Intro
After 500 years, does the Reformation still matter? Do we still need a day every year to remind us of the Reformation? After all, a recent poll showed that over half of American Protestants didn’t even know that Martin Luther’s writings and actions inspired the Reformation. And this was a multiple-choice question with only three choices! So, most Christians today say, “No, the Reformation doesn’t matter.”
If Reformation Day only celebrated Lutheranism, then it shouldn’t matter. If Reformation Day only celebrated the pride we have in being Lutheran, then it shouldn’t matter. But if Reformation Day is about the truth that Martin Luther dusted off in all its shining glory, hidden by centuries of faulty doctrines, then the Reformation does matter.
Main Body
The Reformation still matters in at least three ways:
1. First, the Reformation matters, because confessing the truth matters.
2. Second, the Reformation matters because hearing the truth matters.
3. Third, the Reformation matters because believing the truth matters.
First, the Reformation still matters, because confessing the truth still matters. The Reformation was about confessing the truth, the truth about your sins, and the truth about God’s work to save you.
Many falsehoods were being taught in Luther’s day. One such teaching was that Christians had to spend time in a place called “Purgatory.” This took place after someone died but before he could get in to heaven. Purgatory was where God purged the sins someone still had after he died. Such a teaching implied that what Jesus did on the cross was not enough.
Here is where it got even crazier. The Pope could shorten someone’s time in purgatory if somebody bought something called an “indulgence.” Luther quipped that if the Pope had the authority to shorten someone’s time in purgatory, then why wouldn’t he do that for free?
What was most offensive about some practices of the Roman Catholic Church was that a person contributed to his salvation. Those practices implied that Jesus’ perfect life, suffering, and dying was not enough to pay for all of our sins.
Jesus said to his disciples, “If you remain in my Word, you are truly my disciples. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). By nature, we are slaves of sin, death, and the power of the devil. We can’t do anything to set ourselves eternally free. That’s why Jesus took on human flesh. That’s why Jesus was born, lived, and died as He did--all because we couldn’t save ourselves.
That’s why there was a Reformation. That’s why we still have Reformation Day. That’s why the Reformation still matters. It matters because confessing the truth still matters!
Today, people are still spreading lies, lies that take away from the work of Jesus Christ. You will hear lies like, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere,” or “All roads lead to heaven.” Perhaps, you’ve heard, “If you’re a good person, you’ll get to heaven.” Perhaps, you’ve heard, “Muslims and Christians pray to the same God.”
Confessing the truth still matters, because only truth can expose lies. Only truth can remove the spiritual darkness of lies. Only truth can set one free from the curse of sin, the fear of death, and the power of the devil. Indeed, confessing truth still matters.
If someone doesn’t know the truth, he won’t know freedom, peace, hope, joy, forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. Yes, the Reformation still matters because confessing the truth as Jesus did, as Paul did, as Martin Luther did, still matters. Unless the truth still rings out today, the devil’s lies will continue to hold everyone captive.
Second, the Reformation still matters because hearing the truth still matters. When you go to your doctor, you expect to hear the truth about your health. When you are willing to hear the truth, then you will be ready to accept what the doctor says. I may not like to hear that I have high-blood pressure and that my cholesterol is too high. I may not like to hear that I have poor eyesight, and I need to wear glasses, but hearing the truth matters.
Even if I don’t like it, hearing the truth matters. It could mean the difference between life and death. To improve my life, to save my life, I need to hear the truth about my physical health.
Hearing the truth matters even more when it comes to my spiritual health. That’s why Jesus warns His Church to “beware of false prophets” (Matthew 7:15). That’s why the Apostle Paul told the Church to “beware of those who cause dissensions and create obstacles contrary to [Apostolic] doctrine” (Romans 16:17).
I don’t like it when Scripture says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). I don’t like being called a sinner. I’d rather hear how marvelous I am. I don’t like hearing that I deserve hell for my sins, but hearing the truth matters.
Unless I know the truth about my sins, I won’t be ready to hear that I need to be saved from them. I won’t be ready to hear that by God’s grace I am “justified freely through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). It matters that I hear the truth about my sins and my Savior. Then I see my need for a Savior--but even more, I see that Jesus is the Savior I need! Hearing the truth matters.
Yet, how do I know what truth is? Every church claims to teach the truth. Every pastor claims to preach the truth. Every religion claims to have the truth. How can I know if I am getting the goods of God, getting the truth? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Jesus is truth. Where you hear the truth about Jesus, you hear the truth. When you hear the truth of Jesus, you hear Truth Himself.
Hearing the truth matters. It can make the difference between life and death, hope and despair, joy and sadness, and heaven and hell. Hearing the truth matters. It matters where you go to church, it matters what you read, and it matters what you listen to. The Reformation still matters because hearing the truth still matters.
Third, the Reformation still matters because believing the truth still matters. Merely hearing the truth will not save anyone. Believing it will. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one-and-only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). In our Epistle text, Paul says, “But now, apart from the Law, God’s righteousness has been revealed … God’s righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:21-22).
The apostle Paul says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Since all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, who then will be welcomed into the arms of Jesus and who won’t? That’s the question that makes the Reformation so essential and why Reformation still matters.
This question bothered Martin Luther more than any other. “How can I know that I am right with God, so I spend eternity in His joyous presence?” Wishing something to be real doesn’t make it real. Good works won’t bring you into heaven. Just believing in a god or higher power won’t save you.
Only believing the truth that you are a sinner and that Jesus is your Savior will save you. So, the Reformation still matters because believing the truth still matters. The truth is that no salvation exists apart from Jesus. Believing the truth about your sins and your Savior, you can be certain that when you die, Jesus will receive you into his loving arms.
Conclusion
May God give us the faith to believe the truth. May God make us eager to hear the truth. May God embolden us to confess the truth. Indeed, the Reformation still matters because confessing the truth still matters, hearing the truth still matters, and believing the truth still matters.
May our faith ever stand on the Reformation truth of Christ alone. For Jesus Christ did everything needed for your salvation. Amen.
