Reformation Hope

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The Reformation of the 16th Century gave the church many gifts, not the least of which was the recovery of the doctrine of the Word of God and the power of that Word preached to the nations. It was a combination of Sola Scriptura, the declaration that the Scriptures are our

only ultimate and infallible authority for faith and practice, the translation of the Scriptures into common languages and the recovery of a high view of the pulpit and the preached Word.

The world is still reeling from this reformation, although much of the Western world is reeling with a kickback of rebellion.  And yet, Western civilization is ignorant of her heritage – why she is what she is – why she has so many governmental, societal, scientific, and material blessings.  It is because of the Reformation.  It is because the Gospel was shaken out of a casing of unbelief and Roman heresies and set free to fly all over the world again.  And it did.

And yet, we long for a greater Reformation and believe the Holy Spirit was just getting started. And we believe this will come because of what we are taught about the completed work of the reformation of humanity in and through Jesus Christ.  Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5 that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

This is not an invitation to be saved out of the world; it is a declaration that the world has been reconciled and therefore you need to come quietly, surrendering to the invasion. This is the establishment of Christendom. This would be a reformation of faith and hope.  Put simply, we know we win; this worship gathering is not all of us running away from the game of real life out there in the world.  It is simply a huddle to call the next play, a renewal of the covenant of this gospel age of hope.