Martin Luther and the Word

Currently, the poll about favorite theologians shows that Marin Luther is at the top of the list. I would have to concur. Ever since seeing the movie Luther and reading John Piper's book The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, I have become fascinated by Martin Luther. Since finishing The Legacy (which is actually about three different men), I have read many other articles on the internet and one biography of Luther (I plan on reading more). The book I just finished was written by Martin Marty (I laughed) and was simply titled Martin Luther. Apart from being just plain interesting reading, I was really struck by one thing in Luther that made him one of the greatest reformers (if not the greatest).

Luther was utterly devoted to the Word. This point cannot be stressed enough. Luther accepted the Bible and only the Bible as absolute authority, boldly rejecting the edicts and councils of the Church and Pope when they contradicted Scripture. This profound and amazing rejection of the Church is hard to grasp if one does not have some knowledge about the Church and it's influence and importance in Europe during the 16th century.

In the 1500's the Church was everything. Salvation was found nowhere but in and through the Church. The word of the Pope was equal in authority to the Word of God - in fact it was more authoritative than the Word of God. In response to Luther's 95 Theses, Sylvester Prierias said, "He who does not accept the doctrine of the Church of Rome and pontiff of Rome as an infallible rule of faith, from which the Holy Scriptures, too, draw their strength and authority, is a heretic." In 1516, Pope Leo X declared, "It is necessary for the salvation of all souls that all Christian believers be subject to the pope at Rome." When Luther read the Word, he did not see where God had given authority to the "pope at Rome," but instead saw Christ as being the one and only "pope." Christ was the head and salvation was found in him and him alone.

However, this position was heretical. To deny the authority of the Church was to deny salvation (according to the Pope). When Luther would go to debate church officials about his heretical ideas, he would often be asked this question: How do you know you are right? How could centuries of Church doctrine and thousands of Church leaders have been wrong? Who are you, one man, to go against the Church of Rome? This was a question that Luther struggled with.

At the Diet of Worms, after being shown a table covered with all of Luther's heretical writings, Luther was asked if he would like to recant. In response to this question, Luther asked that he be allowed to have a day to think about it. At this, many of his supporters became discouraged, thinking that he was getting weak and would bow under the pressure of Rome. Indeed the weight of Rome was heavy - Who was he to reject centuries of Church doctrine? However, because Luther was solely devoted to the Word, he returned to the diet the next day and boldly declared, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the Pope or in the councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience.” For this statement, Luther was excommunicated and put under imperial ban, but his faith was in Christ and therefore his salvation was sure.

We should all pray that God would give us a love for His Word and a devotion to it like the love and devotion that Luther had - one that eclipses all other loves and all other devotion. The Word of God is the mean that God has ordained to reveal Himself to us through. In short, it is how we know God. We cannot find God in any other way. Luther knew this. His faith in, and love for, the Word drove him to hold it higher than anything else. We must do this as well. Pray for God's grace that you might glorify His Word always.