The Reformation and Grace

A young Roman Catholic priest named Martin Luther posted 95 “theses,” or statements, on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517.

Pastor Dave Tietz of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Taylor, Texas, says, “At the time, Martin Luther had no idea what drastic changes this simple act would bring upon the church, but posting those 95 Theses began a chain reaction that resulted in the events we know today as the Protestant Reformation.”

Tietz says the Arts and Entertainment Network’s choices for the most influential people of the past millennium includes these men: Guttenberg, for his invention of the movable-type printing press that made books readily available and affordable for the first time; Isaac Newton for his work in science, physics, and astronomy; and Martin Luther, who brought religion and education to the common people and is credited for laying the foundation of democracy.

Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses was the culmination of a long, personal struggle that fermented in Luther's soul and spirit for several years, Tietz says, adding, “Martin Luther grew up in a day and age when the church pictured God as an angry, vindictive God, a God of wrath and punishment who watched over us, anxiously waiting for us to make a mistake so that God could then punish us with eternal suffering in hell. The church taught people to fear God in the worst sense of the word. And the church used that fear to control the people, to get them to submit to church and obey all the teachings and rules of the church. And the church used that fear to amass tremendous wealth and power for the Pope in Rome and for the Roman Catholic Church, which was the only church in Europe at the time.” (Tietz says the Catholic Church of Luther's day, and the Catholic Church today are very different. “When I talk about the Church of Luther's day, I am in no way comparing it to the Roman Catholic Church of today,” he says.)

Tietz relates, “As a young man, Luther decided early on that he did not want to spend all of eternity in hell and suffering, so he set out to make himself right and pleasing before God. He left a promising future in law school, took on the disciplines of becoming an Augustinian monk, continued his schooling and was ordained as a priest in the Church.”

Luther earned a Ph.D. in Bible and Theology and became a professor at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, one of the then-new and upcoming schools of the Church.

“But through all of this, Luther did not find what he wanted the most...peace with God and a sense of assurance and rest for his troubled spirit,” Tietz says. “No matter how hard he strived to do everything that a Christian was supposed to do, he realized he was still a sinner. And since God punishes sinners, he was taught, he could only see himself as condemned before God…I suppose Luther was simply more honest with himself than most of us are today. We tend to belittle and minimize our sins, as if they make no difference to God…Luther saw his sin for what it really was – that which separated him from God.”

One day, as Luther prepared lectures on Paul’s letter to the Romans, he read Romans 3, a passage he had surely read many times.

“But this time as he read it, his eyes were opened, the light came on!” Tietz says. “As Luther describes it, ‘It was as though the gates of heaven were opened to me!’”

Here are excerpts from Romans 3:19-28: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight…(But repentant and believing sinners are) justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”

“Can it be any clearer that that?” Tietz asks. “And yet today there are many, many Christians in Lutheran Churches and in all kinds of other churches who believe Jesus is the Son of God and that God raised him from death...but still continue to doubt, to wonder if they really are saved, who think that their salvation still depends on how good they are and how closely they obey the law and live by all the rules…God desires very deeply that we stay close to God and live lives of honesty, integrity, and obedience to God’s will. But how we live doesn’t save us. Jesus Christ saves us! That’s the Gospel…We are saved by the grace of God through faith and trust in Jesus Christ.”