It's Not Just Halloween


Halloween gets most of the attention today, but today is pretty significant for another reason. 
It's Reformation Day! 
In fact, today marks the 500th Anniversary of the day when a Friar named Martin Luther nailed his written work, known as The 95 Theses, on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. This is largely considered to have initiated the great Reformation. I don't think he had a costume on, and it's pretty unlikely anyone gave him any Laffy Taffy.
I'm not a church historian, and other writers can give you far better insight into the church at that time and the years that followed. However since it is reformation day I wanted to share what are known as the 5 pillars of reformed theology today. My Latin is a little rusty so I'll stick to English.

  1. Scripture Alone: The Only Foundation- The Bible is the only infallible and sufficient rule for governing issues of life and doctrine.
  2. Christ Alone: The Only Mediator- Because Jesus Christ is the sole mediator between God and man, salvation is possible only by his death and resurrection.
  3. Grace Alone: The Only Method- Our justification and salvation are by the sovereign grace of God and not dependent on any action or condition man provides.
  4. Faith Alone: The Only Means- Our justification before God is by faith in Christ alone, and not by works.
  5. Glory To God Alone: The Only Ambition- All glory and honor is due to God alone.

Those are some pretty powerful truths. 
Happy Reformation Day!

Following the Son,

James A Williams

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