Martin Luther (1483-1546)
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(…continued) The catechism’s five parts contained what Luther considered the five basics of the Christian faith that everyone should know something about. Part One is the Ten Commandments, outlining how God wants us to live. Part Two is the Apostle’s Creed, a summary of what we believe. Part Three is the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer Jesus himself taught us to pray, and the best example of how we should speak to God in prayer. Parts Four and Five describe the two Sacraments; the Sacrament of Baptism, by which God gives us his eternal promise, and the Sacrament of Holy Communion, in which God repeats his promise, forgives our sins, and reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice for us. In the Small Catechism, the common person was instructed in what God’s Word says about how to live a Christian life, and how to die with hope in the promises of God.
Another of Luther’s great accomplishments was the translation of the Bible into German so that everyone could read it. We take for granted that we can read the Bible in our own language, but in Luther’s time, that was a radical, even illegal, innovation. Luther had to go into hiding in order to do this work. He was a hunted man with a price on his head, so he grew a beard, disguised himself as a soldier, and worked in an upper room in the Wartburg castle for two years to get it done.
Everything Luther did was centered on the Bible and the message of grace that he found there. The battle cry of the Reformation was the phrase, “Word Alone, Christ Alone, Grace Alone.” Most of all, Luther wanted to teach the message of God’s love and forgiveness and gift of salvation won for us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The book of Romans became a central text for Luther, with its clear descriptions of salvation by God’s grace alone through Christ Jesus. In chapter three (verses 22-24) Paul wrote: “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Christ Jesus to all who believe, for there is no difference; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but we are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus….”, and then in verse 28, “So we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from observing the Law.” After years of much prayer, meditation, and struggle, Luther had rediscovered the true meaning of God’s Word. He wrote: “Then finally God had mercy on me, and I began to understand that the righteousness of God is a gift of God, as it says in Romans 1:17: ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ In those words, the whole of Scripture became apparent to me. This passage from Paul became to me the very gate to Paradise.”
These were the very words that changed Martin Luther’s whole understanding of Scripture, and then through him, God changed the church. The message of this passage led Luther back to the central message of God’s freely given grace. In his desperate search for peace with God, he found in this passage that he could take comfort in God, instead of God being the primary cause of his discomfort and fear and despair. For the rest of his life, he proclaimed that Good News in whatever way he could. He was a man of great energy and many talents. As a Biblical scholar, he argued convincingly for the truth of this understanding of the Gospel. As a historian and theologian, he showed the Roman Catholic church that this had indeed been their own theology for many centuries, but over time had been obscured. As a linguist, he translated the Bible into the language of the people, so they could read the Good News for themselves. As a musician he wrote hymns, produced a hymnal, and introduced congregational singing to the worship service. As a powerful preacher, he proclaimed the Law and the Gospel to everyone, from kings on down to the lowest servants.
Luther proclaimed the Gospel most clearly in his explanation to the second article of the Apostle’s Creed where he wrote: “At great cost, Jesus has saved and redeemed me, a lost and condemned person. He has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with silver and gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent sufferings and death. All of this he has done so that I might be his own and live with him in his Kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.” Our salvation is through Christ Alone, said Luther, based on the Bible, the Word Alone. And how do we get in on this salvation? By Grace Alone, he said in his explanation to the third article of the creed where he wrote: “I believe I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” And then that second part of the Small Catechism concludes with God’s eternal promise, or, as Luther describes it in these words: “On the last day, God will raise up me and all the dead, and give me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true.”
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Lord, what you do not do remains undone. If you will not help, I will gladly give it up. The cause is not mine. Therefore, I seek no glory in it. I will cheerfully be your mask and disguise if only you will do the work. Amen.
–Martin Luther
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