By Frank Marron (Lutheran)
As a communicant member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, I can honestly say that the historic man Martin Luther is seldom quoted. On the other hand, the same verses rediscovered in the 16th century by the Augustinian monk Martin Luther are quoted frequently: Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 1:17, and Romans 5:8 - among others.
The legacy of Martin Luther that survives to this day is Sola Scriptura - Holy Scripture is the norm and basis for all Christian beliefs - not any historic personage. Roman Catholics, and others, are confused over this basic issue because of their unquestioning allegiance to another man - the pope. Consequently, Roman Catholics simply transfer their own thought processes to any Protestant by attacking the historic man Martin Luther. This is an error in their logic. Although I believe that Luther was used by God as an instrument, I also realize that he was a sinner like all men, in need of the Savior.
What Roman Catholics consistently fail at is recognizing that their church body stands accused of many heresies by the Word of God, not Martin Luther who was merely God's voice piece. This is the truth: all men and material things fade away but the Word of the Lord endures forever. As a Lutheran I believe we are still in the Reformation. The exact same fallacies and heresies confronted by Luther in the medieval church are alive and well in American Evangelicalism and elsewhere. Mankind can simply not believe the truth of God as spoken in His Word - primarily because of a confusion between Law and Gospel. All religions of the world are works righteousness oriented and have similarities. Only orthodox Christianity is the opposite of commonsense, maintaining that salvation is totally dependent upon the Grace of God from start to finish. This is so difficult for fallen man to comprehend, since even the spiritual discernment of this truth requires the Holy Spirit's enlightenment (1Cor. 2:14).
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1 comment:
Very pretty site! Keep working. thnx!
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