Happy Reformation Day!
October 31 is a glorious day to remember and celebrate salvation by grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, through Scripture alone, for the glory of God alone.
The passage that transformed the Western world on this date more than 500 years ago makes the whole issue plain:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16-17).
The only path to arriving at a right standing before God takes our footsteps straight to this text. It assures us that we can be counted righteous in God’s sight purely by faith alone—when we place our faith in Christ alone.
In dying on Calvary, Jesus took our sins upon Himself and provided His righteousness to be placed into the account of everyone who would believe that He died for them—in their place, for their sins, in order that they might receive the forgiveness of sin and the certainty of eternal life in heaven.
This signal passage in the New Testament on the issue of justification by faith also became the central passage of all church history when it released priest and professor Dr. Martin Luther from the terror that had gripped his heart from his earliest days.
Luther began to understand several things from this most fundamental text. First, he came to see that “the righteousness of God” referenced here is not a description of the holy character of God—before Whom each of us stands hopeless, eternally condemned. Rather, the passage speaks of God declaring the believer to be righteous based on the righteousness of Christ—justification by faith. Drawing on 2 Cor. 5:21, Luther called this The Great Exchange.
Luther also realized that this declaration of righteousness refers to a change in God’s records—not a change in our lives. The Roman Catholic Church had taught him that God infuses the believer with grace, allowing him to perform works that merit God’s favor. But Luther recognized the hopelessness inherent in such a doctrine, and came to see that the key to the gospel is not Christ in us, but rather Christ for us. He alone has done the only work that can ever accomplish our salvation. And His work will only be of benefit to us when we trust in Him “from faith to faith” (v. 17)—that is, by faith alone.
Paul was quoting Hab. 2:4 in verse 17. The words of the prophet are repeated three times in the New Testament, with a different emphasis in each place: “The just (Rom. 1:17) shall live (Gal. 3:11) by faith (Heb. 10:38).”
Following such a famous section of verses, Paul immediately launches into another one. This is the most important passage in the New Testament dealing with the nature of judgment during this age of the church, which is marked primarily by “the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10). Yet, Paul tells us, God still displays His wrath—even during this dispensation:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness … because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1:18, 21).
Paul shows us in verse 21 that ingratitude is far from an innocent omission and is actually a critical step in man’s downfall into degradation. The picture Paul paints is one of a society which is one step away from plunging into gross, godless immorality—with the tread of that broken step being thanklessness.
Paul had stated several years earlier, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18). Failing to keep this command, lost humanity plummets—as if pushing down on a rotten board—into ghastly exaggerations of iniquity, and finally into the lake of fire itself.
When we toured Germany in 2017, we got to see the Heidelberg Castle, which Luther visited in April of 1518. One part of the amazing structure of that castle that intrigued me was an ancient spiral staircase. It looked to me like it could form the basis for an opening scene in a horror movie. I could see a person starting to descend that staircase when they hit a fractured step—and begin their free fall into the abyss. Such a picture illustrates the treacherous and pernicious nature of ungratefulness.
So here we see the passage that links the Scriptural emphases of the months of October and November. May it remind us to trust solely in the grace of God, and to be thankful for this, and for all that God bestows and allows.
We will conclude this two-part series by thinking about an English Bible version that connects these two months, by their themes, in the history of the church.
For now, may I be the last to wish you Happy Reformation Day! And may I be the first to wish you Happy Thanksgiving!
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Paul J. Scharf (M.A., M.Div., Faith Baptist Theological Seminary) is a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, based in Wisconsin, and serving in the Midwest. For more information on his ministry, visit sermonaudio.com/pscharf or foi.org/scharf, or email pscharf@foi.org.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version