What Every Christian Should Know About the Protestant Reform

The Protestant Reformation is known as a religious renewal movement that changed Western civilization. It was a XNUMXth century movement fueled by the concern of faithful pastor-theologians like Martin Luther and many men before him that the Church was founded on the Word of God.

Martin Luther approached the teaching of indulgences because he was concerned for the souls of men and made known the truth of the Lord Jesus' finished and sufficient work, regardless of the cost. Men like John Calvin preached on the Bible several times a week and engaged in personal correspondence with pastors around the world. With Luther in Germany, Ulrich Zwingli in Switzerland and John Calvin in Geneva, the Reformation spread throughout the known world.

Even before these men were around men such as Peter Waldon (1140-1217) and his followers in the Alpine regions, John Wycliffe (1324-1384) and the Lollards in England and John Huss (1373-14: 15) and his followers in Bohemia they worked for reform.

Who were some important people in the Protestant Reformation?
One of the most significant figures of the Reformation was Martin Luther. In many ways, Martin Luther, with his commanding intellect and exaggerated personality, helped spark the Reformation and stoked it in a bonfire under his guard. His nailing of the ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, provoked a debate that led to him being excommunicated by a papal bull of the Roman Catholic church. Luther's study of Scripture led to a clash at the Diet of Worms with the Catholic Church. At the Diet of Worms, he famously said that if he was not persuaded by simple reason and the Word of God, he would not move and that he would stop on God's Word because he could do nothing else.

Luther's study of the scriptures led him to oppose the church of Rome on many fronts, including focusing on Scripture on the church tradition and what the Bible teaches about how sinners can be made righteous in the sight of the Lord by finished work and sufficient of the Lord Jesus. Luther's rediscovery of justification by faith alone in Christ and his translation of the Bible into German enabled the people of his time to study God's Word.

Another important aspect of Luther's ministry was to regain the biblical view of the priesthood of the believer, showing that all people and their work have purpose and dignity because they serve God the Creator.

Others followed Luther's courageous example, including the following:

- Hugh Latimer (1487–1555)

- Martin Bucer (1491–1551)

- William Tyndale (1494-1536)

- Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560)

- John Rogers (1500–1555)

- Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575)

All these and many more were committed to Scripture and sovereign grace.

In 1543 another prominent figure in the Reformation, Martin Bucer, asked John Calvin to write a defense of the Reformation to Emperor Charles V during the imperial diet which would meet in Speyer in 1544. Bucer knew that Charles V was surrounded by counselors who opposed reform in the church and believed Calvin was the most capable defender the Reformation had to defend Protestants. Calvino took up the challenge by writing the brilliant work The Necessity of Reforming the Church. Although Calvin's argument did not convince Charles V, The Need to Reform the Church has become the best presentation of Reformed Protestantism ever written.

Another critical person in the Reformation was Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the printing press in 1454. The printing press allowed the ideas of the Reformers to spread rapidly, bringing with it a renewal in the Bible and throughout Scripture teaching the Church.

The purpose of the Protestant reform
The hallmarks of the Protestant Reformation are in the five slogans known as Solas: Sola Scripture ("Scripture alone"), Solus Christus ("Christ alone"), Sola Gratia ("only grace"), Sola Fide ("only faith" ) And Soli Deo Gloria ("the glory of God alone").

One of the main reasons why the Protestant Reformation occurred was the abuse of spiritual authority. The most critical authority the Church has is the Lord and His written revelation. If anyone wants to hear God speak, they have to read the Word of God, and if they are going to hear Him audibly, then they have to read the Word aloud.

The central issue of the Reformation was the authority of the Lord and His Word. When the Reformers proclaimed "Scripture only," they expressed a commitment to the authority of Scripture as a reliable, sufficient, and trustworthy Word of God.

The Reformation was a crisis over which authority should have priority: the Church or Scripture. Protestants are not against church history, which helps Christians understand the roots of their faith. Instead, what Protestants mean by Scripture alone is that we are first and foremost committed to God's Word and everything it teaches because we are convinced it is God's Word that is reliable, sufficient and trustworthy. With Scripture as their foundation, Christians can learn from the Fathers of the Church as Calvin and Luther did, but Protestants do not place the Fathers of the Church or the tradition of the Church above the Word of God.

At stake in the Reformation was this central question of who is authoritative, the Pope, church traditions or church councils, personal feelings or just Scripture. Rome claimed that the authority of the church stood with Scripture and tradition on the same level, so this made Scripture and the pope on the same level as Scripture and church councils. The Protestant Reformation sought to bring about a change in these beliefs by placing authority only with the Word of God. A commitment to Scripture alone leads to a rediscovery of the doctrines of grace, because each return to Scripture leads to the teaching of sovereignty. of God in His saving grace.

The results of the reform
The Church is always in need of the Reformation around the Word of God. Even in the New Testament, Bible readers discover that Jesus rebukes Peter and Paul by correcting the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians. Because we are, as Martin Luther said at the same time, both saints and sinners, and the Church is full of people, the Church is always in need of a Reformation around the Word of God.

At the base of the Five Suns is the Latin phrase Ecclesia Semper Reformanda est, which means "the church must always reform itself". The Word of God is not only on God's people individually, but also collectively. The Church must not only preach the Word but always listen to the Word. Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ."

The Reformers came to the conclusions they made not only by studying the Fathers of the Church, of whom they had a vast knowledge, but by studying the Word of God. The Church during the Reformation, as today, needs the Reformation. But it should always reform around the Word of God. Dr. Michael Horton is right when he explains the need to not only hear the Word individually as persons but collectively as a whole when he says:

“Personally and collectively, the church is born and kept alive by listening to the Gospel. The church always receives God's good gifts, as well as His correction. The Spirit does not separate us from the Word but brings us back to Christ as revealed in Scripture. We must always return to the voice of our Shepherd. The same gospel that creates the church sustains and renews it “.

Ecclesia Semper Reformanda Est, instead of being restrictive, provides a foundation upon which to rest the Five Suns. The Church exists because of Christ, it is in Christ and it is for the spread of the glory of Christ. As Dr. Horton further explains:

“When we invoke the whole phrase - 'the reformed church is always undergoing reform according to the Word of God' - we confess that we belong to the church and not simply ourselves and that this church is always created and renewed by the Word of God rather than from the spirit of the time “.

4 things Christians should know about the Protestant reform
1. The Protestant Reformation is a renewal movement to reform the Church to the Word of God.

2. The Protestant Reformation sought to restore Scripture in the church and the primary place of the gospel in the life of the local church.

3. The Reformation brought about a rediscovery of the Holy Spirit. John Calvin, for example, was known as a theologian of the Holy Spirit.

4. The Reformation makes God's people small and the person and work of the Lord Jesus great. Augustine once said, describing the Christian life, that it is a life of humility, humility, humility, and John Calvin echoed that declaration.

The Five Suns are not without importance to the life and health of the Church, but instead provide robust and genuinely evangelical faith and practice. On October 31, 2020, Protestants celebrate the Lord's work in the life and ministry of the Reformers. May you be inspired by the example of the men and women who preceded you. They were men and women who loved God's Word, loved God's people, and longed to see renewal in the Church for the glory of God. May their example encourage Christians today to proclaim the glory of God's grace to all people. , for his glory.