Devotion 10.31.26

Habakkuk 2:4

4(b) "...but the righteous shall live by his faith."

All Hallow's Eve

In 1517, Martin Luther chose this night to tack the "95 These" to the door at the church in Wittenburg, Germany. He chose this night because he knew a number of people, higher than normal, would be coming to the church to pay indulgences meant to move their loved ones who were dead along the continuum seeking pardon and forgiveness. I assume this would assure the believer that they were helping their loved one to move on from assignment in Purgatory.

Luther struggled with the practice of indulgences and other works' righteous teachings knowing he never felt fully forgiven.

He discovered mercy and forgiveness by "faith alone" in God's Word, and he sought to help those whose struggle was like his by posting his theses on the door to initiate a dialogue within the church. I saw a post this past week that incorrectly stated he desired to leave the church and form a new religion based on his teachings. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. His desire was to correct the errant teachings of the church and to focus on "faith alone" as the source of our justification in God's eyes.

As Luther had his eyes opened and the truth revealed, he found this gospel message throughout the entirety of scripture, from his intense and personal study of the Psalms, to places where it is revealed in plain sight, to other locations such as Habakkuk. 

"28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." Romans 3

Today, before the candy gets distributed, think about the significance of Luther's work on your faith as a believer in Christ. Do you know you are a redeemed child of God through faith? Do you get works confused with justification as opposed to a righteous act done because of that faith, not to win favor with God, but to give glory to God?

Pray a prayer of thanksgiving today for the faith given to you by God's Spirit in Holy Baptism. Pray for understanding in justification. Pray that we know, in our hearts, we are saved by faith alone. Pry for those who do not know God or the redemption found in faith alone. Amen