“… I can do no other.”

Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir. Amen.

(Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.)

-Martin Luther, Speech at the Diet of Worms (April 18, 1521)

The long rode from Rome proved to be one of the roughest that Luther would ever journey. Deemed a heretic by the Pontiff, Martin Luther received a revelation from the Spirit of God that would eventually ignite the world on fire. With his 95 Theses, Luther launched the Protestant Reformation with an un-dying passion. What was Luther’s problem with the Roman Catholic Church that caused him to separate? One of the biblical principles that caused him to depart from Rome was the issue of Sola Fide, or justification by faith alone. How did one attain right standing before the holy God of the universe? This was a question that had haunted him for years.

The temptation for many within the Protestant church is to unite once again with Rome. Some Protestants feel the need to unite to something more historic, something more covenantal. Historicity implies veracity, they muse. Yet, is this true? Should we abandon justification by faith alone in order to unite once again with Rome? Some would even say that sola fide is not the crux of the matter, that it is not even Scriptural.

The just shall live by faith.

Hab. 2:4

Will we stand for truth by not abandoning one of the pillars of the church? That is, will we hold on to the five solas? Will we take a stand as Luther did against the demons of the Church? May God’s Spirit truly give us the grace we need to do so. May we never neglect the importance of holding on to sola fide and sola scriptura. May we never forget the blood that has been spilt in order to bring the reformation to the English-speaking world.

May we say,

Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria

Semper Reformanda,

Matthew Halsted

Semper Reformanda

“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” -Martin Luther

The reformers had the idea that the church should always be undergoing a reformation. That is, we should always check ourselves, our doctrines, and our theology in light of Holy Scripture. They called this Semper Reformanda (always reforming). Modern day Christianity needs to undergo a modern day reformation in that we need to examine our ways and see if they are pleasing to God.

It has been said that orthodoxy leads to orthopraxy. I think this is true. Mix an undying faith with a right doctrine of Christ and one will find themselves practicing what they preach. As James, the brother of our Lord, stated in his epistle, “faith without works is dead.” That is, a faith that is only a mere intellectual assent is a faith that is stillborn. Good works will never accompany a dead faith.

It is high time for the church of Jesus Christ to present itself before God with an undying, God-exalting faith. We must come to God by faith alone. Sola fide (or faith alone) is the most precious doctrine that the church has been entrusted with. It is good news to the penitent and terrifying to the proud. It will lift the low up and debase the wicked. Indeed, it is a precious doctrine.

As said, the church is in need of reformation. We must cease from striving to earn God’s approval and accept the gift of His dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only by faith alone that we can be justified in the sight of God. It is only in that moment when God declares us not only “not guilty,” but “righteous” in His sight that we can finally find rest.

Let us have a “living, daring confidence in God’s grace” so that we can attain that which we seek.

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As of late, I have been studying what it means to be justified by faith alone. I have been comparing that with the Roman Catholic understanding of justification. I must admit, there are no similarities between the two. By denying justification by faith alone, Rome has separated herself from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. There will be more posts shortly concerning this very topic.