Sola fide (Why the Reformation still matters)

This is my Pre- Reformation Day rant in honor of the 500th anniversary. 

 

If you don't know what the Reformation is I suggest you go to "google" and learn the basics before reading the rest of the article. 

 

For those of you too lazy to go to google, it was a radical shift in the history of the church. There was incredible corruption by the Roman Catholic Church (both in teaching and practice). Martin Luther, a German Monk, learned that some of the things the Church was teaching did not align with the Scripture. Long story short: He got kicked out, We now have many Protestant (word that means "to protest") churches today. The Roman Catholic Church has since had a "counter reformation" where they fixed some of the errors. You can make the decision for yourself if they cleaned up enough or not. But before we start throwing stones we must remember that no tradition is perfect because no person is perfect. How does that saying go? "People with glass houses should not throw stones."

 

 

Regardless if you identify as Catholic, Protestant, or other there is a lot we can learn from the Protestant Reformation that occurred in 1517. By the way, I don't think it would be appropriate to write a 95 thesis on the door at St Leos. ;)

I want to focus this blog on one part of the Reformation. A slogan that you might hear from time to time: "Sola Fide." By Faith Alone. 

I am saved by faith alone. Not by the good works I can accomplish. Believe in Jesus and you are saved. That's it. This is as easy as looking at your bride on your wedding day and replying to the question ask of you, "Do you promise to forsake all others?" 

Ah, ya. Why wouldn't I? Do you see her right now? She is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. 

 

We are asked by God to forsake all others to be united with him. To those on the Wesleyan side they see this agreement as a "proposal" where the participate has "free-will" to accept or deny the offer of a relationship while those on the Calvinist side see it as an irresistible grace, where you are so overcome by love that you united with Christ. 

Regardless of your understanding we must realize that it is God that "woos" us to himself. And rather by "free-will" or "divine sovereignty" we must in faith believe we are loved by God. 

The reformation helps us get there. It changes what we think about God, what we think about ourselves, and our relationship with Him.

 

The reformation was important because it taught us that we are saved, accepted, and loved not by something we had to accomplish but by what Jesus accomplished for us.

Furthermore, I would argue, that Jesus' death on the cross does not cause God to love us but demonstrated that He already loved us.

We see this with babies. Do I love my son because he can do cool things? He likes to smile, he can sit up by himself for the most part, and he is almost crawling. Do I love him for those things? NO!

I love him because he is my son. If you have children you (hopefully) feel the same way. Because, children can do amazing things but they can also become rebellious. Once they start walking they can run and see your rules of love as restrictions. 

So what does this have to do with God? 

One of the metaphors used in the Bible to communicate the relationship we have with God is that of a father to a son/daughter. But he is like our father but better. Because your dad is imperfect. Your Heavenly Father, is not. 

He is a Good Father, He is a Great Father. He comes through. He steps up to the plate. And will always do what is best for you.

 

Just like my son does not have to do "the right thing" to be accepted by me, there is nothing you can do to be accepted by God. Just believe. Just have faith that He loves you. 

Can I take this one step further?

 

But we don't just have faith in God to be accepted by Him but so we can demonstrate it to others. A Smart (some would say inspired) man name Saint James said it this way "Faith without works is dead."

 

In other words, you will experience the love and acceptance in Christ when you believe but others will not until you give them a reason. This is where our job comes in. We work, we show people God's love, so that they will know they are unconditionally loved and accepted. 

Some traditions focus on what you believe (Faith) and others focus on what you do (Works). But I believe we need to be doing both. Believing we are loved by God, demonstrated by Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of demonstrating God's goodness to the world. 

My prayer is that you know you are loved. My prayer is that you will know that the only thing you attributed to your salvation is the sin that made it necessary. But still, you are loved because you are a son or daughter of God. He is your daddy. And He is Good! And when you start to understand you are loved, my hope is your faith will drive you to generously display the heart of the Father to a hurting world. 

The Good Place (Why Christianity makes the most sense)

There is this amazing tv show called, "The Good Place" on NBC.

The basic plot of the show is a human named Eleanor was brought to the "Good Place" aka Heaven even though she lived a horrible life on earth. Throughout season one she discovers there is another person who "accidentally" got into the "Good Place"

There are plenty of twist and turns (which I will not spoil for you) but this show at least begins with the Hollywood or popular view of Heaven.

If I'm a good person on earth I will go to Heaven. Sure, I screw up but only the really bad people go to hell, like Hitler and ummmmmm Stalin, and ummmm terrorist?

And this is a great view until you start actually reading the Bible. Because when I read the Bible or I'm honest about my own life and the choices I've made I know there is no forking way I get into the "Good Place."

I actually had a conversation with a guy a few years ago who told me that he didn't need to repent because he didn't really sin. I told him he was probably a better behaved person than I was but only Jesus is perfect.  (That comment was not well-received.)


I can throw countless Bible verses but two that I really like are Romans 5:8 and Ephesians 2:8-9

Romans 5:6-8 says, "

o   “When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

And Ephesians 2:8-9 says,

o   “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

Sometimes I open my Bible just looking for the "But God"''s.... Do you know what I mean? Where it transitions from my inabilities to God's ability to work in my life.


I can't tell you what to believe. I hate when preachers stand up and try to guilt their captive audiences. And if you know me, that's NOT Me.

All I can tell you is what God has done for me. In the times of my life when I felt the weakest (The death of my mother and miscarriage of my child) God has showed me strength. Not by fixing everything but being there for me.

If we preach Jesus with the focus on just getting people into "The Good Place" we are missing the whole point of the Gospel. Jesus proclaims in Luke 4 that he came to "Set the prisoners free."

What does that even means?

It means that He wants to set us free from any sin that holds us down. Maybe that sin is our own us thinking we have ability to be a good person in our own strength? Maybe that sin is us thinking we have done too many wrong things to ever be loved by God or another person?


 I want to propose to you in the middle of your "Bad Place" you can start experiencing God's "Good Place" for your life. Will bad things happen? Of course they will. Bad things happened to Jesus and he never punched anyone in the face, that we know of.

How did He do it? He trusted in the Holy Spirit that lived inside of Him. If you believe in Jesus, you have the same Spirit living in you. 

You see, Christianity (at least how I view Christianity) makes the most sense to me because It declares that in my own power I am weak but Christ in strong. When I trust in Him, His Spirit will grow me and enable me to show people Jesus' love. Can I merit this type of love? No.


 That is what makes it wonderful. No matter your race, your social economical background, your past experiences, etc you can belong.

Do we in the church do a good job of helping those not like us belong? No, but that discussion is for another time.

Today, my hope is for you to know how unconditionally loved and accepted you are by God. His love is greater than any sin you could commit. You can live in the "Good Place" here on earth by trusting in his love and plan for your life. Thanks be to God.