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I’ve been reading “The Reformation” by Stephen Nichols. It is a great book that gives an overview of several of the forgotten members of the reformation. I am struck by how far the church has come to give us the Gospel we have and understand today. Oftentimes, I am disenfranchised when I see false doctrine amongst sects of the church today. However, I look at what we’ve come from and I’m overwhelmed by three trains of thought:

1) Man have we come a long way! Most of the differences do not lie in salvation. The topics of the reformation did. Most of the variances we see in the churches today do not directly impact our interaction with God. The topics of the reformation did. Most of the differences do not impact our ability to share the Gospel with others. The topics of the reformation did. Most of the differences do not impact our ability to study and grow in our knowledge of the Lord of the Universe. Yep, you guessed it. The topics of the reformation did. Let’s thank God daily for what we have in Jesus, and what was brought back to us through the likes of Luther, Zwingli, Sattler and many others.

2) Where have we gone completely wrong? The beliefs of the days of the reformation were strong. We don’t understand how strong because, for the most part, we live in a country where church and state have a divide. They did not. We have an easy ability to find a church that fits our understanding of Scriptures; we are blessed to be in a time where the Bible is available and, once again for the most part, held as a place to go to for His words; we have great tools in proper hermeneutics and Biblical dictionaries to help guide our study, but we are kidding ourselves if we think that we have everything correct. Don’t go grab some systematic theology handbook and walk away saying, “yep, that’s it…perfect.” You’ll be wrong. Which leads me back to my previous blog series. It is easy to get distracted and not hold the study of Scripture in a high enough regard. I pray that this isn’t our attitude. I pray that if we as a community are wrong in our understanding of Him, He will be gracious enough to show us. He did that with the reformation forefathers through fervent study and will do so with us too. We just HAVE TO STUDY!!!

3) How strong are my convictions? The evolution of my understanding of Theology has changed significantly over the last 5-10 years. There are many topics that I believe at this point that I will die believing. There are others that I have been taught within the church and would be willing to concede if a strong Biblical argument was made otherwise. There are still some that I just throw up my arms and say I have no clue. The question lies, as I study my church forefathers, would I put my life up against any of these? I think so, but I know that I’ve never had my convictions truly tested. I pray if I were in those situations that my love for Christ and His word would prevail.

Take a look at some of the charges against Michael Sattler. He was burned at the stake for these acts of treason (his wife was later drowned).

He has taught, held and believed that the body and blood of Christ is not present in the sacrament.

He has taught infant baptism does not conduce to salvation

He has despised and condemned the Mother of God and the saints

He has left the [Benedictine] order and married a wife

When you take the Lord’s supper, pray for your childrens’ salvation, study Scripture, pray directly to the Lord, think of your own salvation; remember those that came before you and thank God that you live in an age where, by God’s grace, you get to enjoy those fruits of others’ lives. Then pray that God makes your life one that others can enjoy the fruits of. Let’s not just take solace in the lives of the reformation, let’s continue the work that they started.