On This Day

On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. This one act changed the world as it marked the beginning of the reformation. Luther says,

My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage him. Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement 'the just shall live by faith.' Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning...This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven.

Luther, a monk dedicated to God, spent a great deal of time studying the scriptures and comparing them with his religious training. He began to realize the for the first time that "the just shall live by faith." Paul's teachings in the New Testament changed his life! The 95 theses contained the contradictions between his religious training and what the Bible taught. As Luther publicly announced his convictions about Biblical truth, he faced persecution from those close to him.

Let us be reminded today of the truth of Romans 1:17, "The just shall live by faith." I'm thankful for this faith and God's saving grace.