Reformation Day Eve

Because of the overwhelming popularity of Halloween, Reformation Day typically goes unnoticed every year. Reformation Day celebrates the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses, (which you can read right here) on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany on Oct. 31, 1517. This was the day that God began to reclaim his Gospel from the darkness of merit based salvation and papal exploitation and bring about an explosion of light on humanity.In an article on Justin Taylor's blog, Taylor interviews Carl Trueman of Westminster Theological Seminary about the event and the significance it had on the movement. It's worth reading. In thinking about that day and the reform that ensues, it reminds me of two important things.1. We must stand against corruption in the church as we see it. Luther didn't begin his reform with the theology we know him for today. He began by seeing an exploited people by a corrupted church and he did something about. So let's call it as we see it and not back down.2. We must examine all Doctrine against God's word. As Luther defended himself at the Diet of Worms, he took a stand against false doctrine by appealing to Scriptures. Our path can so easily be lost if we neglect the light of Scriptures and the winds of change can quickly blow us off course. Stay committed to the Scriptures with fervency, it is our guard against oppressive religion and idolatry. Below is a clip from the movie Luther of him at the Diet of Worms. The movie isn't as historical as I would like, but still worth watching.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5P7QkHCfaI&fs=1&hl=en_US]I will leave you with a quote from a slightly later Reformer, John Calvin, which I came across while reading part of his commentary on Romans:

"May there flourish, therefore, sufficient greatness of soul in the Church of God to prevent its godly teachers from being ashamed of the simple profession of true doctrine, however hated it may be, and to refute whatever reproaches the ungodly may pour forth."