The Reformed Episcopal Church is a Protestant Reformational Church. This month, I want to consider why the Protestant Reformation came about and what its main doctrinal emphases are.
Martin Luther was a leading figure of the Protestant Reformation who lived from 1483-1546. Various events in Luther’s life caused him to see that the Roman Catholic Church had lost its bearing from the theology and practice of the New Testament Church, and it needed reform and change.
Martin Luther, as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, was appointed chair of the Biblical studies department at the prestigious Wittenberg University in Wittenberg, Germany. In the fall of 1512, he began teaching a course on the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans. When Luther came upon Romans 1:16,17, he saw that we are justified by God through Christ alone, by God’s grace alone and through faith alone.
Romans 1:16,17 say this, “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
During the early 1500’s, Johann Tetzel, a traveling priest, was going around Germany preaching about indulgences in an attempt to raise money to build onto and repair St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (Vatican City). Tetzel’s jingle about indulgences went like this, “The moment the coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs.” Luther considered Johann Tetzel a base and corrupt religious huckster, but his teaching was consistent with the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory. It was during this time that Luther nailed up the 95 theses or propositions on the church door of Wittenberg University on Oct. 31, 1517. These 95 propositions dealt mainly with the issue of indulgences and the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory which Luther viewed as being against the teaching of the New Testament. Copies of Luther’s 95 theses spread like wildfire across Europe because of Guttenberg’s printing press. Luther never dreamed that the 95 theses would arouse the ire of the Pope.
Protestantism and Roman Catholicism were and are in disagreement on this point. According to Roman Catholic teaching a Christian believer needs to trust in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins but also needs to be sufficiently purified to enter heaven and thus most Christians will need to spend time in purgatory to be purged from their sins. This time in purgatory can be decreased through the good work of living saints and the prayers of the departed who have excess merit. According to Roman Catholic teaching, a Christian is saved by a combination of faith in Christ plus good works.
Luther and the rest of the Protestant Reformation leaders taught that everyone who trusts in Christ as Lord and Savior is given the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a gift accomplished by Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. This righteousness does not come from within believers but from outside of believers and only through Jesus Christ, not the excess merit of others. Luther called this righteousness coming from outside of yourself, coming from Christ, the alien righteousness which is received by faith alone in Christ alone.
The apostle Paul in Philippians 3:8,9 says this, “8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—”
Passages like this caused the leaders of the Protestant Reformation to break from Rome because they viewed the Roman Catholic Church as not willing at all to change their stance on these matters. Churches of the Protestant Reformation hold to the five Solas of the Reformation:
The five solas are a set of five Latin statements that summarize the core beliefs of the Protestant Reformation and distinguish it from Roman Catholicism:
- Sola Scriptura: The Bible is the only infallible authority for Christians in matters of faith, doctrine, and practice.
- Sola Gratia: Salvation is a gift of grace from God, not a result of human merit.
- Sola Fide: Salvation is found in faith alone in Jesus Christ alone and not by good works.
- Solus Christus: Salvation is found in Christ alone.
- Soli Deo Gloria: Salvation is a work of God for His glory.
The word solas is Latin for “alone”. The five solas are considered to be the foundation of the Protestant Reformation faith and are considered to be relevant in every era because they summarize the Biblical gospel.
