Martin Luther: Influencing the Bible & All the Rest of Us

Martin Luther nailed a lengthy piece of paper to the Wittenburg church door on October 31, 1517.

Luther, a monk, announced his dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church that day and sparked the Reformation of Christianity.

His 95 theses declaration changed civilization; some believe for good, some think for bad.

Certainly, my life is better because of it, and so is yours.

Here are four reasons how more than a half-millennium after Luther, my life is improved:

I can read.

Prior to Luther, church members either couldn’t read or were strongly advised against reading the Bible.

Luther and his followers encouraged literacy so people could read the Bible themselves.

By reading the Bible, they could form their own opinions about what God said.

It liberated them from reliance on someone else telling them who God is.

It also meant that if I have a question, I have a source in which to find the answer.

The Bible, and thus books, became accessible.

Prior to Luther and his focus on education, books were not readily available.

Luther spent years translating the Bible into common vernacular any German could understand.

The first book printed on Johannes Gutenberg‘s press was a Bible. (Albeit long before Luther was born).

Luther’s translation combined with the press meant the Bible could put into the hands of anyone.

My religious education prior to my teens had nothing hands-on to do with the Bible.

Attending a Lutheran Church meant I needed a Bible in my hands so I could study it myself.

Singing in four-part harmony!

While I was a musician before I attended a Lutheran Church, I had never participated in singing hymns in four-part harmony before.

To hear those thunderous bass and tenor notes on some of the magnificent hymns of the faith, was extraordinary.

I’d never sung Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” before worshipping at Trinity Lutheran Church!

All those soaring hymns, thick with theology, have inspired and taught me over the years.

Singing soprano with a bass husband is lots of fun!

Salvation, Grace and the Law

Thanks to Luther’s teaching, I came to understand my salvation was an act of grace from God.

Somehow I had missed that in prior religious teaching.

Because of reading the Bible–particularly the book of Romans which was the first book I studied–I grasped a better understanding of sin.

I discovered my sins were forgiven by Christ’s death on the cross–once and for all.

I’d missed that crucial fact as well.

Was Luther responsible for it all?

Martin Luther’s “here I stand, I can do no else,” was the catalyst for the needed Reformation in the church 500 years ago.

His insistence on the inerrancy of Scripture and willingness to sacrifice himself for God’s purposes reverberates through the centuries.

As he would agree, Martin Luther was a flawed man who stumbled over personal sins.

He was not perfect.

I don’t like everything he said nor every hymn he wrote.

But, I’m like him in the major point. Martin Luther clung to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to forgive his sins and lead him into life eternal.

I’m looking forward to this Reformation year–to learn more about Martin Luther, to worship with other believers and to be thankful.

Reading, the Bible, singing and grace, and like Martin and Katarina Luther– a large family–are the cornerstones of my life.

Thanks be to God!

Tweetables

How my life is better 499 years after Martin Luther. Click to Tweet

4 ways Luther improved my life. Click to Tweet

I can read, sing, and know forgiveness. Thanks, Martin Luther! Click to Tweet