In a world where every truth is to be accepted as valid, it might seem strange to celebrate the Reformation. The Reformation was fundamentally about teaching the right and true things against things that were wrong and false. To claim to have the truth about something as important as the way of salvation might even feel like arrogance. We are pressured to buy the argument that there is a generic Christianity and the differences between the denominations are either just semantics or style. But nothing could be further from the truth or more pleasing to the devil’s ears. The profound risks taken by men like Luther and Melanchthon and the German princes and countless laymen were not about style or semantics. Who would be willing to be executed over a question of musical style? No one. The Reformation was about the eternal truth of God’s Word and the one way of salvation which God has prepared for all people. The Reformation was about preaching the pure Word of God which alone can comfort the conscience struck by the great depth of its sin. The Reformation was about preaching Christ alone as the one who has saved us from our sin because this is what God plainly teaches in Holy Scripture. There is no work of man, nothing we could ever do, that would atone for our wickedness or remove from us the corruption of sin that plagues us. Only the Son of God can win forgiveness for us and only His Word has the power to declare us forgiven, cleansed of our sin, and holy in the sight of God. There is no other Gospel. There is no other Christ. And that is what we rejoice to boldly receive from the Lord’s hand and confess before the world out of thankfulness to our God. I look forward to seeing you this coming Lord’s Day.
Pastor Ulmer