500 Years Ago Luther Shook the World
500 Years Ago Martin Luther Shook Germany the centre of the Holy Roman Empire and its Catholic Church control.
From 800 AD for 700 years Rome’s water, wine and wafer rites were used to justify millions from their sins.
This had remained unchallenged since Charlemagne.
Though Luther’s 91 theses had been nailed to the Wittenberg Chapel door, the essence of his protest as harbinger of free Protestantism was ‘the just shall live by faith,’ through the grace of Christ. This echoed the message of Paul the apostle, and the prophets that grace alone brings an unshakeably unique faith. It cannot be compared with the weak and double-minded faith of earthlings.
Men clerics, pastors, and ministers may strut in the confidence of their sectarian doctrines’ supremacy, but the faith of Christ given to the believer at the behest of God the Father alone gives regenerating assurance, joy unspeakable and peace passing all understanding.
With today’s automated human faith that uses affirmation, repeated lip confession and the psychology based gospel salesmanship of fundamentalism humanism has replaced Luther’s focus on “the just shall live by faith” through grace. Faith is now assumed by sacramentalists, orthodox confessionalism, liberals, evangelicals, and fundamentalists. Bible believing saints, alias ‘sheep’ feel like Luther grieved and smitten by rampant apostasy.
Bishops, prelates and pontiffs with their their pastors’ water of rebirth may scorn radical conversion by the grace of Jesus Christ but their automated easy-religion does not gull the sheep of the kingdom who were changed from goats into sheep by the faith of Him who bore their sins upon the tree.
