Selected Scriptures

August 6, 2017

Evening Service

Sean Higgins

Download the Kids’ Korner.

Or, How the Reformation Changed Things for Maternity

Last fall I became very discouraged. I was reading a biography on Martin Luther when I had a watershed realization. Normally that would be a good thing, and it was good. But the discouraging part was that it took me so long in my Christian/theological/pastoral life to have this realization.

When we think about the 16th Century Protestant Reformation we think about biblical doctrine, which is right. There were some, maybe we should even say many, within the Catholic Church who recognized the serious problems within the church and who boldly spoke out about those problems. Erasmus was a reformer, a man with his eyes open to the many sins in the clergy. He wrote numerous books to point out “religious people” issues, including his Praise of Folly in which he runs the bus back and forth over priests like he’s rolling out papal pie crust.

The capital “R” Reformers started a rumpus when they started swinging an axe at the root. They observed the sinful fruit on the limbs, but they believed that it grew out of wrong doctrine.

Protestants reproached the clergy not so much for living badly as for believing badly, for teaching false and dangerous things. (Eugene F. Rice, Jr., The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559)

Luther wasn’t trying to get Catholics to live up to Catholic teachings as much as he was denying Catholic teachings.

So the solas are not extraneous. Doctrine cannot be downplayed in any attempt to explain what the Reformers were doing. And while sola Scriptura was logically necessary for sake of learning biblical doctrine, it was sola fide that became the most significant scythe cutting down the dry grass of error.

We’ve talked about sola fide a lot. Martin Luther upset continents, plural, by preaching sola fide. Whole streams of modern Evangelical churches have a different set of problems because they’ve believed sola fide for so long. We are saved by faith alone. There are no works we can do, no religious quests we can make, no payments sufficient to please God. The Son of God laid down His life and rose again on the third day. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Believe, alone.

Doctrine, theology, propositions, sentences and adjectives (like “sola”) of truth rent the Catholic Church asunder and this was all for the sake of the gospel. We do not have to do anything to earn acceptance from God, and we couldn’t even if we wanted to, which we didn’t. Doctrine, therefore, is our lifeblood. What we believe has consequences.

But this leads to the provocation of my discouragement. I believed that what we believe has consequences, so that we cannot remain knowingly in the Catholic Church, or in any church that teaches salvation by faith plus works. What we believe has consequences, so we must defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints. What we believe has consequences, so we must love the true church which is the pillar and support of truth.

And, as the doctrine of sola fide itself teaches, you do not have to believe in sola fide to be saved, you only have to believe in Christ. As the doctrine of sola fide implies, you are not more biblical or more spiritual or more Christlike if you read the Bible more or have a job in the church. As the doctrine of sola fide implies, you don’t have to be a monk or a missionary to please God, you can be a mom, or any other lawful occupation. We are justified by faith, not by the title on our business card.

The Reformation opened doors for all sorts of work not only to be allowable for men and women but also to be glorifying to God. The doctrine of sola fide is the greatest Reformation wrecking ball to smash the wall of dualism. This is what I’d missed. I don’t think I intended to undermine what I taught about sola fide as I urged others to study the Bible more seriously and even to learn [...]