Happy Reformation Day
This day many years ago the posting of the theses on the door of the church at Gutenberg. It was at time when the people had to host a messenger with news about how to buy indulgences and the benefit of buying the indulgences.
This was a document prepared by Luther for discussion and debate with other professionals in the ecclesiastical ministry. It also happend not too far from the time the printing press was invented, these two events worked together by providence and the theses, ninety-five of them in number, quickly was found in the community due to the ease of printing and reprinting and many became aware of the details the document and the items to be discussed and the world did not remain the same.
This day is seen as the start of the spark the brought the beginning of the reformation that changed the world and brought attention back to the reading of the text in the orignal languages and placing the authority of the word of God at the top of the authority list for the Christian.
Today many people in different parts of the world do not see the autority of the word as important as that of the founder of the particular church they attend, rather they focus on the special revelation they believe the leader has which trumps whatever the bible might be saying about a particular issue. This view is not too different from what was common before the reformation and the more people are ignorant of what the bible says and not aware of what it teaches and only read those things shown to them with the intention of communicating some point at the expense of the text in context, there will be a continuous descent into ignorance.
May the Lord continue to empower the spots of bright light around the world where there is renewed interest in the word and in the authority of the word.
Happy Reformation Day.
The Reformation Day
October 31, 2022 by Jide Ajayi • Reformation day • Tags: Christianity, Reformation •
Today is reformation day, and it is another opportunity to thank God for his mercy and grace for his people at a time of darkness and lack of clarity about the gospel and the saving power of God, and his willingness to have his people repent and learn rightly of him.
The 95 theses nailed on the church door at Wittenberg on that fateful day were written not for public consumption but for an academic debate among colleagues; hence written in Latin, but the providence of God saw to it that it was the newly invented printing press coupled with the ingenuity of the people who translated it to the local language ensure that many outside the academic realm could also partake of those things that really matter about faith and salvation and repentance.
Many have written that it was not Luther’s goal to light a forest fire, but that is what happened.
In our time and place all these years later and looking at the state of theology, the knowledge of the gospel, and what has become of the churches today, it is not out of place to ask if we all won’t benefit from another reformation. R.C.Sproul says we don’t need a revival; rather, we need a reformation, as a reformation brings about a new form.
We have the opportunity of this celebration each year to check the health of theology, church, and the preaching of the gospel. Sproul also said we don’t look back at the reformation as a place to stay but as a place to look at the future from.