Does The Reformation Matter?

The month of October is my favorite time of year. The cool weather, the color of the leaves, crock pot chili, football and everything pumpkin! Everything just seems better during the fall time. Whether its taking hikes, watching football, sitting on the back porch, reading a good book or…oh yea…drinking a hot cup of coffee!

During the month of October, I always like to ask the kids “what comes on October 31?” The expected answer rings in….”Halloween” and so it is, the much anticipated event where you get to dress up as a character and eats lots of candy. But what most people don’t know is that something even greater happened on the 31st, over 500 years ago…the reformation.

What is the Reformation? Well..I’m glad you asked! In the 16th century in the little town of Wittenberg Germany, a young Augustinian monk named Martin Luther began to question his own view of God and the churches outlook. During this time, the Bible was restricted to the Latin language resulting in the majority of the towns people not being able to understand what was being read or taught. As a result of this, the church took advantage of this by misrepresenting the scriptures and implementing extra-biblical measures.

As Luther began to observe the things around him, particularly in the church, he examined the scriptures and wrote up a list of do’s and don’ts, ninety five to be exact. On October 31, 1517 Luther took that piece of paper and nailed it to the public square where all could see. Luthers attempt was to help reform the church back to what the Bible says, hence we get the word “reformation.” By God’s grace, Luther was able in many ways help the church return to the biblical framework that Jesus had established. But this was not the first reform, in fact the Bible presents many occasions where God’s people abandoned biblical principles.

One of the earliest and more familiar accounts is King Josiah, who recovered Gods Word, destroyed idols and renewed God’s Covenant (2 Kings 22-23). The next great reform came during King Hezekiah’s time where he cleansed the temple by removing all idols then incorparated God’s commands into worship (2 Chron. 29-31, 2 Kings 18). Most of Pauls letters to the churches was a call to reform back to the teachings of Jesus and the establishment of His church.

The Bible says in Proverbs 4:13 to, “Always remember what you have been taught, and don’t let go of it. Keep all that you have learned; it is the most important thing in life.” We live in a very busy culture that has many distractions, maybe more than ever. God reminds us that we always need to be reminded what we have been taught, that is God’s Word, it..“is the most important thing in life”. Paul also knew the importance of knowing God rightly by a daily renewal when he wrote, “be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God (Romans 12:2).

So why does the reformation matter? How important is it for our kids to know about it? During the reformation movement that reached Germany, England, France, Scotland and across the world, some important pillars of truth were re established. These five biblical truths regarding our knowledge of God and salvation rang loud throughout the movement.

    •    Scripture Alone- We are saved by the Bible’s teachings, not tradition,

    •    Christ Alone- We are saved by Jesus death/resurrection, no one else

    •    Grace Alone- We are saved by God’s grace, not our worth.

    •    Faith Alone- We are saved by faith in Jesus, not any works by us.

    •    Glory to God Alone- God deserves all the glory for our salvation

Martin Luther believed that the church, particularly the individual believer needs to always be reforming back to God’s Word. How easily we can err in our view of God, sin more often and neglect our duty when we are absent from God’s Word. Jesus, as did Luther, believed it was vital for the parents of the home to.. “Train up a child in the way they should go” (Proverbs 22:6). The story of the reformation speaks to the matters of correcting error, standing up for whats right, the Bible being made avaliable in other languages and re evaluating our understanding of God and salvation.

I would encourage you this fall season to look the reformation as a way to help teach your kids about God, the Bible, Salvation and heroes of the faith. Remind them how blessed we are to have the Bible written in many different languages for all to read. If your looking for ways to dissolve secular festivities in the lives of your kids, take five weeks leading up to (or after) October 31 and talk about the importance of Faith, Grace, Christ, Scripture and God. Share age appropriate videos to help your visual learners know what God did during the 16th century. In a ever changing world, use the reformation as a way to re establish truths in your home. Luther, when asked to change his mind or suffer, he replied…

“My conscience is held captive to the Word of God”

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