Although the roots of the Reformation extend back to the twelfth century, Martin Luther (1483-1546) was the spark that fanned these embers into a flame. As Luther studied the Greek New Testament, he discovered the true message of the gospel. Within a few years, the Reformation would sweep across Europe.

Four questions were central to the Reformation.[1] Luther’s answers to these questions show the primary emphases of the Reformation.

How is a person saved?
Where is spiritual authority based?
What is the church?
What is the essence of Christian living?

How is a Person Saved?

The Roman Catholic Church answered, “A person is saved by faith and good works.” These works include faithfulness to church teachings and rituals.

After nearly dying from a lightning strike, Luther joined an Augustinian monastery at the age of twenty-two. He was faithful to every requirement of the monastery. He nearly destroyed his health with long fasts and ascetic practices. He later testified, “If anyone could have earned heaven by the life of a monk, it was I.” Like Paul in Philippians 3:4-6, Luther knew that if there was any reason to have confidence in the flesh, he was secure.

However, while performing his first Mass Luther was struck by the conviction that he was “full of sin.” In 1510, he made a pilgrimage to Rome hoping to find peace of soul. Instead, as he saw the hypocrisy of the church hierarchy, he wrote, “Rome, once the holiest city was now the worst.”

Disillusioned, Luther began to seek an answer to the question, “How can a sinner be made right before a holy God?” He read in Romans, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”[2] Here he found the astounding truth that “through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith.” From this, Luther understood that the “righteousness of God” is not only the requirement of God; it is the provision of God.

The Reformers answered the question, “How is a person saved?” with, “We are justified by grace through faith alone.” The Reformers were known for the principles of sola gratia (grace alone) and sola fide (faith alone).[6]

The doctrine of justification by grace through faith involves three terms:

Justification is the act of declaring a sinner who repents righteous before God. Through justification, we are pardoned for our sins.

By grace alone means that nothing we do merits salvation. Salvation is not by grace plus works, the teaching of the Judaizers of the first century. Salvation is not by grace plus the church, the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Salvation comes through God’s grace alone because Jesus took our place.

By faith alone means that we receive this gracious gift by believing God’s promises. Nothing that we do earns salvation; it is the free gift of God. We accept it by faith in God’s promises.[3]

The doctrine of justification by faith alone was the foundation of the Protestant Reformation. The Reformers insisted that nothing can be added to faith as a prerequisite to justification. Luther’s last written essay ended with these words, “We are beggars. That’s the truth.” This was not a statement of despair; it was a joyful declaration that in grace, God hears and answers the beggar’s cry.

► How would you explain justification by grace through faith to three types of people?

A Roman Catholic who believes that she is justified through the Catholic church
An unbeliever who believes that he will be justified by “living a good life and doing my best”
A hungry seeker who believes that she is “not good enough” to deserve justification

Where Is Spiritual Authority Based?

The Roman Catholic Church answered, “All spiritual authority lies with the Church of Rome, headed by the pope.”

In 1513, Pope Leo X approved the sale of indulgences to raise money to complete St. Peter’s Basilica. A German monk, Johann Tetzel, promised that a person who bought an indulgence was made “cleaner than Adam before the Fall.” In response, Luther wrote his Ninety-Five Theses (propositions) to condemn this practice. Following the custom of the day, Luther nailed his proposal for public debate to the door of the Wittenberg church. Johann Eck, a Roman Catholic theologian, responded by accusing Luther of heresy.

Luther did not intend to leave the Roman Church; he sought to reform errors within the church. However, his study of Scripture gradually led Luther to reject Catholic dogma. Reading the Greek New Testament, Luther saw that Jesus’ call to “repentance” did not mean “do penance,” as it was translated in the Latin Vulgate. Instead, it meant a change of heart and mind. Luther objected to a teaching that lowered the demands of God’s holiness to nothing more than ritual. He insisted that grace transforms our entire being.

Eventually, Luther realized that Scripture must hold authority above the church. In a debate with Eck, Luther stated the Reformation principle, “Neither the church nor the pope can establish articles of faith. These must come from Scripture.” This principle, called sola Scriptura, means “Scripture alone.” The Reformers did not mean that Christians have “no authority except the Bible.” They meant that Christians accept “no authority over the Bible.” Protestants were committed to the principle that no other authority stands over Scripture. Luther valued the writings of the church fathers and councils, but he saw that final spiritual authority lies in Scripture, not the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1521, Luther was called before an imperial court headed by Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. The “Diet of Worms” summoned Luther to recant his writings and confess mistakes in what he had written. In response, Luther restated his commitment to the authority of Scripture. “I am bound by the Scriptures, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God.”[4]

► In his response to Luther, the imperial secretary at the Diet of Worms argued, “If it were granted that whoever contradicts the councils and the common understanding of the church must be (answered) by Scripture, we will have nothing in Christianity that is certain.” Catholic officials insisted that individual Bible reading would lead to chaos. If every Christian can interpret Scripture, how do we avoid confusion?[5]

What is the Church?

The Roman Catholic Church answered, “The only true church is Rome.” The pope insisted that salvation was possible only through the Roman church.

When Luther visited Rome in 1510 and saw the sinful lifestyles of the bishops and cardinals, he began to recognize the apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church. As he studied Scripture further, he came to understand that, through faith, the individual believer can approach God directly without priests and church rituals. In his writing titled The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Luther argued that the Roman Church had deprived believers of access to God. The Reformers taught that “all believers are priests called to offer spiritual sacrifices to God.” The church is composed of all true believers.

This view of the church affected many aspects of Luther’s later teaching. He rejected the church’s view of the sacraments, recognizing only Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. He gave both the bread and the wine to laymen. Rather than the Mass as a reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, the focus of Lutheran worship was the Word of God.

What is the Essence of Christian Living?

The Roman Catholic Church answered, “Monastic life is superior to the life of the laity.” It was only monks and priests who truly fulfilled the model of the Sermon on the Mount.

Luther responded that the Christian is called to serve God in any calling, sacred or secular. All useful callings are equal in God’s eyes. All Christians are called to live in full obedience to God.[7] Because of this conviction, Luther encouraged ministers to marry, and in 1525, he married a former nun, Katherine von Bora.

Luther preached that good works are the fruit, not the source, of spiritual life. “Good works do not make a man good, but a good man does good works.” For the Reformers, the Christian life was not about earning salvation through works, but about doing good works in joyful response to salvation.

Justification by faith is not the end of our Christian growth. Instead, the justified believer begins a process of discipleship that transforms all of life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most famous Lutherans of the twentieth century, warned against “cheap grace” that teaches forgiveness without repentance. It is “grace without discipleship, grace without the cross.”

The ideal of Christian living is neither monastic withdrawal nor careless conformity to the world around us. Instead, Christians are called to live in obedience to God’s Word in every place and in every time.

The Effects of Luther’s Teaching

Luther’s goal was reformation within the Roman Catholic Church, not a new church. However in 1521, the church excommunicated Luther as a “heretic.” Soon the Reformation spread through Germany and to other parts of Europe. In a ten-week period in 1521, Luther translated the entire New Testament into German, making Scripture available in the language of the people. In the following years, he translated the liturgy into German. He abolished the office of bishop and appointed pastors. Finally, he abandoned the emphasis on the Mass as a reenactment of Jesus’ death and put the preaching and teaching of God’s Word at the center of the worship service.

Martin Luther was not infallible. His doctrine was not fully developed in some areas. However, Luther’s influence on the Christian church has been enormous. Through his writings, the Reformation spread across the continent and ultimately, around the globe.

The Reformation “Solas”
Sola Scriptura	Scripture alone is the final authority for life and doctrine
Sola Gratia	Grace alone is the means of salvation
Sola Fide	Faith alone is the means of receiving salvation
Solus Christus	Christ alone provided our salvation
Soli Deo Gloria	As believers we live our entire lives to the glory of God alone

[1] From Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, 3rd edition (USA: Thomas Nelson, 2008), 238.

[2] Romans 1:17

[3] For more on the doctrine of justification by grace through faith, see the Shepherds Global Classroom course, Romans.

[4] Quoted in Mark A. Noll, Turning Points, 3rd edition (MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 146.

[5] Remember that while Luther recognized Scripture as the final authority of all of life, he did not teach that all people had equal authority in interpreting Scripture. Luther had great respect for the ancient creeds, and for the study of the Hebrew and Greek texts. The careful study of Scripture was important to Luther and the other Reformers.

[6]“From depths of woe I cry to thee,
Lord, hear me, I implore thee.
Bend down thy gracious ear to me,
My prayer let come before thee.
If thou rememberest each misdeed,
If each should have its rightful meed,
Who may abide thy presence?

“Thy love and grace alone avail
To blot out my transgression;
The best and holiest deeds must fail
To break sin's dread oppression.
Before thee none can boasting stand,
But all must fear thy strict demand
And live alone by mercy.

“Therefore my hope is in the Lord
And not in mine own merit;
It rests upon his faithful Word
To them of contrite spirit
That he is merciful and just;
This is my comfort and my trust.
His help I wait with patience.

“Though great our sins and sore our woes,
His grace much more aboundeth;
His helping love no limit knows,
Our utmost need it soundeth.
Our shepherd good and true is he,
Who will at last his Israel free
From all their sin and sorrow”

- Martin Luther’s hymn on Psalm 130

Luther saw Psalm 130 as an Old Testament summary of the gospel. It shows our great sin (“If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand”) and God’s great grace (“For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption”).

Two hundred years later, John Wesley heard Psalm 130 sung in worship on the afternoon of his “Aldersgate experience.”

[7]“Many have taken the Christian faith to be a simple and easy matter… This is because they have not really experienced it.” - Martin Luther