Firm in Faith 1.3 A Periodical for the Congregation at Kosmosdale Kosmosdale Baptist Church 7012 Shipley Lane Louisville, KY Sermons at: http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=kosmosdalebc Website: http://www.kosmosdalebaptistchurch.org
Letter from the Pastors 2 This month we are celebrating nothing less than the recovery of the gospel from the darkness of ceremonies and manmade laws. The church had darkened itself, been oppressed by violent pastors, and the people were like sheep without a shepherd. However, the Lord said that when he builds his church the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And so, true to his word, he raised up men in the sixteenth century to embrace the Word against all the earthly powers that were allayed against it. These men, whom you will read about below, were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the sheep and in honor of their most holy Lord. The doctrines the proclaimed, Grace Alone through Faith Alone in Christ Alone, founded on the authority of Scripture Alone for the ultimate Glory of God Alone, are key to understanding the debate. Many today have assumed or asserted that the Reformation is over. This cannot be! The doctrines recovered in that great movement of God are never unnecessary, or to put it positively, the gospel is always at war against a world that wishes to save itself by works on its own authority for its own glory. As you read through these articles, reflect on the work of God in your life and in the church. Meditate on the truth of the gospel for you and for those whom you love. Never cease to reform your life according to the Word of God. Take up and read, Soli Deo Gloria! In Christ, Kosmosdale Pastors
3 Table of Contents Letter from the Pastors 2 Justification: Peace with God by grace, through faith in Christ alone by Matthew Tellis 4 From God, To God: Sola Scriptura and Soli Deo Gloria by Daniel Scheiderer 7 Martin Luther s Posting of the 95 Theses and Its Results by Andrew Lindsey 9 John Calvin by Mike Miller 12 The Thundering Scot: John Knox by Daniel Scheiderer 14 The Life of Thomas Cranmer 16 by Tim Scott
Justification: Peace with God by grace, through faith, in Christ alone Matthew Tellis 4 For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification -Romans 5:16 The doctrine of Justification is the foundation of the reformation. Understanding justification, biblically, was pivotal in Martin Luther challenging the Roman Catholic Church, and shaped the protestant reformation. The Roman Catholic view of justification relies heavily on one s own works, but we can see plainly in scripture that we cannot justify ourselves before God (Rom 3:10-18). Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If then we cannot attain justification by our works, how may we have peace with a righteous God? When reading Paul s letters we see Justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and is central to Paul s gospel message (Eph 2:8-10, Rom 1:17, 3:21-5:21, Gal 2:15-5:1). Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Rom 4:4-5). When thinking about the wages due to the one who works it makes me think what wages are due us. What is our due? Because of Adams rebellion, sin came into the world and no
one does good, not even one. Since we all have sinned against a holy God our works are worthless and sinful, and the wages of sin is death. God is just and our due penalty is eternity in hell. But God, out of the richness of his love, provided us with a free gift; grace. By grace, God sent his Son, who suffered in our place, and received the penalty we deserved. 5 To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. In Genesis 15 we see God s promise to Abraham, that his offspring would be as many as the stars. And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Romans 4 shows that through faith we are heirs of the promise to Abraham, and not by works of the law. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. (Rom. 4:14) Paul makes it clear in Romans that the law is outward, but there is an inward heart problem that the law cannot fix. We need reconciliation that the law cannot provide. Because Abraham was fully convinced that God would do what he promised, his faith was counted as righteousness, and he was reconciled to God. This was not for Abrahams sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was raised for our justification (Rom 4:24-25). In Christ alone there is reconciliation. Christ is the promised heir of Abraham, and through Christ, we are the promised offspring of Abraham. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1). Peace with God. What an amazing statement! When we examine our sinful selves, peace with a
holy and righteous creator of the universe seems unreachable. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom 7:24-25). Because he bled and died and took our punishment on the cross, and was raised to his throne on high for our justification, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1); and since there is no condemnation, no eternal punishment for our sins, as heirs through the promise of faith in Christ, there is eternal peace with God. 6
From God, To God: Sola Scriptura and Soli Deo Gloria Daniel Scheiderer 7 The Reformation was full of Latin terms, words like simul justus et peccator (at the same time just and sinner). In the previous post and this one, we are defining what are called the Five Solas, five Latin terms applied by Reformation theologians to summarized the major doctrinal differences between the Protestants and their Roman Catholic counterparts. Later historians and theologians have referred to the formal and material principles of the Reformation, formal referring to the source of doctrine and material to the doctrine itself. While the doctrine of faith alone, (sola fide) particularly in Christ alone (solus Christus) by grace alone (sola gratia), was the material cause of the Reformation, the formal cause of the Reformation was the doctrine of sola Scriptura. Couple these with the outstanding declaration that God alone receives the glory and we have begun to understand the heartbeat of the Reformation. Last week, Matthew explained sola fide, showing how Scripture declares that by grace through faith in Christ alone, man is saved. This week we will look at the source and goal of this salvation and doctrine. Sola Scriptura First, it is helpful to recognize what the doctrine of sola Scriptura is not. We often think of it as the doctrine keeping us from looking to tradition or church authorities for instruction and insight. This is not what the doctrine meant to the Reformers. Instead, adding to our list of Latin words and phrases, the doctrine meant that Scripture is the norma normans non normata, the norming norm which cannot be normed. This simply means that the Scripture is the ultimate authority, not
the only authority. All other authorities are checked against Scripture. 8 Is Scripture sufficient for the task? It sure claims to be. The classic text, 2 Tim 3:15-17, says that Scripture is sufficient for salvation, sanctification, and building the church. The man of God lacks nothing when he has the Scriptures. A place certainly exists for drinking from the wells of Christian wisdom, especially from those who have proven faithful in teaching and life. But we must ultimately test them against the Scriptures, determining like Bereans whether these things are so (Acts 17:11). When the Roman Church challenged Luther, Calvin, and all other Reformers about their declaration of salvation by faith alone, they were bold to say that all doctrines must arise from and be tested against Scripture. Knox said, of more authority is sentence of one man, founded upon the simple truth of God, than is the determination of the whole Council without the assurance of God s Word. (This is popularly paraphrased, One man with God is always in the majority. ) Where the councils stray, Scripture stands and they must submit. Soli Deo Gloria The doctrine of soli deo Gloria, abbreviated S.D.G. by many afterwards, declares that the salvation promised by Scripture as by grace through faith in Christ, is for God s glory alone, and wrought by him alone. Man does not contribute to his salvation; God does it all, and for his own glory. Ephesians 2 says that God graciously grants us faith, saving us for the eternal display of his glory. Further, everything that flows out of the redeemed life is done by God (Philip. 2:13) for his glory, whether preaching or plumbing, baptizing or baking. For from him [God] and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:36)
Martin Luther s Posting of the 95 Theses and Its Results Andrew Lindsey 9 On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther a monk, who was also a university professor in Bible and theology posted the 95 Theses against indulgences on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The 95 Theses were originally written in Latin; these written assertions were intended to form the basis for debates among theological professors and church leaders. Two weeks after the 95 Theses were posted, however, some of Luther s students translated the Theses into German and gave them to a printer. Soon, nearly everyone in Germany was discussing and debating the Theses. Within the 95 Theses, Luther questioned papal authority over the realm of purgatory and indulgences. [Roman Catholics believe that purgatory is the place of punishment that Christians must endure after death in order to be purged of sins; indulgences are certificates of pardon based on papal authority that are supposed to release Christians from some or all of their time in purgatory.] However, although Luther s initial criticism of the pope was somewhat limited, the pope and his representatives were not inclined to take ANY questioning of papal authority lightly. In October 1518, just under a year after Luther posted the Theses, he was called before a powerful Roman official, Cardinal Cajetan, and was instructed to recant his views. Luther refused, and he would have been taken to Rome and burned at the stake as a heretic, except that Prince Frederick the Wise, who ruled the section of Germany where Luther lived, gave Luther protection.
In 1520, Martin Luther published five of his primary works: The Sermon on Good Works, The Papacy at Rome, The Address to the German Nobility, The Babylonian Captivity, and The Freedom of the Christian Man. In these works, Luther became more critical of the pope, as he came to believe that the authority claimed by the pope undermined the authority of God-inspired Scripture. Luther also came to believe that the system of being made right with God through the sacramental ceremonies administered by the priests undermined the Bible s teaching that sinners must be counted as right in God s sight through simple faith in Jesus. 10 Pope Leo X, meanwhile, despairing of conciliation with Luther, issued a papal bull titled Exsurge Domine, saying that if Luther did not recant, he would be excommunicated [formally rejected from the church]. Luther was eventually excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church. The following year (1521) at the Diet of Worms, Luther once again refused to recant when charged to do so by the authority of Charles V (ruler of the Holy Roman Empire), who was present; Charles V issued the Edict of Worms, which called for Luther s books to be destroyed and for Luther himself to be burned at the stake. Due to God s providence (through Prince Frederick s support and distracting political turmoil in Europe), the emperor and the pope never carried out their plans to have Luther executed. Luther had the privilege of becoming a husband and father, translating the Bible into German, writing more books and hymns, and continuing to inspire church reformation in Germany and abroad.
Books about Martin Luther: Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton The Life, Teaching, and Legacy of Martin Luther by Andrew Lindsey 11
John Calvin Mike Miller 12 John Calvin remains today a controversial figure in history. He was born at Noyon, France in 1509, and grew up in a Catholic home with his lawyer father who was possibly the treasurer for the church. His mother would die when Calvin was young. He studied at the University of Paris to become a priest, but his father s trouble in the church would force him to a career as a lawyer. The change of career path guided him to the University of Orleans where he studied law and read the classic Greek authors. He moved back to Paris to teach but would leave to escape persecution to the Lutherans. The normal route to Basel was blocked so he went to Geneva where William Farel lived. During a meeting with Calvin, Farel was initially unsuccessful at persuading Calvin to remain in Geneva to pastor instead of the academic life Calvin wanted so badly. So Farel threatened to curse Calvin s studies if he did not stay in Geneva. Cavin finally gave in and remained there until the city council ran Calvin and Farel out of the city in 1538. During his exile, he went to Strasburg seeking refuge with Martin Bucer, another reformer, and also married Idelette de Bure while there. Calvin returned to Geneva in 1541 and would remain there until his death in 1964. Calvin helped rediscover many key doctrines. Most famously, he continued Augustine s thoughts on God s sovereign rule, especially in salvation. Augustine battled Pelagius on God s sovereignty and human free will. Augustine correctly argued that salvation comes from the Lord. Calvin upheld God s sovereignty in salvation against Catholic teaching of merits and penance. Calvin does not neglect human responsibility either. He teaches that sinners receive their just punishment because they chose to sin and not believe God. Calvin also taught much about the Holy Spirit. In his book, Institutes of the Christian Religion, he does not devote a chapter or a series of chapters on
the Holy Spirit. Instead, the Holy Spirit appears throughout the Institutes. The Spirit first shows up in Calvin s treatment of the Scripture. When discussing the attributes of God and the Trinity, Calvin discusses the nature of the Spirit. Books 3 and 4 explain the work of the Holy Spirit within salvation and works of creation and providence. 13 Calvin has two main works: The Institutes and his commentary set on the Bible. Calvin intended the Institutes as an introduction to Christian piety and designed it to be used with his commentaries. He imagined people reading through the Institutes and referring back to the commentary to better understand the verses used in the latter. As for some biographies, W. Robert Godfrey s, John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor, which seeks to understand Calvin both as a person and his theology. Bruce Gordon s book, Calvin, and T.H.L. Parker s John Calvin: A Biography, move towards the technical aspect of biographies but they have become the standards in Calvin studies.
The Thundering Scot: John Knox Daniel Scheiderer 14 If you could look below deck on a particular French ship during an eighteen-month period in the middle of the sixteenthcentury, with the Reformation in Europe well underway, you may well have encountered a haggard man among the many from Scotland. Yes, this galley slave would be working as hard as others to row the ship, but he would also be sharing Scripture with the men and throwing idolatrous images of Mary overboard. John Knox was likely born in the year 1514, and was one of many to embrace the Reformation sweeping Europe. His initial role was as bodyguard for the famed George Wishart (who was martyred in 1546), but later took on the ministry of chaplain to the Protestant rebels. It was in this position that he was captured by the French Navy and placed below deck for a year and a half, developing ailments that would aggravate the rest of his years. Upon release from slavery in England, Knox took up a pulpit under the Protestant King Edward, only afterward to be forced into exile under wicked Queen (Bloody) Mary. He found refuge in the city of Geneva, which he called the most perfect school of Christ since the days of the Apostles. There, he was able to see Reformed theology put into practice while pastoring various English-speaking churches. He returned to Scotland when Mary died, and he and five other Johns put together the Scots Confession of Faith. With right doctrine and faithful people in place, Knox was able to oversee the reformation of Scotland until his death in 1572. While Knox is not famous for any particular doctrine, he is the father of the Presbyterian church. He adapted what he saw in Geneva, both practically and theologically, to the state Church (Kirk) of Scotland. Presbyterian form and intense devotion to scriptural doctrines characterized this great institution. This
church remained extremely faithful to the doctrines of the Reformation for many years after his death, playing a major role in the development of British theology and the Westminster Confession of Faith in the following century, not to mention all the places Presbyterianism has found a home. 15 Two of Knox s major works are his Trumpet Blast Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women and History of the Reformation in Scotland. The first, which he wrote against Bloody Mary and other torturous monarchs, put him in disfavor with Queen Elizabeth who replaced Mary as soon as the work was published. It has also served to tarnish his reputation as a misogynist. This and other factors have gone to ensure that the great Reformer, the Thundering Scot, has been relegated to obscurity, even in Scotland where his grave is under a single yellow brick in a parking lot. To learn more about John Knox, you can read the short biography by Douglas Bond, The Mighty Weakness of John Knox, the shorter John Knox: Fearless Faith by Steven Lawson, or the large academic work John Knox by Jane Dawson.
The Life of Thomas Cranmer Tim Scott 16 Thomas Cranmer was born on July 2, 1489, in Nottinghamshire, England. Little is known about his early childhood but he enrolled at Jesus College, Cambridge, at age 14. He went on to spend approximately 30 years at Cambridge, earning his bachelor s, master s, and doctoral degrees along the way. His writings from this period reveal a man who was more sympathetic to Erasmus s humanism than he was to Martin Luther s doctrinal reforms; and sometime around the year 1520, he became a Roman Catholic priest. Cranmer eventually left Cambridge to become a diplomat for King Henry VIII; and before long, the king had him negotiating with the pope in hopes of obtaining a divorce between the king and Catherine of Aragon. Ironically, while traveling on a mission to Charles V in Germany in the year 1532, Cranmer not only came in contact with the Protestant Reformer Andreas Osiander, he also made the startling decision to marry Osiander s niece, Margaret, who was a devoted Lutheran. His marriage was a blatant violation of the vows of celibacy he had taken to become a priest, and Cranmer would have to keep the marriage secret until Henry VIII died in 1547, some 15 years later! These conversations with Continental Reformers (and his own wife!) very likely watered, if not planted, the seeds of Cranmer s future Protestant theology. Though Henry VIII never knew about this secret marriage, the king did take notice of Cranmer s work as a diplomat; and when William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, died that same year, Henry appointed Cranmer as his successor. At the time, Cranmer was still a Roman Catholic, albeit one who was married to a Protestant, but it would not be long until he, together with Henry VIII, would withdraw the Church of
England from the Roman Catholic Church in order to facilitate Henry s divorce. 17 Once the Church of England was detached from the auspices of Rome, Cranmer s Protestantism could develop more stridently. He maintained correspondence with several Continental Reformers, and did what he could to facilitate reform in England. However, the king was mostly of a conservative bent theologically, and the king s conservatism retarded most of Cranmer s reform efforts. Nevertheless, he was able, with the help of Thomas Cromwell, to get the king to authorize the publication of the Bible in English for widespread placement in churches. Cranmer s greatest contributions to the English Reformation came during the years 1547 1553, when Edward VI was king. Edward was sympathetic to the Protestant Reformation, and the king allowed Cranmer to move the Church of England on a decidedly Protestant path. Doctrinally, his Forty-Two Articles provided the Church of England with a sound confession of faith. Also, central to Cranmer s reform plans were the composition and distribution of The Book of Common Prayer and The Book of Homilies. These two books are not only literary masterpieces, they also articulated important Protestant truths such as the doctrine of justification by faith alone. For example, Cranmer s homily on salvation says: Justification is the office of God only, and is not a thing which we render unto him, but which we receive of him; not which we give to him, but which we take of him, by his free mercy, and by the only merits of his most dearly beloved Son, our only Redeemer, Saviour, and Justifier, Jesus Christ (T. H. L. Parker, English Reformers [Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1966], 267).
Likewise, The Book of Common Prayer, in typical Protestant fashion, placed great emphasis on Scripture: 18 Blessed Lord, which has caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; grant us that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou has given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ (John Booty, ed., The Book of Common Prayer [Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2005], 79). Cranmer s work as an English Reformer came to a grinding halt, however, when King Edward died at a young age and was replaced by Queen Bloody Mary, who was staunchly Roman Catholic. Cranmer was arrested and tried first for treason, of which he was convicted and sentenced to death in late 1553. Not satisfied with a guilty verdict for treason, Mary ordered Cranmer to be tried for heresy as well. After his inevitable conviction, Cranmer s captors made a protracted effort to convince Cranmer to recant of his Protestant beliefs. Suffering from poor health and relentless debates over the course of a three year imprisonment, Cranmer ingloriously gave into the Catholic authorities and recanted his Protestant theology. However, on the day of his execution, Cranmer regained his courage. When asked by the authorities to state the true nature of his faith one last time, he declared concerning his prior recantations: And now I come to the great thing, which so much troubleth my conscience, more than any thing that ever I did or said in my whole life, and that is the setting abroad of a writing contrary to truth; which now here I renounce and refuse, as things written with my hand, contrary to the truth which I though in my heart, and written for fear of death, and to save
my life.... And as for the Pope, I refuse him, as Christ s enemy, and antichrist, with all his false doctrine (W. Grinton Berry, Foxe s Book of Martyrs [Grand Rapids: Revell, 2000], 384 85). 19 As he was saying these things, the Catholic authorities seized him and led him away to be burned at the stake as a heretic; and as the flames rose up around his body, Cranmer put his right hand, the hand that had signed his recantations, directly into the flames to be burned first, as an act of repentance. According to bystanders, he was heard to say repeatedly thereafter, his unworthy right hand and Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, until he passed away.