to pay for our sins, and to give us the free gift of His righteousness. He redeemed us, purchased us, saved us, as a free gift, without our deserving it in any way, and without our doing anything except believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. And even that faith was a gift from God Himself.

Roman Catholicism

I say all that because I strongly disagree with Roman Catholic doctrine, which is, at it's core, a religion of “grace” PLUS works. And Paul the Apostle makes clear that if you add works to Grace, it is no longer Grace (Romans 11:16).

Although God will indeed cause us to do works, good works, by His Spirit in us, and the law that He has put in our hearts and minds, those good works have NO part in gaining or keeping our salvation.

So what I am going to say about being a “sometimes monk” has nothing to do with Roman Catholicism. I hope I've made that clear.

Regenerate Catholics?

However, having said that, I have observed that throughout the history of the Church, there have always been those who obviously loved Jesus Christ. Many were trapped in the religion of Catholicism, which had dominated Church History for hundreds of years until the Reformation in the 1500's.

Yet God broke through, and they “believed on the Lord Jesus Christ”, and they were saved. It's not for me or you to specifically guarantee that any individual was or was not saved, but yet if you are a believer, you may very well have a sense that someone else is likewise a believer, by their language, by their fruit, by their heart and life.

False Doctrine Sidenote

This brings up a sidenote about false doctrine. We speak of some false doctrines as “damnable”. In other words, it is so false as to deny the Gospel, and by it one can't be saved, or may even be misled so far from the truth that they are “damned” by the falsehood. For example, if you were to “evangelize” by going around telling people that if they try their best to follow the Ten Commandments, then God will reward them with salvation, you would be preaching a false Gospel and not only could no one be saved by your teaching, but it's likely that it would be the instrument of their damnation.

Now this is serious business, and I say it because any religion which teaches that works or sacraments are necessary for salvation, have that potential to bring damnation to those who are taught it.

But there is one more factor that has to be recognized, and I take this concept from Paul's letter to the Galatians. Here's the concept: one can be born again, saved by Grace through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, being truly repentant of their sins, and be a true child of God...and THEN be taught false doctrines of legalism, which although potentially harmful, do not nullify the salvation by Grace which these folks have received. Paul calls this “falling from Grace”, not a loss of salvation (that is impossible), but a misunderstanding where Grace is supplemented by meritorious works.

Having taken that side road about false doctrines, let me say that I believe that not only has God had His people, His remnant, throughout Church History, but has had them WITHIN the false religion we call Catholicism.

And within this remnant have been men and women who have not only loved Christ deeply, but have entered into a fellowship with Christ which is mostly foreign to modern-day believers in Protestant churches.

Godly Monk Types

Some modern-day Protestants have “tapped into” these godly men and women, and learned something from them, and have profited greatly.

I hesitate to give examples of specific people in this context, for two reasons:

1. They would readily be considered “heretics” by many of my Protestant brothers and sisters who may be listening today. And while I appreciate the biblical discernment which would cause that reaction, yet I don't want to stifle the ability to glean from those I consider true believers in Christ, some things that would richly bless the lives of today's Protestant believers.

2. The second reason I hesitate to mention specific ancient believers is that some of my hearers may NOT be very discerning, and I wouldn't want to so wholeheartedly endorse anyone as to recommend everything they may have written, since there is every reason to assume that these ancient believers have a mixed bag of docrine, some good, some bad. This is why I took such pains to explain why I am a Protestant.

But though I hesitate to mention these men and women for those reasons, I will mention one for purposes of illustration, and for a base from which to make my simple case for Protestant monkhood.

Brother Lawrence

The man I will mention is known as Brother Lawrence. If you have read The Practice of the Presence of God, you have read Brother Lawrence. You may be surprised to know that he was a Carmelite Monk in a real monastery in the 1600's, in France.

But the theme of his life and writings is exactly what I believe is missing in the lives of countless Protestant believers today, who think that accurate theology, systematized in whatever system they choose, is Life.

It isn't.

“He who has the Son has life, and he who does not have the Son does not have life.” (1 John 5:12) May I add that he who is in close fellowship and communion with the Son has abundant life, and he who is not in close fellowship and communion with the Son does not have abundant life?

Even the Bible, which you know I treasure, if you know me, is not the ultimate source of Life. Jesus told the Pharisees, “You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.” (John 5:39)

So back to Brother Lawrence. What I really like about him, and I've read his book I mentioned many times, is that he was spiritual, but he was practical. By that I mean that, as a monk, he could have told us all that you need to be cloistered away in a monastery retreat to really have spiritual fellowship with Christ, but he didn't.

Practical Spirituality (Oxymoron?)

He understood that the cloister is not Life either. And he gave practical advice -- tested in his own life -- practical advice on how to fellowship with Christ even in the noise of daily life.

Brother Lawrence mostly had kitchen duty among the Carmelites. He spoke much of washing pots and pans. And he spoke much of the sweet communion which he had in the midst of the clanging of pans in the kitchen of his monastery.

And it's this type of practical instruction, yet spiritual instruction, that I would love to see brought to the church in abundance. It's this type of practical Monk-hood that I would love to see Protestants practicing daily.

Bad Contemplativity (Say 10 Times Fast)

There is a fair amount of literature written today about meditation, contemplative prayer, sacramentalism, and such. But too much of it is not only unbiblical, but so strongly tainted with Eastern Mysticism as to be more Buddhist or Hindu than Christian. And people are being led astray to think that spirituality is “blanking out the mind” or “meditating on God” in such a way as to be at “oneness” with all the World, or “tapping into the Universal Mind who is God”, and so forth.

This is not only counter-productive, but guaranteed to lead away from Jesus Christ. It may soothe the nerves, calm the beating heart, and give a warm feeling. But this is not Christ.

Practical Advice

And so I leave you with some practical advice, yet spiritual advice, biblical advice, in being a Protestant Monk...sometimes. By “sometimes”, I mean in your day-to-day life, at least for a time each day, as opposed to moving into a monastery and making it a vocation.

Here we go:

1. Practice the Presence of God throughout the day. Recognize and remind yourself that He is with you always, indeed Christ in you, the hope of glory, if you are a believer in Him. I would highly recommend that you read (with biblical discernment) The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence, for much practical advice on how specifically to develop this mind and heart for fellowship with the Lord.

2. Pray the Scriptures. There are books on this, but just DOING it is quite amazing in itself. The practice is simple, and you want to read the Bible anyway, don't you? In addition to your normal reading, studying, etc., just pick a passage, read it slowly line-by-line, and pray to the Lord something related to that passage, taking care to “listen” as He speaks to your through those sections of the Word of God.

This is one of the most powerful ways to fellowship with the Lord.

3. Meditate. Not to “blank out your mind”. That is utterly unbiblical. But to dwell on those things that are “true...honorable...right...pure...lovely...of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8).

Meditate on the Word, meditate on God Himself, meditate on Jesus and what He did on the cross, meditate on various doctrines, meditate on the Lord's Grace. Meditate on His great amazing love for you. Do you know that understanding the greatness of His love for you is the best way to increase your love for Him? Meditate on that for awhile. Do you know that understanding His goodness is the best way to lead to your own daily repentance? Meditate on that one.

4. Not to be so practical that you think I'm not being spiritual, but don't hesitate to write down a simple plan for these things. You can change the plan tomorrow if you want. You can complicate it more, or simplify it more. You can make a 10-point list to check off, or a 1-point reminder statement for yourself. Don't be burdensome or legalistic about it. Don't be discouraged when you fail to complete your plan for the day. This is a rest-of-our-lives joyous journey.

Just don't think that it will happen without a little planning. Time flies by, and we forget the simple things that lead to drawing near to the Lord.

Be a Protestant Monk, right in your home, or car, or workplace. Or feel free to go out in the woods, or down by the river. You don't need a brown robe and hood. Take some time away from the hustle and bustle and noise.

But also Practice the Presence of God throughout the day. It's really hard at first. But like most things, it gets easier with practice. Just ask Brother Lawrence.

Finally, you may find that when you spend this time in fellowship with Jesus, that it makes it more natural to share Him with others. When His Life flows through you, when your are filled with love for Him, then it's no big deal to tell others what He has done for you.

Stumble It!

Being A Protestant Monk...Sometimes

This week's audio message:

Being A Protestant Monk...Sometimes

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Stumble It!

Grace Is Not About Grace (Transcript)

A major part of my goal in life is to exalt the grace of Christ. The fact that we are saved by grace through faith is an indisputable part of the Word of God.

And we're not only saved by grace in the beginning, but we are kept by grace, brought to the end of our lives by grace, and kept in the loving bosom of the Father by grace.

Although we will have a measure of fruit in our lives as God works in us to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13), yet it's not this fruit, these works, that save us, it is God who saves us by grace through faith, from beginning to end, as our Alpha and Omega, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

And so I exalt in the grace of God. And because of that, like Paul the Apostle, I despise legalism and self-righteousness. I despise the very idea that our works, our performance, no matter how good they may be, are what causes God to love and favor us.

Why Not More Grace Preaching?

You see, God's grace is absolute. Nothing we can do can make Him love us more, and nothing we can do can make Him love us less. And yet I have people often ask me something like this:

"If this Grace stuff is really true...if God really does love me and accept me in Christ, apart from my performance...if there is nothing I could do to make Him love me more, and nothing I could do to make Him love me less...if He really has forgiven me of all my sins, past, present and future, so there is no condemnation for me...then why don't more preachers preach that, Terry?"

Here's why. Actually one of two possibilities, in my experience:

1. They have been so brainwashed with legalism and performance-based Christianity themselves, that their own eyes haven't been opened to the radical nature of Grace after salvation.

Ask them about Christ "living His Life through me", and they will jump to remind you about your duty to buckle down and discipline yourself with self-control. If you remind them that self-control ironically is a fruit of the Spirit, and it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives through you (Galatians 2:20)...they will look at you as if you were some alien from another world.

And if they are biblically knowledgeable, they will begin to quote you rule after rule, duty after duty, sin after sin, to beat down your "grace" once and for all, you...you...Antinomian! (They love that word, because it keeps them from having to examine the biblical nature of Grace after salvation).

or...

2. They pretty much see the radical nature of New Covenant grace, but they are scared. Scared that if they preach it in all it's glory...if they truly preach "it is finished"... if they preach it without a mixture of the Law...then the sheep will run wild!

Actually, the opposite is true. Real born-again Christians are new creations. Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. We love Jesus, in our heart of hearts. We hate sin in our heart of hearts.

When we hear how radically He has saved us, when we hear of His love that no sin or failure on our part will diminish, then the love of Christ constrains us to follow Him, to desire His ways, to fellowship with Him, to be filled with His Spirit.

The sheep don't run wild under grace. They run wild under Law, which quenches the Holy Spirit and inflames sin.

A Little Test

Here's a little test I give often, not to embarrass people, although it sometimes does, but to illustrate how misunderstood is the concept of being under the Grace of God.

Here's the test...complete this verse:

"For sin shall not be master over you, for _______" (Rom. 6:14)

Pretty important verse, wouldn't you say? A verse that explains why sin shall no longer be master over us? Important, no? Give up? Here's the whole verse:

"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace."

When's the last time you heard that verse preached? Maybe never.

Why?

Ask around. See if your friends, preachers, teachers, can complete the verse. You might be surprised. And there's a good chance that either they don't believe it (watch them try to twist such an elegantly simple verse to mean something else), or they don't want it spread around. The sheep will run wild.

Grace Is Not About Grace

Okay, on to our subject for today, Grace Is Not About Grace.

Here's the point. As much as we may exalt the Grace of Christ, and I hope I've made clear that I do, it's not for the sake of the Grace itself, it's for the sake of Jesus Christ Himself. It's for His credit, it's for His honor, it's for His glory.

We glory not in the Grace for Grace's sake, we glory in the Lord Who bestowed His Grace on us.

And so Grace is essentially about Jesus Christ. Though He has brought us into the picture as the objects of His Grace, we need to go beyond the concept of Me, Me, Me, and turn our focus, our gaze to Him. And the irony is that this is best for us. (God's ways are always best for us, even when we don't remember that.)

Preaching Must Be About Christ

This is why it's so important that preaching be about Christ.

It's why congregations can starve even under expository Biblical preaching, if the preacher doesn't take care to feed the people the Bread of Life, Who is Jesus Himself.

Charles Spurgeon tells this story. Listen carefully, preachers:

A young man had been preaching in the presence of a venerable divine, and after he had done he went to the old minister, and said, “What do you think of my sermon?”

“A very poor sermon indeed,” said he.

“A poor sermon?” said the young man, “it took me a long time to study it."

“Ay, no doubt of it."

“Why, did you not think my explanation of the text a very good one?”

“Oh, yes,” said the old preacher, “very good indeed.”

“Well, then, why do you say it is a poor sermon? Didn’t you think the metaphors were appropriate and the arguments conclusive?”

“Yes, they were very good as far as that goes, but still it was a very poor sermon.”

“Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?”

“Because,” said he, “there was no Christ in it.”

“Well,” said the young man, “Christ was not in the text; we are not to be preaching Christ always, we must preach what is in the text.”

So the old man said, “Don’t you know young man that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?”

“Yes,” said the young man.

“Ah!” said the old divine, “and so from every text in Scripture, there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. And my dear brother, your business is when you get to a text, to say, 'Now what is the road to Christ?’ and then preach a sermon, running along the road towards the great metropolis—Christ.

“And,” said he, “I have never yet found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if I ever do find one that has not a road to Christ in it, I will make one; I will go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savour of Christ in it.”

Self-Centeredness

So, finally, in seeing Grace as being something the Lord has done for us, how do we break away from the self-centeredness of thinking that we are therefore the center of the universe, instead of Him?

In the movie, Lord of the Rings -- The Return of the King, there is a character named Gollum. He once murdered to get "The Ring", and was so corrupted by it that he shriveled into a despicable little creature so pitiful it's hard to hate him. His corruption was characterized by intense self-centeredness, which culminated in a scene hard to forget.

Having lost the ring, it was now being carried off by the Hobbit hero Frodo, to be destroyed. In the unforgettable scene, Gollum is once again contemplating murder, the murder of Frodo and his faithful companion Sam.

The evil Gollum talks to himself in the mirror of a pool of water, getting more and more excited at the thought of murdering them to regain The Ring, hatching his plan to feed them to a giant spider, until he gleefully shouts to himself a climactic, "And take it for Me-e-e-e-e!!"

Such is the height of self-centeredness. Me! Me! Me!

Every Christian has heard the concept of being Christ-centered versus being self-centered. And we all will agree that being Christ-centered is best.

But what is being Christ-centered?

Is it dutifully serving Him, honoring Him, doing good deeds for Him, etc.? You know what I mean, "Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last?"

I know this is the common view, but let me take a little different tack (actually a radically different tack).

Being Christ-centered, biblically speaking, is being in a relationship to Him in such a way as to be fixated with Him. It's not the deeds. It's the "looking upon" Him. Seeking His face. Seeking Him. Knowing Him, as opposed to knowing about Him. Fellowshiping with Him. Gazing on Him.

Then, out of that, comes the serving, honoring, and so forth. But with joy and the power of the Spirit. When we look upon Him, we escape the obsession with ourselves.

We stop asking ourselves, "How am I doing in my Christian life? Am I good enough? Am I working hard enough for the Lord? Am I acting holy enough? I, I, I, me, me, me!"

We turn outward from our own navels to the glorious Son of God, our Lord, our Friend, our Savior, our Beloved.

And then something mysterious and wonderful happens:

"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18)

A.W. Tozer, in The Pursuit of God, put it this way:

"While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do."

And so we see that Grace is not about Grace.

It's not even primarily about us, though He has graciously brought us into His Life and given His Life to us.

It's about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is all. He is everything. If we fellowship with Him, if we commune with Him, our life is fulfilled.

If we have Him as our Shepherd, we shall not want.

Stumble It!

Grace Is Not About Grace

This week's audio message:

Grace Is Not About Grace

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Stumble It!

Celebrating Halloween With Abraham, Martin & John

In America Halloween is celebrated on October 31st. At this time it’s only two days away. I don’t particularly like Halloween, especially its occult aspects, but that’s a message for another time.

I want to tell you a brief story of God’s grace.

Reformation Day

You see, October 31st is also Reformation Day, when we celebrate the light that dawned when the so-called Reformers began to break out of the darkness of Roman Catholicism, and once again began to preach salvation by grace through faith.

It was 490 years ago that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the big wooden door of the Wittenburg Church, denouncing the sale of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church, in which the souls of dead people were supposedly purchased out of the mythical Purgatory, or their time in Purgatory was shortened. It was an evil practice, which preyed on the fears and superstition of the people, and made them poorer as the so-called Church grew richer.

Abraham

But I want to begin our story much farther back in time, to a man called Abraham.

Abraham was called by God out of Ur of the Chaldees, a pagan land with a pagan superstitious culture. God called Abraham away from his people and his culture, to begin a whole new people and culture, which eventually culminated in the nation Israel, and eventually the promised Messiah of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the reason I want to begin with Abraham is because of a covenant that God made with Abraham. And this covenant became the forerunner to what we now call the New Covenant.

God promised Abraham that he would become a mighty nation, that he would have millions of descendants, through which the world would be blessed. Now the whole story is too long to tell here, but there was one little problem. Abraham’s wife Sarah was barren, childless. And the years had passed, and Abraham had assumed that his heir would be someone from his household staff. This was customary when there was no offspring.

Let’s read the promise of God from Genesis Chapter 15, verse 4 and following:

“Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.’ And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’”

Now Abraham could either believe that or not. Did he believe it?

Well, let’s fast-forward to the book of Romans and see what Paul wrote to the Romans about it, and at the same time we’ll learn a very important Bible truth about salvation.

In Romans 4:3,5 we read, “For what does the Scripture say? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” “...but to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.”

Through the story of Abraham we learn something that has always been true:

Salvation is a free gift from God, through believing God. Or as the Bible says, by grace (that’s the free gift), through faith (that’s believing God).

And this salvation was paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross when he paid for our sins. The Bible says He became sin for us, so that we could become the righteousness of God. In other words, He paid the price, so that we could be declared or reckoned righteous by God, Who gave us the gift of His own righteousness, when we believed in Jesus Christ.

There is no other way, and there never has been. Even the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, the Bible says in Hebrews 10:4. All the blood of the sacrifices of Israel did were to temporarily cover the sins of the people until the time that the Messiah could shed His blood to pay for and take away sins.

But salvation was always by grace (a free gift) through believing God.
Now let’s fast-forward a few hundred years beyond Paul and the other Apostles, who taught this beautiful Gospel, good news, that whoever believes in Jesus Christ would be saved by grace through faith.

The Roman Catholic Church

The organized Church became infected more and more with the world’s view of religion. What is the world’s view of religion? It’s simply this: we must DO something, some obedience, some ritual, some work to EARN the favor or love or salvation of God. Salvation couldn’t be a gift, so it must be earned in some way.

And every religion of the world, except true Christianity, has that in common. Some aspects of doing good works or rituals to attain heaven, or Nirvana, or eternal life, or whatever.

And although the Church has always had that evil Legalism influence knocking at its door, after around 400 A.D. it became more and more of an organized Legalism, built into the very documents and teachings of the Church. And on into the rightly-called Dark Ages, and into the Middle Ages, it became the norm. The headquarters of the organized Church became Rome, with its Bishop known as the Pope, and the Roman Catholic Church held its grip on most of the then-known world.

And without going into great detail, the basic doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church was that of works plus "grace", or what they called "grace". It really wasn’t grace at all, because as the Scripture says,

“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” (Romans 11:6)

In other words, if you add works to grace, as a requirement for salvation, then it’s not really grace at all. Because grace means “free gift”, and if you have to add works to get a free gift it’s not a free gift.

That was the problem with the Galatians, and Paul minced no words when he told them that by mixing grace and works, they not only were corrupting grace, but they were believing in another gospel, which is not really a gospel at all, and those who taught such a thing were accursed.

This is still, by the way, the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church today. You will hear their leaders talk about salvation by grace, or salvation by faith, or talk about justification, or the merits of Christ, or the mercy of God, even the Bible and the authority of the Bible.

But despite the twisted terminology, the final result is a teaching that it’s not grace by itself or faith by itself by which we are saved, but grace plus works, faith plus works.

Martin

Well, we come in our story to a Roman Catholic monk named Martin.

By his own admission, there was never a monk who strived any harder than Martin to gain God’s favor. There was never a monk who worked any harder, drove himself any farther, punished himself any more than Martin Luther.

But no matter how he worked and strived and prayed and worked and strived and prayed, he had no peace. And the reason was that he understood how righteous and holy God was, and that man’s works can never gain favor from such a perfect and righteous and holy God.

He was somewhat awakened to the corruption of the Church when he saw the practice of indulgences being stepped up drastically to pay for the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The building program was financed by indulgences being sold to the people. And the chief salesman was a man named Tetzel.

Luther was appalled at the crass misuse of power and superstition, and nailed his complaint to the Church door as his 95 Theses.

But that was not Luther’s most important enlightenment. As a student of the Scriptures, he studied the books of Galatians and Romans intently. And he began to see something in the Scriptures, and finally the light dawned on him, as God opened his heart, just as he had opened the heart of Abraham, and millions of others since.

What Luther saw, what was revealed to Him by God through the Scriptures, was that salvation was not earned in any way, but was a free gift of God, through faith in Jesus Christ.

And it set Luther on fire.

In this modern day of gospel books and Bibles on every desk and shelf in America, we may take it for granted. But Luther was living in a day when the light of the gospel had almost been put out for hundreds of years. Darkness had settled in so deeply that when Luther began teaching salvation by grace alone through faith alone, HE was the one who was considered a heretic.

But by God’s grace, the Reformation had begun with gusto. Luther had meant to Reform the Roman Catholic Church, but they would have none of it. And thus the so-called Protestant Church became a whole new thing.

Through Martin Luther, and other Reformers, the Bible was widely spread in the language of the people. Formerly it had only been widely available in Latin, and many leaders had meant it to stay that way, so that doctrine could only be dispensed through them, twisted as they made it. But as people were able to read the clear teaching of Scripture, the good news spread.

John

One of the most influential of the Reformers was John Calvin, who headquartered in Geneva. Another intense student of the Bible, by the time he was only 27 years old, he wrote The Institutes of the Christian Religion, and became one of the key streams for the spread of the grace message throughout Europe in this exciting time.

There were many others who caught fire with this light of the gospel that God blasted onto the earth in a new setting. Names like Zwingli, and Melanchton, and Knox. It was Knox who prayed, “Lord give me Scotland or I die.” And Scotland was revolutionized by the gospel.

Not to be thoroughly run out of town, the Roman Catholic Church lashed back with Inquisitions and persecutions designed to maintain its power and the false gospel of faith plus works. Many were tortured, burned at the stake, or otherwise martyred for the simple gospel of salvation by grace through faith. But the blood of these martyrs became the seed of the church, which grew rapidly.

And out of this storm survived some basic truths that we celebrate alongside Halloween, some 500 years later. Despite Halloween winning the popularity contest in our culture, I invite you to join me in celebrating what has become known as the Five Solas.

Five Solas

The first is Sola Gratia, by grace alone. Our salvation has to be a free gift of grace, because our own righteousnesses are as filthy rags, useless in securing our salvation in any way.

Another is Sola Fide, by faith alone. Faith will always be followed by works, but the works are never the requirement or instrument of our salvation.

Another is Solus Christus, by Christ alone. Only by the work of Christ, in shedding his blood and dying on the cross, may we be saved by grace through faith in Him. There is no other way to the Father except by Him, Jesus Himself said.

Another is Sola Scriptura, by Scripture alone. The Scriptures, the Bible, is the only authority we have from God for ultimate truth. Because it came by revelation from God, it is true, and He reveals to His children the truth of the Scriptures, and there is no other authority for doctrinal truth, including the Church itself.

And one more, Soli Deo Gloria, for the glory of God alone. That is the heart song of the redeemed, that He might be glorified in our lives. And He is.

One glimpse of the glory of the Lord makes the glory of the greatest Medieval Cathedral, or the glory of the splendor of the Vatican and its gold and fancy dress, fade by comparison.

Celebrate with me, and Abraham, and Martin and John, the Reformation, and the bright light of the gospel of grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Stumble It!