Today is Reformation Day. In the Lutheran Church, it is the celebration of the monk, teacher, and preacher Martin Luther and what he did for the church, calling for the church to abandon the heresy of buying forgiveness and the tyranny of the papacy. It’s a festival of forgiveness in Christ and in nothing else. It’s today that we acknowledge that God’s Word is authoritative, and that deliverance and righteousness only comes through faith in Jesus Christ. What a day indeed!
Without going into much detail (although I could, and I would heavily encourage you to check out films, documentaries, books, articles, etc.), people began to rally around Martin Luther. The Reformation, much to Luther’s reluctance, turned into a full-blown revolution. People wanted to fight for truth. They wanted to hear what Luther said. They wanted to read what Luther wrote. So, in order to distinct Luther’s works, or works approved by Luther, there was a notable seal placed on the writings.
If you are a Lutheran, the famous “Luther rose” is known to you. Even if you’re not Lutheran, perhaps you’ve seen it before in writings, on websites, blogs, churches, signs, etc. It might be one of the most iconic symbols in the church. It was designed for Martin Luther in 1530 during the Diet of Augsburg. But what does it mean? Glad you asked! Luther wrote in July of 1530 a letter to Lazarus Spengler:
“Grace and peace from the Lord. As you desire to know whether my painted seal, which you sent to me, has hit the mark, I shall answer most amiably and tell you my original thoughts and reason about why my seal is a symbol of my theology. The first should be a black cross in a heart, which retains its natural color, so that I myself would be reminded that faith in the Crucified saves us. “For one who believes from the heart will be justified”. Although it is indeed a black cross, which mortifies and which should also cause pain, it leaves the heart in its natural colour. It does not corrupt nature, that is, it does not kill but keeps alive. “The just shall live by faith” but by faith in the crucified. Such a heart should stand in the middle of a white rose, to show that faith gives joy, comfort, and peace. In other words, it places the believer into a white, joyous rose, for this faith does not give peace and joy like the world gives. That is why the rose should be white and not red, for white is the color of the spirits and the angels. Such a rose should stand in a sky-blue field, symbolising that such joy in spirit and faith is a beginning of the heavenly future joy, which begins already, but is grasped in hope, not yet revealed. And around this field is a golden ring, symbolising that such blessedness in Heaven lasts forever and has no end. Such blessedness is exquisite, beyond all joy and goods, just as gold is the most valuable, most precious and best metal. This is my compendium theologiae (summary of theology). I have wanted to show it to you in good friendship, hoping for your appreciation. May Christ, our beloved Lord, be with your spirit until the life hereafter. Amen.” (LW 49, 356-359).
Luther never explicitly stated this (at least as far as I know; correct me if you know otherwise) but over time other reformers, theologians, and pastors came to believe something else about the seal. The five petals of the rose are symbolic of the “Five Sola’s,” which became the battle cries of the Reformation: sola gratia, sola fide, sola Scriptura, solus Christus, and soli Deo gloria.
Sola gratia, or grace alone, was perhaps the primary issue of the Reformation. Does man initiate and participate in the forgiveness of God? Or does God initiate and complete the salvation plan out of pure love and grace for his most precious creation? The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9 that “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” We know this verse. Lutherans cling to this verse. And rightfully so. But let’s push this a little bit. Go back a few verses to verse 5: “When we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ…” Dead. DEAD. What are the dead capable of? Nothing that I know of. Did Lazarus initiate when Jesus called him out of the grave? The dead cannot participate, nor initiate anything with God. God acts first in coming to us and gives us a gift. This grace is what calls us. It regenerates us, justifies us, sanctifies us, and is preserving us until the day the Jesus returns. Grace alone.
Grace is then received through sola fide, or faith alone. We often thing of the Reformation beginning on October 31, 1517. That is certainly true, but it goes back just a little bit further to what we call Martin Luther’s “break through moment.” He struggled with interpreting Romans 1:17, which reads, “the righteous will live by faith.” How am I to be made righteous? I tithe, I confess over and over and over, I serve, and go to church, I do all the right things, yet I still wrestle with my sin? How can I be justified? Luther wrestled with the same things. He writes, “My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and had no confidence that my character would satisfy him. Night and day I pondered.” No matter what we do, we will never be able to appease God. So God gives us grace and that grace is received in faith. Paul writes in Romans 3:25-28,
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”
Those who have faith will be justified. They will be declared righteous. Faith in what though? Many people have faith every day and all kinds of different things. Faith in solus Christus, Christ alone. Faith lays hold of Christ and grasps him as a present possession, just as a ring holds the jewel,” Luther writes. In faith, we flee in poverty to Christ’s riches, in guilt to Christ’s reconciliation, and in bondage to Christ’s liberation. We cling in faith to nothing but Christ alone. Only in Christ is there life and everything outside of Christ is death. That is an absolute truth. The world will tell us that truth is subjective. Everyone makes their own truths and make the cross of Christ mean nothing. It’s just an option for salvation. But there is no salvation in anything, or anyone, else. Jesus himself says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Peter records in Acts 4:12 that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
Hear this truth: you are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
How do you know this? It is revealed in sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone. God’s Word is proclaimed you by a preacher. God’s Word seeps into your heads and into your hearts from the pages of the Bible. Can we know God outside of Scripture? Sure we can. Paul says as much in Romans 1. But natural knowledge of God is not saving faith. This is only revealed to us in the holy Scriptures. This is why it’s so important to go to church. At church, you hear God’s Word proclaimed to you in the sermon. You receive God’s Word in the flesh at the Lord’s Supper. And you speak God’s Word in the Creeds, prayers, and liturgy. Christ, the Word made flesh, comes to you, forgives you, and redeems you in His Word.
So, why? That’s our favorite question. Why would God do all of this. For soli Deo gloria, the glory of God alone. Recall what Luther writes in his explanation of the Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed: “He has done all of this (the salvation story) in order that I may belong to him, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in eternal righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally.” God is glorified in his son Jesus. You are united to Christ in your baptism. Crucified and resurrected with him. God does all of this for you, so that you would be exalted with his Son and live eternally with him in the new heaven and the new earth, which is certainly coming soon.
I praise God for Martin Luther and his boldness, his courage, and his faith. He inspired so many people to continue to preach the purity of the Gospel; that you are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, revealed to us in Scripture alone, all for the glory of God alone! Celebrate that today! Dress up as your favorite television characters, go ask strangers for candy, laugh with your family and friends. Christ has set you free to do that. Your sins are forgiven. Satan has no power over you. You have the promise of everlasting life. There is no greater joy.
Rev. Tyler Cronkright 