According to history, it was on Oct. 31, 1517 that Martin Luther nailed (or pasted) his list of 95 Theses to the door of the the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The following day would be November 1st, All Saints’ Day, the most important day of the year for the display of relics at All Saints’ Church. Throngs of people would visit the church. The door was a kind of bulletin board. Some say he “nailed the list on the door in defiance,” but he might have simply pasted them their to stimulate a healthy dialogue. Either way, what do the 95 Theses mean to you? For you, what is the significance of the day? (Read and learn more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-five_Theses.) So – what’s *your* take on its meaning and significance? How should it move us yet today? Please comment.
10) On Luther and His List
“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance”.
This, the first of the 95 theses, still challenges us today. The Law of God shows us our need for a saviour. The Gospel sets us free in Christ. The Christian life is a daily process of dying and rising to new life with Christ. And this is not from ourselves, it is the gracious gift of God.
Martin Luther has inspired me to take a steadfast stand against the human doctrine of today’s churches. The church has deceived God’s people into believing their actions will please Him. It is the same as what the leadership of Castle Church taught. The denominational system has built a very nice platform to continue to get people to give their “life” to get eternal life in exchange.
The denominational religious system teaches that, “You can do something that will affect and move the heart of God.” Give generously, pray, read God’s Word, fast, serve your neighbor, etc., anything a man does that is driven by the flesh. There is only one thing that moves the salvation mercy of God to be extended toward fallen mankind, and that is genuine, true repentance.
Genuine repentance produces fruit of repentance, where a man will give his life, interact with God’s living Word, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. He will make no provision of the flesh and love his neighbor in obedience to the will of the Father.
Luther and his list are of VERY GREAT HISTORIC SIGNIFIGANCE AND PRESENT DAY RELEVANCE in challenging the historic and present heresy of the catholic church. The Protestant Reformers, many if whom suffered persecution and martyrdom at the hand of a threatened catholic church, are not given their justly earned respect even to this day.