Christianity's Family Tree - Chapter 3 - Lutheranism

Martin Luther's life was defined by speaking out against authority... an authority which he believed practiced theology and activities which went against the biblical and spiritual foundations to which Luther felt called.  It this frustration caused him to speak out first to the theological community against the theological duplicity of the Catholic hierarchy, and then to the people as a whole.  He did this even though it put his ministry and his life in jeopardy.  Indeed, he spent a year at Wartburg Castle in an attempt to escape the wrath of the Roman Catholic pope.  During this time he translated the New Testament into German and wrote various papers on the theological issues he had listed in the theses.


Luther's willingness to stand on his principles is reflected in this pair of socks, one of many favorite souvenirs from Lutherstadt-Wittenberg... They say,  "Here I stand, I can do no other" Martin Luther - Diet of Worms (1521).  His witness gives us all a promise that God can and will work in a much bigger way than we can imagine... we just have to stand for what we believe about who God is calling us to be.

Luther's analysis of Paul letter to the Romans gives a strong foundation to his ideas about who the church should be.  Justification by Faith is the foundation of most Protestant denominations.  Our faith journeys are rooted in a personal struggle with what it means to be a person of faith, and who this Jesus is that we follow. And as we come to a personal understanding of Jesus' saving grace, we then become a member of a priesthood of ALL believers.  We are given gifts which God expects us to use for the glory of the Kingdom of God.  Our faith journeys are not about obligation or requirements, but about responding to a God who is always calling, always loving.

What have you learned from our study of Martin Luther and Lutheranism that will help you deepen your own faith and experience of God?

Peace, Deb

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Here are a reading from Romans, a paragraph from a Luther article on Romans and an excerpt from John Wesley's journal... together they weave an interesting picture of how the doctrine of justification by faith is continually made real in the lives of people throughout the centuries.

But how, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.  For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:21-24)  

Faith is God’s work in us, that changes us and gives us new birth from God.  (John 1:13).  It kills the Old Adam and makes us completely different people.  It changes our hearts, our spirits, our thoughts and all our powers.  It brings the Holy Spirit with it.  Yes, it is a living, bold trust in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it.  Such confidence and knowledge of God’s grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith.   – Martin Luther

In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans.  About one quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.  I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.  – John Wesley

These paragraphs are quite famous to Methodists.  We are given hope that even our beloved John Wesley was a latecomer to this intrinsically hopeful faith doctrine.