Sparking the Flame: October 31st Devotional

Sparking the Flame

Ephesians 2:8

October 31st Devotional

      On this day in 1517, an obscure German Monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenberg Castle.  Luther was born to wealthy parents in 1483.  His family wanted him to be a lawyer, but after a near-death experience, Luther felt that God was calling him to be a monk.  Luther joined an Augustinian Monastery and would go on to achieve his doctorate in Biblical studies.  During this time, the Scriptures started becoming more readily available in the common tongue, along with the writings of various church fathers.  Luther began to pour over the scriptures and was quickly convinced of the erroneous teachings within the Roman Catholic Church.  The 95 theses were in essence an invitation for public debate on the subjects they contained.  His two primary arguments against the Roman Catholic Church was the selling of indulgences and that salvation was by grace alone.  The selling of indulgences had been common practice since the ninth century.  The selling of indulgences included performing certain acts that would ‘absolve’ someone of their sins.  One example would be when Pope Urban II remitted anyone’s sins who fought in the Crusades.  More commonly a person was asked to perform an act or purchase something from the church and in return the priest would provide the person with a slip of paper reducing someone’s time in purgatory, or forgiving them of their own sin.  While the selling of indulgences is illegal in our time, they are still provided for people who do good works for the Roman Catholic Church.  Luther’s other primary argument was salvation by works.  For countless centuries the Roman Catholic Church taught that salvation was found only in the church and was only attainable by works.  His 95 Theses spread rapidly in Germany and eventually came to the pope in Rome.  Over the course of the next four years, Martin Luther was labeled as a heretic, the church demanded that he recant, and eventually, he was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church, thus the church condemned Luther to hell.  Luther would live out the next thirty years of his life challenging the Roman Catholic Church, even under the threat of harm and death.  He even dedicated himself to translating the Scriptures into German for the common man, a task that took him over ten years to complete.

      Luther was the spark for the Protestant Reformation and the breaking of the Catholic stronghold on the world.  We are ‘children’ of that great fire that swept forth.  The Protestant Reformation is one of the greatest miracles in history.  Luther dared to stand up to the most powerful men of his time and declared “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).”  Today we echo Martin Luther’s revolutionary thought, we are saved solely by God’s grace.  We are not saved by any works, effort, morality, religion, or good that we possess.  We are saved only by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross and the faith that we place in Him.  It seems odd that there was a period when that theological truth was contested and standing against it meant the possibility of harm.  A time may come when the world will move away from salvation by grace alone.  We need more “Martin Luther’s” who will stand on the truth of salvation by grace.  Today, rejoice that God saves unconditionally.  Rejoice that He made salvation simple.  Rejoice that it’s not based on what you and I do, but based on what Christ has done.

The 359 Year Apology: February 26th Devotional

The 359-Year Apology

Ephesians 4:32

February 26th Devotional

      On this day in 1616, a Roman Catholic inquisition delivered an injunction against Galileo Galilei demanding that he recant his belief that the planets and earth revolved around the sun. Galileo was born near Pisa in 1569. This father was a prominent musician and musical theorist. At a young age, Galileo wanted to pursue a life in the priesthood but his father convinced him to attend the University of Pisa to study medicine. He thrived on learning but despised the study of medicine. He later changed his major to math and philosophy. Tragically he had to drop out for a season because he lacked the finances to finish his degree. Finally, years later he returned to the university to graduate and start teaching. He taught for decades. Early in the year 1610 he began to use the newly invented telescope to study the stars. He was not the inventor of the telescope, but he was the perfecter of the instrument. It was primarily used to survey land and battles, but Galileo was the first to use it to seriously study the stars. His telescope magnified x30 and allowed him to clearly see the surface of the moon along with the moons of other planets. During his study, he started to notice the phases of these moons and planets. His theory was that the planets and earth revolved around the sun (heliocentrism). He published his findings in 1610 in an article called “The Starry Messenger.” That teaching was fairly revolutionary at the time and was considered to be a damnable doctrine in the eyes of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Inquisition at the time was a type of court system that examined doctrinal matters. They said Galileo’s findings were foolish and blasphemous, though they allowed him to continue to study so long as he did not officially hold to the position, nor defend it. But he could not ignore the scientific facts and published an article in 1632 openly promoting his position. The Catholic church, under the leadership of Pope Urban VIII quickly called him to Rome for a trial in 1633. The frail, aged 69-year-old was shown the tools that the church would torture him with unless he recanted. He officially agreed to plead guilty to receive a lighter punishment. The original punishment was life in prison but was later communicated to house arrest for the rest of his life. He was forbidden to see his friends nor to publish during that time. It was also during this time that he went completely blind. He remained under house arrest until he died, eight years later in 1642. The Roman Catholic Church officially overturned their decision….in 1992. It only took 359 years to say they were sorry.

      Can you fathom holding a grudge for 359 years? Especially a grudge when you were clearly wrong. It seems petty and foolish. But before we judge the Catholic Church for their overdue apology, let us examine our own lives. Have we ever harbored feelings of unforgiveness or refused to ask someone for forgiveness? Have we ever wanted to be angry at someone instead of letting things go? How often has a root of bitterness overtaken our life spiritually simply because we have an overdue apology to grant? Or how often have we drunk of the poison of bitterness in hopes that it would destroy the other person, but instead finding out that it only destroys us? How many human relationships have we harmed and tarnished because we have refused to forgive or seek forgiveness? Paul encouraged the believers in Ephesus to “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).” Highlight that part of forgiving one another. We need to carry about the fruit of forgiveness in our lives. Forgiving those who trespass against us and saying we are sorry to those we trespass against. Forgiving and asking for forgiveness are not easy things to do, to be honest, they aren’t hard things to do either, they are the right things to do. Who do we need to seek out for restored fellowship? Don’t delay. We don’t have 359 years to say we are sorry. Far too many people have said sorry at a funeral when the time was time had already passed. Don’t live with regret, remorse, and shame. Do the right thing today. Forgive and ask for forgiveness.