Who would have thought that a lone German monk's protest over 500 years ago would change the world so drastically?
500 years ago in 1521, Martin Luther was summoned to the Diet of Worms to recant the 95 Theses he nailed on the church door at Wittenberg. Despite the prospect of great persecution (perhaps even execution), Luther mustered his courage to make this passionate defence:
"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other. May God help me. Amen."
Luther neither recanted nor compromised.
The Holy Roman Empire condemned Luther as a heretic and designated him as public enemy number one, but the Reformation found its champion and rallied behind him, catalysing the restoration of the gospel from the corruption it suffered at the hands of irresponsible stewards. God's people stood firmly on the ground of the apostolic gospel, against and without fear towards powerful men, and feared God alone. This was a great victory for God's people.
But it is not a battle that has ended.
Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda secundum verbi Dei — the church is reformed and always in need of being reformed according to the Word of God. In spite of threats from the world, God's church must stand firm to combat this threat time after time by subjecting itself to the Word's authority. Today, 500 years after the Diet of Worms, this torch has now been passed into our hands. Despite apparent peace, the threat faced by God's church remains very real, so we who inherit this mission must not let the flame of the Reformation go out, but instead remain vigilant in our defence of the gospel.
It will be hard work, but God's glory is worth it.
It is in this spirit of the Reformation that we commit long hours to intensely study God's Word. We believe that each word, iota and dot matters for God's people to get God right and face up against the schemes of the devil.
That is why we are currently going through our biblical theology series, "God's Story", which aims to help Christians understand the entire counsel of God by reading the Bible the way its authors intended — as one connected story about the progressive revelation of God's redemptive plans for His people, fulfilled in Christ .
God's Story: Old Testament God's Story: New Testament
Besides Sunday gatherings, we also meet up regularly in Growth Groups where we equip and sharpen one another against a fallen world that is constantly straying away from God's good design.
Check out our Growth Groups here
As a church, we will be celebrating the Reformation during Reformation Sunday on 31 October 2021. Come and join us as we hear Elder Robin preach on the book of Titus.
In the book of Titus, Paul presents the reality whereby truth and godliness go hand in hand. One cannot have a high view of Scripture without it leading to a high view of godly conduct. Paul also calls for church leaders to walk in a way that is worthy of their calling.
Like the New Testament church leaders and the early Reformers, church leaders today have a sacred duty to guard sound doctrine and protect the church from all forms of worldliness.
We are unashamed about making a stand for the Gospel. Let's hear from the stories of people who have done so.
