Reformation Matters
Do you ever wonder, ‘Where would we be without the
reformation’? No, me neither, at least not until reading chapters eight to
eleven in Know the Creeds and Councils, through which I’ve learnt more of reformation
history and engaged with its issues.
To wrap my mind around the significance of the reformation,
I did ask this question. In this period of reform and conflict, men and women
went to the stake for certain points of doctrine. So where would we be if they
hadn’t?
This next section of Know
the Creeds and Councils offers up the what and why of the reformation. In
covering the Council of Trent, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Thirty-Nine
Articles of Religion and the Westminster Confession of Faith, Justin S. Holcomb
points out the key issues that prompted the reformation’s genesis, and walks us
through the resulting discussions.
As I read these chapters, more dominant than any other issue
of the reformation narrative was justification, our being seen by God as
sinless – is it by faith in Christ alone, or a product of faith and works? From
the Council of Trent, Rome’s answer to Luther’s Protestant objections, through
to the thoroughly Calvinistic Westminster Confession of Faith, a conversation
was taking place that asked churches and believers to take their stand on one
side or the other.
It turns out that we sometimes caricature the Catholic
position on justification, perceiving Catholics as relying solely on works for
justification. The decisions at Trent show that it’s more nuanced than this,
that ‘the
council preserved the Catholic idea that humans are not able to bring about
their own justification without the grace of God, but neither are they merely
passive.’ It is this expectation of impassivity that separated the
doctrine of the Catholic Church from that of the reformers.
Conversely, the Heidelberg Catechism, in answer to its 60th
question, ‘How
do you know God?’ responds,
‘Only by
true faith in Christ Jesus’. Decisions
on justification by faith alone in the Westminster Confession are largely tied
up with that of predestination, articulating that, ‘People are said to be unable to will their
own conversion… God has to awaken in the human heart the desire to be
reconciled to himself.’ These decisions stood staunchly in
opposition to the Catholic doctrine of justification, bolstering the divide
between the two sides during the reformation. On one side stood justification
dependent on faith in Christ alone, and on the other a perception of justification
that expects humans could take part in justifying themselves.
Our relationship with God begins to crumble when we view our
justification as being found or cemented elsewhere than through faith in
Christ. So perhaps even more pertinent than the question ‘where would we be
without the reformation?’ is ‘where would we be without justification by faith
alone?’ The answer to that question offers a horizon bleak with uncertainty,
one where we’re left believing that the cross of Christ needs our contribution
if it is to become effective. How thankful we should be that knowing
justification to be by faith alone, we can affirm that, ‘out of sheer grace, God grants and credits
to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ…’
Our tendency is to reach for control of everything, even our
own salvation. We like to see our good works as worthy of merit, despite
knowing that they achieve nothing towards justifying us. So praise God that the
doctrine of justification by faith alone is not only true but upheld and proclaimed
in evangelical churches. Imagine just how much we would pursue justification by
our works without this teaching.
About this month's contributor, Lauren Mahaffey
I’ve been a
Sydney girl all my life and have just moved from the leafy
'burbs of Northern Sydney to the narrow streets and terraces of Newtown.
I grew up
being taught about Jesus from a young age, and while I always thought there was
a God and that the God of the Bible seemed to be Him, it was in my early years
of high school that I truly understood the Gospel and put my trust in Jesus.
In 2014 I
started studying at Moore Theological College. So far it has been thoroughly stretching my understanding
of God, His Word, and how to bring it to bear on people’s lives. I’m also
serving with the team at MTS as the Communications Officer (aka the kid with
the Twitter password) and am part of the community at Summer Hill Church.
I studied media and writing at Macquarie
Uni before I started an MTS apprenticeship at St Paul’s Anglican Church,
Carlingford. It’s a great gift to have access to the Bible and know God through
it, and I love poring over it to soak up what it reveals about God and His plan
for us in Jesus Christ. I also love reading novels and quirky short stories,
and in recent times I’ve come to really appreciate the availability of good
Christian books and their value in helping us understand the scriptures.
As well as
this I love cooking, watching The Office (US, of course!), sewing,
going out to see bands, and generally exploring the Inner West!