It was October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther, the preacher and professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg church door, which served as a bit like the community notice board. It seems he did not intend to start a new church or radical movement, but simply to put forward some issues on which he wanted to spark further discussion about matters in the church he was concerned about. But that wasn't how it turned out.
Yet there is so much to be thankful for because of that event.
When we think about the Reformation, we most readily recall the events themselves, the people involved and the tangible results it brought about of greater access to God's Word and greater awareness of the biblical basis of salvation and a greater assurance of salvation. But underlying the Reformation were actually foundational matters of honour.
In Romans 1, Scripture tells us that we can know about God but fail to honour Him as God. When we fail to honour God as God the way He says to honour Him, we fail to live the way He wants. Even worse is the situation, when the church and its leaders are the ones failing to honour God as God.
The word 'honour' may not have been prominent at the time, in regard to the Reformation, and not really be mentioned even now, but the principle was permeating the whole process. In fact we use the simile of of the word 'honour' all the time when we talk about the Reformation….the word 'glory'.
The fifth all encompassing 'sola' of the five solas of the Reformation, is Soli Deo gloria: "to the glory of God alone"
The Reformation was all about the issue of 'glory' - the issue of honour, and I see it permeating in four significant ways. Over the next few posts, we will have a look at these. Firstly we see the…..
Honour of God
By 1517, the church leadership and system had more and more overstepped its role and place. It had set itself up in the place of God. It saw itself as the one to decide if a person's sins would be forgiven, if a person could go to heaven or not, and what rules and regulations should define sin and as the only ones to interpret scripture. It saw itself as the voice and authority of God in the lives of people and in society.
Not only that, but it was promoting idolatry by having people bow at carved images of Christ and Mary the mother of Jesus, at the feet of church leaders and of religious 'relics'. It set Mary up as a sinless human being to be venerated and as a mediator, encouraging people to pray not only to God but to Mary. The dishonour of God went even further as certain people were elevated after death into a category of an unbiblical definition of 'saint', appointing them to some mystical position of great spiritual power over earth's events.
The Reformation was about wanting God to be honoured as God. It was about a desire for God to get the glory He deserved. It was about wanting the Roman Catholic church and its leadership to ascribe the full honour to God that was and is due Him, instead of taking it for themselves. When the church refused, it was time to honour God and the true church of His children, above any earthly organisation that set itself in God's place.
The Roman Catholic Church might have been saying that they honoured God above all, but in reality they were putting themselves in the authority position of God in the life of the church corporately and the lives of people individually, and that does not honour God as God.
The Reformers were seeing a church giving more honour to rules and rituals than understanding the reality of God. The Scripture that comes to mind is 'They honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me' (Is 29:13, Matt 15:8). The honour of the church system and the honour of its leaders had overtaken the honour of God. The Reformers were zealous for God and His honour above all.
To be continued in Part 2…..
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