Nearly 500 years ago Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenburg Church. They expressed 95 points Luther wanted to debate about established Roman doctrine. Luther hoped to engage the merits of his arguments with other scholars at the University. God had another plan.
Luther did not get his debate, but his message did get dispersed across the country side. A copy of the 95 Theses made its way into the hands of a printer. This was era of the beginning of the printing press, a marvel not unlike the beginning of the internet. God used the printing press to spread the ideas of Martin Luther.
Luther’s teachings were radical to that generation but they were not new, nor were they his own ideas. They came to us from God, revealed in Holy Scripture. The Bible declared the good news that God, our Creator, was personally aware of our human predicament. He knew we were broken and lost, He knew that we were doomed to eternity apart from Him.
The Bible revealed God’s love and care for us. It revealed God’s solution for our guilt. God would bear our judgment in the person of His only Son, Jesus. Through Jesus’ suffering and death God’s salvation was offered to all people as free gift (Ephesians 2:8,9). While we cannot earn or merit His salvation we can receive it when we turn from our own direction for life and trust Jesus to be our Savior.
The Roman Church at that time required penance (and perhaps payment) before dispensing God’s grace. Those who could not pay the price were (supposedly) consigned to Hades, a netherland of punishment somewhere between heaven and hell.
Luther’s Biblical assertion that heaven was a free gift contradicted the authority of popes and councils and undermined the church’s fundraising efforts. At the Diet of Worms in 1521, Luther took his unwavering stand (“Here I stand . . .”). One man stood against the Roman Church. One man stood against the Holy Roman Empire. Luther could make this courageous stand because he stood on the firm ground of the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God, the Bible. Through Martin Luther God brought reformation to His Church.
Fast forward nearly 500 years and we are still debating the authority of God’s Word. This month Emmanuel Lutheran Church is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
We boldly declare, with our fellow congregations of the AALC, that the Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant and infallible Word. In a world lost in the darkness of self-centeredness God’s revelation points us to a life that is beyond ourselves.
Happy Anniversary Emmanuel!
Stand fast on God’s Word. There is a world in need of this Word.
Tim Cartwright, Pastor
Emmanuel Lutheran Church