A Word from Bob
Today’s post is Part 1 in a three-part blog mini-series on the Reformation and the life and ministry of Martin Luther. I’ve developed this mini-series from my book Counseling Under the Cross: How Martin Luther Applied the Gospel to Daily Life.
While in the US we celebrate October 31 as Halloween, Protestants around the world celebrate October 31 as Reformation Day—the day Martin Luther launched the Reformation. This is his story…and our story—the story of the joy of salvation in Christ alone.
Luther’s Rope of Hope
Luther came to believe that he could never satisfy God through himself or through the church. As Luther came to the end of his rope, God sent him a rope of hope in the form of Johann von Staupitz.
Upon his return from Rome, Luther was transferred from Erfurt to Wittenberg, In 1511, Luther was invited to be one of the new professors at the University of Wittenberg, and a very important figure entered Luther’s life—Staupitz. A decade later, in 1523, Luther expressed his eternal appreciation to Staupitz:
“It was through you that the light of the gospel first began to shine out of the darkness into my heart.”[i]
The anguish of soul and internal struggles to which Luther had fallen prey were evident to Staupitz as soon as he met Luther. D’Aubigne describes Luther when Staupitz initially encountered him:
“Luther was a young man of middle height, whom study, fasting, and prolonged vigils had so wasted away that all his bones might be counted. His eyes, that were in later years compared to a falcon’s, were sunken; his manner was dejected; his countenance betrayed an agitated mind, the prey of a thousand struggles, but yet strong and resolute. His whole appearance was grave, melancholy, and solemn.”[ii]
Our Entire Person in Need of Forgiveness
During the period when Staupitz was Luther’s confessor, he pointed Luther away from the idea of confessing individual sins, and taught Luther that focusing on particular offenses was a counsel of despair. Luther discovered that there was something more drastically wrong with people than any particular list of offenses that could be enumerated, confessed, and forgiven.
The very nature of a person was corrupt; the whole nature needed to be changed.
For Luther, the penitential system failed because it was directed to particular lapses. Luther now perceived that the entire person was in need of forgiveness. Thus confession was no solution; it only aggravated the already insecure conscience.[iii]
As Luther’s whole person stood exposed before a holy God, he became obsessed with the picture of Christ the avenger. Staupitz searched to find some way to console Luther.
Physician Cure Thyself by Curing Others
The solution was paradoxical. Luther would study for his doctor’s degree so that he could undertake preaching and assume the chair of Bible at the university. Bainton noted the audacity of such a move, saying:
“A young man on the verge of a nervous collapse over religious problems was to be commissioned as a teacher, preacher, and counselor to sick souls. Staupitz was practically saying, ‘Physician, cure thyself by curing others.’” Staupitz thought that if Luther “was entrusted with the cure of souls he would be disposed for their sakes to turn from threats to promises, and some of the grace which he would claim for them might fall also to himself.”[iv]
Scripture Alone; Faith Alone; Grace Alone; Christ Alone
The solution was also practical. Luther committed himself to learn and expound the Scriptures. On August 1, 1513, he began to lecture on the Psalms; in 1515, he started his lectures on Romans; and he taught Galatians from 1516 to 1517.
Through these scriptural studies, Luther began to see God in a drastically different light. His image of God was radically altered as the grace of Christ was cropped back into the picture.
- Where God had been an angry enemy; he now is a loving Father.
- Where Christ had been an avenging judge; he now is a gracious Savior.
This change in Luther’s image of God-in-Christ is the soul experience that changed Luther. How does a prodigal child find peace with a holy Father? Is it by doing the good works of a self-righteous son? No! It is through receiving by faith the amazing grace of the perfect Son.
Servile fear and guilt cannot produce love and repentance. Luther summarized the essence of his discovery:
The change in our relationship to God is accomplished not by our works of penance, but by “the grace of God.”[v]
In the Wounds of the Sweetest Savior
Notice what was central to this heart change for Luther: his new view of God-in-Christ. Luther explains:
“The commandments of God become sweet when they are read not only in books but also in the wounds of the sweetest Savior.”[vi]
The pastoral cure for Luther’s guilt-ridden soul came through the pastoral care of cropping the Christ of the cross back into Luther’s picture.
Through Staupitz’s ministry, Luther came to “grasp together with all the saints” (Ephesians 3:18) the infinite grace and multifaceted love of God-in-Christ. Luther began to see justification and forgiveness as the mechanism for reconciliation and relationship.
- Justification is Christ’s sledge hammer that knocks down the door separating the prodigal from the Father.
- Reconciliation is the bridge that paves the way for the Father to race to the prodigal and throw His loving arms around him.
The Joy of Discovery Launched the Reformation
Luther concluded his letter to Staupitz by connecting these discoveries to the writing of the Ninety-Five Theses. While he was still pondering his new understanding of salvation by grace:
“Behold, suddenly around us the new war trumpets of indulgences and the bugles of pardon started to sound, even to blast.”
So what did Luther do?
“Since I was not able to counteract the furor of these men, I determined modestly to take issue with them and to pronounce their teachings as open to debate.”[vii]
What Luther considered “modest,” was none other than the Ninety-Five Theses which began the Reformation movement.
The Ninety-Five Theses blossomed out of Luther’s joyful and sweet discovery that he was at peace with God because God was at peace with him through faith in Christ’s grace.
In sheer joy of discovery, Luther launched the Reformation!
The Rest of the Story
Join me for Part 2: Staking Our Life on Christ Alone.
Join the Conversation
How would your life and ministry be impacted if you cropped Christ into your picture with these two salvation images?
- Justification is Christ’s sledge hammer that knocks down the door separating the prodigal from the Father.
- Reconciliation is the bridge that paves the way for the Father to race to the prodigal and throw His loving arms around him.
Notes
[i]Luther, LW, Vol. 49, p. 48.
[ii]D’Aubigne, The Life and Times of Martin Luther, p. 37
[iii]Luther, LW, Vol. 48, pp. 64-70.
[iv]Bainton, p. 45.
[v]Ibid., p. 67.
[vi]Ibid., p. 66.
[vii]Ibid., p. 68.
