What Martin Luther’s Stand for the Gospel Means for Us Today

Martin Luther stumbled onto the road to Worms more or less by accident.

Luther had given oaths to defend the doctrine of the church (as a “doctor”) and to help priests minister to their parishioners (as an Augustinian friar). The sale of indulgences provoked both these parts of Luther into action in 1517. By attacking indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses, Luther was challenging the power and primacy of the pope, a pillar of society, and casting doubt on the merit of observing church laws ritualistically.

Luther’s ideas were revolutionary because they were much more than a minor argument against indulgences. Rather, Luther’s opponents sensed what he was doing: challenging the entire understanding and practice of the Christian faith as a proper performance of God-prescribed ritual actions in the sacraments, under the hierarchy headed by the pope. In fact, Luther was instead claiming the Christian faith first of all hearkens to God’s promise of salvation through Christ, as revealed in his Word. Luther’s stand at the Diet of Worms reverberates throughout church history precisely because it was a momentous defense of the biblical gospel. Read More