Thank God For Martin Luther

The following is an excerpt from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon about Martin Luther.


“But the just shall live by his faith.”
Habakkuk 2:4.
This text is three times employed by the Apostle Paul as an argument. Read Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews
10:38—in each of these cases it runs, “The just shall live by faith.” This is the old original text to which the Apostle
referred when he said, “As it is written, The just shall live by faith.” We are not wrong in making the Inspiration of
the Old Testament to be as important as that of the New, for the truth of the Gospel must stand or fall with that of the
Prophets of the old dispensation. The Bible is one and indivisible—you cannot question the Old Testament and retain
the New. Habakkuk must be inspired, or Paul writes nonsense.
Yesterday, 400 years ago, [November 10, 1483] there came into this wicked world the son of a miner, or refiner of
metals, who was to do no little towards undermining the Papacy and refining the Church. The name of that baby was
Martin Luther—a hero and a saint. Blessed was that day above all the days of the century, which it honored, for it bestowed
a blessing on all succeeding ages through “the monk that shook the world.” His brave spirit overturned the tyranny
of error which had so long held nations in bondage. All human history since then has been more or less affected by
the birth of that marvelous boy! He was not an absolutely perfect man—we neither endorse all that he said nor admire
all that he did—but he was a man upon whose like men’s eyes shall seldom rest!
He was a mighty judge in Israel, a kingly servant of the Lord. We ought to more often pray to God to send us men—
men of God, men of power. We should pray that, according to the Lord’s infinite goodness, His ascension gifts may be
continued and multiplied for the perfecting of His Church, for when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive
and received gifts for men. And “He gave some, Apostles; and some, Prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors
and teachers.” He continues to bestow these choice gifts according to the Church’s needs and He would scatter them more
plentifully, perhaps, if our prayers more earnestly ascended to the Lord of the Harvest to thrust forth laborers into His
harvest. Even as we believe in the crucified Savior for our personal salvation, we ought to believe in the ascended Savior
for the perpetual enriching of the Church with confessors and evangelists who shall declare the Truth of God.
I wish to take my little share in commemorating Luther’s birthday and I think I can do no better than use the key of
the Truth of God by which Luther unlocked the dungeons of the human mind and set bondage hearts at liberty. That
golden key lies in the Truth briefly contained in the text before us—“The just shall live by his faith.” Are you not a little
surprised to find such a clear Gospel passage in Habakkuk? To discover in that ancient Prophet an explicit statement
which Paul can use as a ready argument against the opponents of Justification by Faith? It shows that the cardinal doctrine
of the Gospel is no new-fangled notion! Assuredly it is not a novel dogma invented by Luther, nor even a Truth of
God which was first taught by Paul!
This fact, Justification by Faith, has been established in all ages and, therefore, we find it here, among the ancient
things, a lamp to cheer the darkness which hung over Israel before the coming of the Lord! This also proves that there has
been no change as to the Gospel. The Gospel of Habakkuk is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ! A clearer light was cast
upon this Truth of God by the giving of the Holy Spirit, but the way of salvation has, in all ages, been one and the same!
No man has ever been saved by his good works. The way by which the just have lived has always been the way of faith.
There has not been the slightest advance upon this Truth—it is established and settled—always the same, like the God
who uttered it.
At all times and everywhere, the Gospel is and must forever be the same. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today,
and forever.” We read of “the Gospel” as of one—never of two or three gospels—as of many. Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but Christ’s Word shall never pass away. It is also noteworthy that this Truth of God should be so old and should continue so unchanged, but that it should possess such vitality. This one sentence, “The just shall live by his
faith,” produced the Reformation! Out of this one line, as from the opening of one of the Apocalyptic seals, came forth
all that sounding of Gospel trumpets and all that singing of Gospel songs which made a sound like the noise of many waters
in the world. This one seed—forgotten and hidden away in the dark medieval times—was brought forth, dropped
into the human heart, made to grow by the Spirit of God and, in the end, to produce great results.
This handful of corn on the top of the mountains so multiplied that the fruit thereof did shake like Lebanon and they
of the city flourished like grass of the earth! The least bit of the Truth of God, thrown anywhere, will live! Certain plants
are so full of vitality that if you only take a fragment of a leaf and place it on the soil, the leaf will take root and grow. It
is utterly impossible that such vegetation should become extinct, And so it is with the Truth of God—it is living and
incorruptible—and, therefore, there is no destroying it! As long as one Bible remains, the religion of Free Grace will
live! No, if they could burn all printed Scriptures, as long as there remained a child who remembered a single text of the
Word, the Truth would rise again!
Even in the ashes of truth the fire is still living, and when the breath of the Lord blows upon it, the flame will burst
forth gloriously. Because of this, let us be comforted in this day of blasphemy and of rebuke—comforted because though
“the grass withers and the flower thereof falls away: but the Word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the Word by
which the Gospel is preached to you. Let us now examine this text which was the means of enlightening the heart of Luther,
as I shall explain to you, by-and-by.


The rest of this sermon by Spurgeon can be read here

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Biblical Christianity Vs. Roman Catholicism

In 1515 Martin Luther saw it clearly, man is saved solely by his faith in Jesus Christ. The cross alone can remove man’s sin and save him from the grasp of the devil. The implications of Luther’s discovery were enormous. If salvation comes through faith in Christ alone, the intercession of priests is superfluous. Faith formed and nurtured by the Word of God written and preached, requires no monks, no masses, no prayers to the saints. The mediation of the Church of Rome crumbles into insignificance
The Catechism of the Catholic church says:
882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful."402 "For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.
My Bible says:
Ephesians 1:22-23
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
The Catechism says:
1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.
1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.606 The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:607
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.
My Bible says:
1 John 2:2
and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
1 John 4:10
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The Catechism says:
1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner. . . this sacrifice is truly propitiatory."
My Bible says:
Hebrews 10:14
For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
Hebrews 7:27-28
who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.
The Catechism says:
1471 The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance.
What is an indulgence?
"An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints."
"An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin." The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.
My Bible says:
Hebrews 9:22
And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 10:18
Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
The Catechism says:
1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven
My Bible says:
Hebrews 1:3
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Colossians 1:22
yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach
The Catechism says:
Outside the Church there is no salvation"
846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:
Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.
1498 Through indulgences the faithful can obtain the remission of temporal punishment resulting from sin for themselves and also for the souls in Purgatory
My Bible says:
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Galatians 1:9
As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed.
Some Roman Catholic Prayers:
Hail, Holy Queen
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us. And after this our exile, show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

The Memorare of St. Bernard
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that nay one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, and sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of Virgins, my Mother; to thee I come; before thee I stand sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.

The Roman Catholic church views Mary as being sinless. They put her in a position of deity. Jesus was the only sinless person to ever live. He was God and man.
As we have seen above the Catholic church states that one must be a member of that church for salvation , that the sacraments are necessary for salvation.
The Word of God states:
Rom 10:8-10 "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Eph 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
Notice that the central focus of the Scriptures is on Jesus for salvation. However, central to the Roman Catholic version of salvation is the Roman Catholic Church and their sacraments.
In regards to " another Gospel", my Bible says:
Gal 1:8-9 "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed."
If one does a careful study of the Bible and what it says compared to what the Roman Catholic church teaches, it is evident that they are teaching something contrary to what the Holy Bible says.
Purgatory is a man made doctrine. It was never taught by the early church fathers, and it is not taught in the Word of God! It is, as catechism 1031 says, a "tradition." The rich man that died and went to hell in Luke 16, prayed to Father Abraham, but Abraham told him that his fate was sealed. It could not be changed.
Luke 16:22-26 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell (what happened to purgatory?) he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime (you had your chance when you were living) receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you CANNOT; NEITHER CAN THEY PASS TO US, that would come from thence.
For Rome to sell indulgences, it needed a teaching that Jesus' Blood Atonement on the cross was not sufficient to remove "temporal punishment due to sin" - only eternal punishment. The Church of Rome used 2 MACCABBEES 12:42-44 to show that praying for the dead is "scriptural". This apocryphal book was written by a man who knew it wasn't divinely inspired (ref. 2 MACCABBEES 15:37). For the sales & marketing of indulgences, Purgatory served the Church of Rome well. As far as sound doctrine, purgatory fails. Any teaching that limits the Vicarious Blood Atonement of Jesus at the cross is heresy.

Ecumenicalism

A disturbing trend has been emerging in Christianity over recent years, a trend known as ecumenism, or the ecumenical movement. Ecumenism is the coming together of various 'Christian' denominations, based on unity in Christ, for dialogue and evangelism. This concept is flawed from the outset as Roman Catholicism denies many of the biblical teachings regarding salvation etc. There can be no unity without truth. To be in unity with Catholicism, I would have to compromise and be in agreement with things I know to be false. The doctrine of purgatory for example. It is not in my Bible. How does a Bible believing, born again Christian join together in unity with those who oppose what the Bible says? Is the good news, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, up for debate? Is the doctrine of salvation amongst other key doctrines negotiable? I agree with the teachings in the Bible clearly taught by Jesus and the apostles. The Roman Catholic Church says the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is not enough, and it institutes the Mass where Christ is crucified over and over again. This same church teaches infant baptism, purgatory, prayer to saints and other rituals not found or taught in the Holy Bible.
2 Corinthians 6:14,15 says: "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?" (NKJV). True unity must be based on the doctrines in the Bible, not on the traditions of man, and man made doctrines. We can not have unity based on compromise. There is one truth and that is the Holy Bible. Jesus is "THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE. No man comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) Compromise cannot be an option. We must hold fast to the truth of God's Word.
"I marvel that you so soon are being moved away from Him who called you into the grace of Christ, to another gospel, which is not another, but some are troubling you, and desiring to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from Heaven preach a gospel to you beside what we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we said before, and now I say again, If anyone preaches a gospel to you beside what you have received, let him be accursed. For now do I persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ". Galatians 1: 6-10 (NKJV).