While many people in the US are celebrating Halloween tonight when kids are trick-or-treating and adults are going to Halloween parties, not many people are aware that October 31st is also commemorated as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation movement.
It was October 31, 1517 when the Reverend Father Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses onto the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. This simple act started the reformation movement that changed the face of religious life and politics of the western world. His movement was quickly spread throughout the Europe and was carried on by men like Philipp Melanchton, John Calvin, John Knox, Huldrych Zwingli, Theodore Beza, and others.
The tenets of the movement, known as the 5 Solas of Reformation are Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria.
The formal cause of the Reformation movement was Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) where the reformers believed that Scripture is the sole authority in doctrinal matters. The material cause of the movement was Sola Fide (Faith Alone), that is justification is by grace alone through faith alone. The conflict over justification by faith alone boils down to the difference between the words “Imputed” and “Infused”. Is the ground of our justification the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, or the righteousness of Christ infused within us? Sola fide declares that the ground of our justification is solely the righteousness of Christ. It is apart from or outside of us, not a part of us.
For further reading on the Justification by Faith Alone, I recommend Dr. R.C. Sproul’s “Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification”
Dr. Michael Horton answers the question “Are We Justified by Faith Alone?” also read “Justification by Faith Alone: Vital Now and Always.”
Thanks be to God for many brave men who gave their lives for this cause. Because of the Reformation movement and by the providence of God we once again can embrace the truth of the Gospel, the truth that sets us free.