Christ Alone: The Heart of the Reformation

 

Summary

Celebrating the Reformation is a reminder to focus our attention on Christ alone, as the Reformers like Luther and Calvin would have insisted. They would direct us to the gospel of Jesus Christ, emphasizing that God, His Word, and His Spirit are the true heroes of the Reformation. The Reformation was about God’s sovereignty, grace, and power, which led humble sinners to serve Him and spread the gospel that had been hidden for so long.

Turning to Romans 1:16-17, we see the passage that ignited Luther’s heart and set the world on fire. Paul declares that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. This gospel is not just information about God’s power; it is the power itself. It is the vehicle through which the Holy Spirit regenerates hearts, making them His own. The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, a righteousness that is given to us, enabling us to live by faith.

Luther’s journey to understanding this truth was marked by a deep struggle. Despite his devout life as a monk, he found no peace until he realized that righteousness comes from God, not from human effort. His encounter with Romans and the Psalms led him to understand that salvation is a gift of God’s righteousness, not something earned by works. This realization was transformative, leading to his spiritual rebirth.

The gospel is simple yet profound. It is the victorious message of what God has accomplished through Christ, and it requires us to also speak of the bad news of sin and God’s wrath. We must be willing to tell the truth in love, even when it is difficult or embarrassing. The gospel calls us to live a life of repentance, continually trusting in Christ’s righteousness rather than our own.

As we remember the Reformation, we are called to live in light of the gospel, embodying grace, love, and truth. We should be known as a people who point to God’s glory, striving for peace and contending for the truth. Our lives should reflect the transformative power of the gospel, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ until He returns.

Key Takeaways:

- The Reformation directs us to focus on Christ alone, emphasizing that God, His Word, and His Spirit are the true heroes. The Reformers would have us celebrate what God has done, not what they accomplished. [00:52]

- Romans 1:16-17 reveals that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. It is not merely information but the very power through which the Holy Spirit regenerates hearts. This righteousness from God enables us to live by faith. [12:17]

- Luther’s struggle for peace led him to understand that righteousness comes from God, not human effort. His encounter with Romans and the Psalms revealed that salvation is a gift of God’s righteousness, transforming his life. [06:52]

- The gospel is simple yet profound, requiring us to speak the truth about sin and God’s wrath. We must be willing to tell the truth in love, even when it is difficult or embarrassing, trusting in Christ’s righteousness. [10:21]

- Living in light of the Reformation means embodying grace, love, and truth. We should be known as a people who point to God’s glory, striving for peace and contending for the truth, proclaiming the gospel until Christ returns. [17:37]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:19] - Focus on Christ Alone
- [00:52] - God as the Hero of the Reformation
- [01:29] - The Gospel Unchained
- [02:07] - Romans 1:16-17: The Power of God
- [03:04] - Luther’s Journey to Faith
- [04:17] - Seeking Peace in Devotion
- [05:19] - Despair in Rome
- [06:18] - Revelation in the Psalms
- [07:23] - Righteousness from God
- [08:16] - The Simplicity of the Gospel
- [09:42] - The Challenge of Truth
- [10:49] - The Necessity of Repentance
- [12:17] - The Gospel as Power
- [13:45] - Living by Faith
- [15:19] - Luther’s Spiritual Rebirth
- [17:03] - Living in Light of the Gospel
- [18:10] - To God Alone Be the Glory

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide: Celebrating the Reformation

Bible Reading:
- Romans 1:16-17
- Psalm 31:1
- Habakkuk 2:4

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Observation Questions:

1. What does Romans 1:16-17 reveal about the nature of the gospel and its power? How does this passage relate to the Reformation's emphasis on faith? [03:04]

2. How did Luther's understanding of Psalm 31:1 contribute to his realization about righteousness and salvation? [06:52]

3. According to the sermon, why did Luther and the other Reformers insist that God, His Word, and His Spirit are the true heroes of the Reformation? [00:52]

4. What was the significance of Luther's "tower experience" in his spiritual journey, and how did it change his understanding of righteousness? [15:19]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. How does the sermon describe the relationship between the gospel and the power of God? Why is it important to understand the gospel as more than just information? [12:17]

2. In what ways did Luther's struggle for peace and his eventual understanding of righteousness reflect the core message of the Reformation? [06:52]

3. The sermon mentions the necessity of speaking the truth about sin and God's wrath. How does this challenge modern perceptions of sharing the gospel? [10:21]

4. How does the concept of living by faith, as emphasized in Romans 1:17 and Habakkuk 2:4, shape the believer's daily life according to the sermon? [13:45]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a time when you felt ashamed or hesitant to share the gospel. What steps can you take to overcome this fear and boldly proclaim the good news? [08:16]

2. Luther's journey to understanding righteousness involved a deep personal struggle. Is there an area in your spiritual life where you are currently struggling to find peace? How can you seek God's righteousness in this area? [04:17]

3. The sermon emphasizes the importance of speaking the truth in love, even when it's difficult. How can you practice this in your relationships, especially when discussing sensitive topics like sin and repentance? [11:13]

4. Consider how the Reformation's focus on God's sovereignty and grace can influence your approach to serving others. What is one practical way you can embody these principles in your community this week? [17:03]

5. The sermon calls believers to live a life of repentance and faith. What does a daily practice of repentance look like for you, and how can it deepen your relationship with Christ? [14:41]

6. How can you ensure that your life points to God's glory rather than your own achievements? Identify one area where you can shift the focus from yourself to God. [18:10]

7. The Reformation reminds us to focus on Christ alone. Is there a specific distraction in your life that prevents you from doing this? What steps can you take to minimize this distraction and refocus on Christ? [00:19]

Devotional

Day 1: Christ Alone, Our Sole Focus
The Reformation serves as a powerful reminder to focus our attention on Christ alone. The Reformers, such as Luther and Calvin, emphasized that God, His Word, and His Spirit are the true heroes of the Reformation. They would have us celebrate what God has done, not what they accomplished. This focus on Christ alone is a call to recognize His sovereignty, grace, and power in our lives. It is a call to turn away from self-reliance and to trust fully in the sufficiency of Christ for our salvation and daily living. By focusing on Christ, we align ourselves with the truth of the gospel and the transformative power it holds. [00:52]

Isaiah 45:22-23 (ESV): "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.'"

Reflection: In what areas of your life are you tempted to rely on your own strength rather than focusing on Christ alone? How can you intentionally shift your focus to Him today?


Day 2: The Gospel's Power for Salvation
Romans 1:16-17 reveals that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. This passage, which ignited Luther’s heart, declares that the gospel is not merely information about God’s power; it is the power itself. Through the gospel, the Holy Spirit regenerates hearts, making them His own. The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, a righteousness that is given to us, enabling us to live by faith. This understanding of the gospel as the power of God challenges us to see it as more than just a message but as the very means through which God transforms lives. [12:17]

1 Corinthians 1:18 (ESV): "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

Reflection: How have you experienced the power of the gospel in your own life? What steps can you take to share this transformative power with someone else today?


Day 3: Righteousness as a Gift from God
Luther’s struggle for peace led him to understand that righteousness comes from God, not human effort. Despite his devout life as a monk, he found no peace until he realized that salvation is a gift of God’s righteousness, not something earned by works. His encounter with Romans and the Psalms revealed this transformative truth, leading to his spiritual rebirth. This realization invites us to rest in the assurance that our righteousness is not based on our performance but on the finished work of Christ. It calls us to live in the freedom and joy that comes from knowing we are accepted by God through faith. [06:52]

Philippians 3:9 (ESV): "And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith."

Reflection: Are there areas in your life where you are striving to earn God’s approval? How can you embrace the truth that righteousness is a gift from God and not based on your efforts?


Day 4: The Simplicity and Challenge of the Gospel
The gospel is simple yet profound, requiring us to speak the truth about sin and God’s wrath. We must be willing to tell the truth in love, even when it is difficult or embarrassing, trusting in Christ’s righteousness. This aspect of the gospel challenges us to be honest about the reality of sin while also proclaiming the hope found in Christ. It calls us to live a life of repentance, continually trusting in Christ’s righteousness rather than our own. By embracing the simplicity and challenge of the gospel, we become vessels of God’s grace and truth in a world that desperately needs it. [10:21]

2 Corinthians 4:2 (ESV): "But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God."

Reflection: Is there a difficult truth about sin or God’s wrath that you have been hesitant to share with someone? How can you approach this conversation with love and grace today?


Day 5: Living in Light of the Gospel
As we remember the Reformation, we are called to live in light of the gospel, embodying grace, love, and truth. We should be known as a people who point to God’s glory, striving for peace and contending for the truth. Our lives should reflect the transformative power of the gospel, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ until He returns. This call to live in light of the gospel challenges us to be intentional in our daily walk, seeking to glorify God in all we do. It invites us to be active participants in God’s mission, sharing His love and truth with the world around us. [17:37]

Colossians 1:10 (ESV): "So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Reflection: How can you intentionally embody grace, love, and truth in your interactions with others today? What specific actions can you take to point others to God’s glory in your daily life?

Quotes

Luther and Calvin and the other Reformers would draw our attentions and our gazes to Christ alone. They would tell us to fix our attentions on the gospel of Jesus Christ. They would say it is right to see what God has done. It is appropriate to celebrate what the Spirit has done. But they would be the first to say that they themselves were not by any means the heroes of the Reformation but that God was the hero of the Reformation, that the Word of God was the hero of the Reformation, that the Spirit of God was the hero of the Reformation. [00:40:33]

Paul says, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel," though the world thinks it's foolish, though they ridiculed him and laughed at him on Mars Hill. Paul says, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes," to everyone who calls in the name of the Lord, to whosoever believes. It's to everyone, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. But Paul said that the gospel is the power of God, and we can't miss that. [11:52:93]

Luther realized that the only way he could be delivered, the only way he could be rescued in his sin, the only way that he could be redeemed from this torment of his soul, the only way he could really find assurance was to be rescued, and he had to be rescued by none other than the righteousness of God. And so in coming to Romans 1, in reading about the gospel of God and hearing the gospel of God explained, as Luther not only read through Romans but studied Romans and studied Romans in the original language, not just the Latin. [06:57:99]

The gospel is that victorious message of all that our Triune God has done in and through the life and the ministry and the perfect law-keeping and fulfilling all the righteous demands of the law of God, in the atoning and sacrificial and substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, His resurrection and all His life and ministry even now. It's what God has accomplished through Christ and all by the power of the Spirit. This story is news and it's good news. But you see, in preaching that good news we also have to preach the bad news. [08:46:32]

And so, as God leads us to faith, as He leads us to repentance, as Paul points out in Romans 2:4, even as Luther understood that it's repentance from beginning to end, as he stated in his first thesis of his ninety-five, "When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, called us to repentance, He willed that the entire life of a believer be one of repentance." That we don't just look back upon a time when we were first justified, when we first got saved, and say, "I repented then." [14:19:39]

Luther saw this, and it was at that moment by his own testimony, by his own account that he believed he was born again by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came rushing in and regenerated his dead, stony heart, and Luther said, "It's as if the gates of heaven were flung open wide to me." He realized it couldn't be his own righteousness. It had to be the righteousness of Christ. As we celebrate the Reformation rightly, as we remember what God did through Luther, as we remember what God did through Calvin and the other Reformers. [16:13:30]

And that means, dearly beloved, that we would be a people who are proclaiming the gospel, living the gospel in our own hearts, as we are repenting of our sins and trusting Jesus Christ, as we live in light of the gospel. That means we're going to live a life of freedom, a life of grace, a life of love. That we, as God's people, would be known by a people of love. And that doesn't mean putting aside the truth; it means contending for the truth. [17:08:13]

And in contending for the truth, we would also be a people that would be always striving eagerly for the bond of peace in the church of Jesus Christ, that we would be a people who are defined and known by the world as loving people, speaking the truth in love and speaking the gospel of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ until Christ returns. That we would be a people, when they see us they don't see us pointing at ourselves, they don't see us as a people trying to gain glory for ourselves. [17:41:96]

Paul says this is God's gospel. It's not fundamentally Paul's gospel. It didn't belong to him. It was the gospel that Paul preached, but this was the gospel of God that Paul expounds throughout the epistle to the Romans and it, in one sense, is that which is expounded by God Himself throughout all of sacred Scripture. And so in verse 16 we read these two verses that ignited Luther and set the world on fire. [02:26:35]

Luther became a devout man, who was so seeking to end the torments of his soul that he might gain some measure of assurance that he might know God and that he might be able to rest in God and have true peace in God. But he didn't find it. In all his duties and all his obediences, he didn't find that peace. He didn't attain that peace and that hope and that freedom that he so desperately wanted that tormented his soul night and day. [04:21:30]

And Paul, pulling from Habakkuk 2:4, says "The righteous live by faith." The just shall live by faith, from beginning to end, from first to last, from faith to faith. We don't start by faith and then end up trying to earn heaven or earn the righteousness of God by works. It's God who begins a good work in us, and it is He who is faithful to fulfill it in us. [13:48:60]

It's through the proclamation of good news of all that God has done, that our God reigns, that He gets all the glory, that He is sovereign, that He is gracious and that He is not only the creation of our own souls, He is the author of that which saves our souls. "I'm not ashamed of the gospel," Paul says, "for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes." [12:54:80]

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Transcript
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