The Legacy of Luther

Martin Luther was the son of a middle class family living in Germany in the late 1400’s. Martin was supposed to become a lawyer, but during a storm he almost got hit by a lightning strike. In the midst of his fear of near death, he cried aloud that he would become a Monk.

Upon entering the Catholic Church, Martin was disturbed to discover that he still lacked peace with God. As a result, Luther lived the most austere life possible. He did heavy penance, almost starved himself, and confessed for hours at a time. On a trip to Rome, Luther even ascended a staircase on his knees in an effort to please God. Nothing worked, and he descended into a deeper despair. In an effort to help, his superior sent Luther to Wittenburg College to teach the Bible. [What an irony - a man who did not know God was teaching God’s Word to others!]

While teaching through the Book of Romans, God opened Luther’s eyes to discover the simple truth of the Gospel. Luther was captivated by the truth that sinners are “justified by faith apart from works” () and that truth changed not only his life, but God used it to transform the Church through the Reformation.

Luther the Trouble Maker

Luther did not invent the teaching we call the Doctrine of Justification by Faith. This teaching is biblical, and it runs throughout the NT. The corruptions of biblical teaching and the unholy additions to the institutional church (idolatry of the Mass, praying to Mary, a celibate priesthood, purgatory, indulgences, etc) had obscured this truth.

God has always had a faithful remnant; He has always had His people who proclaimed Truth and shared the Gospel. Luther was not the first, but he was the one who lived in the era of the printing press and his teachings reached lots of people in a short time, and the Catholic Church was unable to contain his message. The Church had been able to shut down Wycliffe and Hus, but God supernaturally chose Luther to succeed.

In October 1517 Luther posted what history refers to as the 95 Theses on the door of Wittenburg Castle. In this time period, the door of a important building served as a community “bulletin board” and it was Luther’s way of attempting to initiate debate concerning areas in Catholicism that needed to be addressed. While Luther considered these area to be abuses, most notably the sale of indulgences, he was not attempting to break from the Catholic Church or start a revolution. Luther simply wanted the Church power structure to clean up some areas into which it had drifted into false teaching.

Luther the Reformer

Regardless of his intentions, Luther was instrumental in becoming the most infamous voice standing in opposition to the official teachings of the Catholic Church. When it became apparent that Rome was not willing to concede on anything, Luther found himself attacking many of the false teachings of the Church, but most notably the doctrine of justification by faith. The RCC taught then, and continues to do so today, that sinners are justified by faith and works. It was Luther’s unswerving commitment to the teachings of the Bible alone that propelled his break with the Church

Luther was formally charged as a heretic and condemned by the Pope. At a meeting in the imperial city of Worms in 1521, Luther was given an opportunity to recant his teachings. Luther’s position was, that unless shown in Scripture, that he was in error, he was unable to recant. Luther’s refusal to back down caused the rent in the fabric of the Church, and gave focus to the movement known as the Reformation.

The Lutheran Church

While Luther did not set out to begin another denomination, such was the result of his actions. The Lutheran Church was organized as a separate body in 1525 and is now the third largest denomination with around 70 million members world-wide. As one of the first of the Protestant Churches to be organized apart from the RCC, it still shares many similarities of worship with the Catholic church.

The teaching of the Lutheran Church is contained in the Augsburg Confession of 1530. The articles of faith contained in the Confession are still normative for the Lutheran Church. It is important to stress that Lutherans are a Christian Denomination: the Lutheran Church has differences as opposed to the Baptist Denomination, but we are brothers and sisters in Christ as determined by teaching. [This does not mean that all Lutherans are Christians, but the same thing is true for Baptists]

The teaching of the Lutherans

Areas of Difference:

Lutherans are part of what is called the Magisterial Reformation. These Protestant churches are state churches where the governing forces are connected to matters of faith. This is decidedly different from the Baptist distinctive of separation of church and faith

The Lutheran churches have a hierarchy of offices within the Church. The governing bodies are synods, and under the synods are the bishops, and under the bishops are the pastors. The synods have the power of enforcement, and the positions the synods take are binding upon the churches of that particular synod. This is different from the Baptist distinctive of the Autonomy of the Local Church

The Lutheran Church in America has two main branches. One is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and the other is the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod (LCMS). Their differences stem from their divergent views on the Bible. While the LCMS affirms that the Bible is infallible in all areas (; ), the ELCA states that it is possible for the Bible to be in error concerning some areas, like science or history. (gotquestions.org )

As a whole, the Lutheran Church is much closer to the Catholic form of worship. Lutherans are liturgical and there order of worship is derived from a lectionary. Lectionaries are standardized forms of worship that typically operate on a 3 year rotation. This means that all Lutheran Churches will have the same processional, the same prayers, the same Scripture readings, and sermon passages for the same week - as long as the individual churches are using the same lectionary.

Being a state Church, Lutherans observe the practice of infant baptism. In the Catholic Church, this was, and still is, the method whereby citizens were incorporated into the Church and society. Martin Luther was unable to give up this practice as it served as the sign of the covenant. Article Nine of the Augsburg confession states: Of Baptism they teach that it is necessary to salvation, and that through Baptism is offered the grace of God, and that children are to be baptized who, being offered to God through Baptism are received into God's grace. They condemn the Anabaptists, who reject the baptism of children, and say that children are saved without Baptism.” This practice is different from the Baptist teaching of Believer’s Baptism

The Lutheran doctrine states that in Communion there exists a real presence of Jesus. Unlike the RCC which teaches Transubstantiation (the body and blood of Jesus are present even though the bread and wine retain their forms), the Lutherans teach the doctrine of Consubstantiation. This teaching means that even though the elements are not transformed, the real presence of Christ manifests itself in the observance of the sacrament. This is different than the Baptist teaching of commemoration, in which the bread and juice remain such, and the focus is on celebration and remembrance.

Of Baptism they teach that it is necessary to salvation, and that through Baptism is offered the grace of God, and that children are to be baptized who, being offered to God through Baptism are received into God's grace. They condemn the Anabaptists, who reject the baptism of children, and say that children are saved without Baptism.

Related Media

Related Sermons