The traditional date that the Reformation “officially” began was October 1517 with Martin Luther’s nailing of the his 95 points of dispute on the Wittenburg church door.
• These points of dispute were primarily focused on how the Catholic church’s practice of selling indulgences
• An indulgence in the Catholic Church, as practiced leading up to the Reformation, was a means by which the Church claimed to reduce or remove the punishment due for sins.
• These enraged Luther, who had been truly converted by understanding the Gospel according to Paul’s letter to the
// Thesis 36: “Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters.”
// Thesis 37: “Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.”
• This led to the second battlecry, “Solus Christus” or Christ alone.
Acts 4:12 | And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
• During the late Middle Ages, the Catholic Church emphasized that salvation was
• However, the Scripture explicitly states that Christ alone is the
• 1 Timothy 2:5-6 | For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
// John Calvin >> “We see that our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ. We should therefore take care not to derive the least portion of it from anywhere else. If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that it is ‘of him.’”
// Philip Melanchthon >> Christ is the mediator between God and man, and faith in Him is the only way of salvation.
• Ephesians 1:7 | In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
// John Knox >> “By Christ alone are we reconciled to the Father, by Him alone are we redeemed, and by His only sacrifice are our sins purged and satisfied.”
// John Knox >> “There is no other means whereby our sins can be blotted out, but only by the blood of Christ Jesus.”
• 1 John 1:9 | If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
// Ulrich Zwingli >> Christ has borne all our pains and labor. Whoever believes in Him is made free from all guilt, and it is Christ alone who forgives sins.
• Hebrews 4:14-16 | Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
// Since Jesus is our high priest, Peter (who Catholics consider to be the first pope) actually communicates something called “the priesthood of the believer”
// 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9 | As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
// Luther >> Christ, who is the true and only High Priest, is seated at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. No other priest is needed, neither for sacrifice nor for mediation, for Christ has done this once for all.
// Calvin >> We have no need, then, of any other priest than Christ, who is our eternal High Priest, who Himself is both the sacrifice and the altar. He has entered once for all into the heavenly sanctuary, making continual intercession for us.
• Our focus is not on what popes and priests tell us to do, but on what the
• Luther >> “I must listen to the gospel. It tells me, not what I must do, but what Jesus Christ the Son of God has done for me.”