A Lightning Strike and a Life Changed
Around 1501, two bright law students were walking through a field in Germany. Perhaps they were discussing the great careers and fortunes that lay ahead of them as lawyers. Dark clouds had gathered overhead, making them hasten their pace a little, but they were not concerned about the approaching storm.
The last thing they remembered from their walk was a white flash. When one of them awoke, he was dazed for a moment before realizing what had happened. He had been struck by lightning. Amazed that he had survived, he turned to his friend, wondering at their luck. But his friend had not been as fortunate. He was dead.
A Life-Altering Event
Devastated by this event, Martin Luther dropped out of law school without telling anyone why. He joined the hermitage of St. Augustine, hoping to find an answer to why his life had been spared when he should have died alongside his friend.
As a student, Luther continued to seek knowledge. It was not long before he had read the writings of St. Augustine and others whose works filled the hermitage library.
One day, while looking for something else to read, he came across a Latin Bible he had never seen before. Over the following weeks, he devoured its contents. He was surprised by how little the church of his day had to do with what he read in the Bible.
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The Call to Ministry
Thus, he felt the call to ministry and became a priest. His biblical scholarship and knowledge of the Church Fathers became so well known that, sometime in 1508, the newly forming University of Wittenberg invited him to become a teacher.
The university wanted Luther’s reputation and standing to give credibility to its faculty. However, Luther was more interested in continuing to learn himself.
Questioning Church Teachings
He had lengthy discussions with a more experienced Augustinian monk whom he greatly respected. They discussed various subjects, but their conversations repeatedly returned to the topic of the forgiveness of sins.
At that time, the established church taught that only through a priest could one’s sins be forgiven. It also required certain works or payments in some cases.
However, Luther’s friend pointed him to the writings of St. Bernard, who offered this response:
“This is the testimony that the Holy Ghost gives you in your heart, saying your sins are forgiven. For this is the opinion of the apostle, that man is freely justified by faith.”
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Justification by Faith
We are justified by faith.
The thought seemed to take possession of Luther’s mind as he began to see it everywhere in the things he read, especially in Paul’s letters to the churches.
This conviction stayed with him for some time. As he studied further, he increasingly saw that the practices of the state church had very little to do with faith in Jesus Christ and everything to do with obtaining more power and wealth.
A Trip to Rome
He especially saw this when he travelled to Rome to represent his university in a debate before the church leadership.
Upon returning to Germany, Luther received a Doctor of Divinity degree. He then began teaching directly from the Bible rather than relying on other texts, focusing especially on the books of Romans and Psalms.
A New Era Dawns
His words differed so greatly from what other teachers taught that “there seemed, after a long and dark night, a new day to arise, in the judgment of all pious and prudent men.”
He pointed to Jesus as the only remitter of sins. He taught that people should gratefully embrace this free gift rather than despise what it cost Jesus on the cross to obtain it.
If people would truly come to Jesus and ask Him to forgive their sins, such a change would take place that everyone around them would notice.
The more he taught this, the more he felt its impact in his own heart.
Tale Tuesday 032
Date: 14th March 2023
Title: Martin Luther – I Am Tied by the Scriptures
Source: A Heritage of Faith: A History of Christianity in Nigeria
Author: Ayodeji Abodunde
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