This Sunday, Reformation Sunday, we commemorate Luther's publication of the Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517. By proposing certain issues for discussion, the young Bible professor unexpectedly set the Protestant Reformation in motion. The epistle reading for the day includes a Scripture verse important for Luther and the Reformation. In Romans 3:28 (ESV), the apostle Paul writes, "For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." Justification by faith in Christ is a great principle of the Reformation, and indeed, of all Christian belief and practice. Although God's commandments are important, we fallen and sinful creatures can never follow them perfectly. We can only be set right with God through the redemptive life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The principle of justification by faith is related to our Gospel from John 8. In John 8:32, Jesus tells the crowd, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." After mentioning bondage to sin, our Lord is more specific in John 8:36, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." The Gospel of Christ is the truth; Jesus Himself, God the Son, is the truth incarnate. He is the one, the only one, who brings true freedom to fallen human beings. Through faith in Him, we are set right with God. This is the Gospel, the good news, which Luther rediscovered and emphasized. It is the divine truth that frees us from bondage to sin and produces good fruit in our lives!
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