Three Things Permanently Changed By The Reformation

3 Things That were Permanently changed by the Reformation

In honour of Reformation Day (Oct 31), the day when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany, I am going to share with you three important things we gained because of the whole reformation movement.
Now I know this is not an exhaustive list by any means, but I want to stress how important the Reformation is to us as Protestant Christians.

Three major things that came about due to the Reformation:
1) Bibles that are NOT in Latin. We can actually read them in our own spoken language.
2) The Biblical Doctrine of Justification by Grace Through Faith was brought back to light.
3) As a result, Literacy, free thinking, and salvation flourished in the world.

1) We have Bibles in English, French, German, and many other languages. Back in the 1500's, Latin was the only language used for the Bible, and only Roman Catholic Priests or language scholars could read that language. And the people were taught to listen to the Priest more than the actual Scripture. The Reformers brought back the truth of trusting the Scripture itself as the final authority from God.
Many of the Reformers were martyered for translating the Bible into the common languages of Europe.
Some were excommunicated from the church. Some went into exile. Never underestimate the worth of the Bible you have in your home today. I own and use a Geneva Bible with modernized spelling and it has the original footnotes of the reformers inside.

I purchased my Geneva Bible (shown above) in 2011.

The editon I have is from 1599 but the first Geneva Bible was translated into English in 1587. It did wonders to boost literacy in Europe and also to enable people to actually read the Bible for themselves. I use this translation because not only is it superb (it inspired the King James Version later on) but it reminds me of the price that was paid, in blood, so that I can read the Bible in English. The Latin barrier was removed.
To this day, Bible translations continue to expand into new languages and it began with Wycliffe in the 1300's, daring to translate the Latin Scriptures into English.

2) The core Biblical doctrine of "Justification by Grace through Faith" is now widely understood and accepted in the Protestant world. This doctrine was previously lost during the rise of the Roman Catholic Church. But the Reformers helped people to read and hear the Bible in their own language, and to learn this from the pages of Scripture:

Ephesians 2:8 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God,

If you go back even earlier, to the 1300's, the Oxford Professor and Scholar from England named John Wycliffe dared to translate the Bible from Latin into English for the very first time.
His translation of Eph 2:8 reads:

Ephesians 2:8 Wycliffe Bible (WYC)
8 For by grace ye be saved by faith, and this not of you [and that not of you]; for it is the gift of God,

So for the first time in about 1000 years, people could read and hear for themselves from Scripture itself... that they don't and can't EARN God's salvation... it is a free GIFT of GRACE to be recieved through faith ONLY. Just believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ. You cannot work or earn your way to heaven.
Many of the reformers suffered excommunication or martyrdom for reviving this Biblical truth. We should not take that lightly. Jesus died on the cross and rose again. Many of His saints died for Him too, during the reformation. There was great tribulation for them to bring truth to light.
This passage out of Revelation describes the history of the Reformers well:

Revelation 7:13-15 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)
13 And one of the Elders spake, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in long white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Lord, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their long robes, and have made their long robes white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they in the presence of the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his Temple, and he that sitteth on the throne will dwell among them.

3) Literacy and salvation began to flourish like never before. With the invention of the Printing press by Gutenberg in the mid 1400's and the publication of affordable Bibles like the Geneva Bible in the 1500's, people began to read and think for themselves like never before.
Martin Luther published his writings, along with John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, Tyndale and John Huss. People didn't have to rely on the Pope or the priests to interpret everything for them anymore, because the doors were now open for them to read, study, and think for themselves. Because of this, many new souls were saved by faith, because they were able to read the Word and call on Jesus directly, without any priest! To this day, we understand that we can call on Jesus directly and be saved!
Romans 10:13 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

¹³ For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord, shall be saved.

So this October 31st, remember to thank the Lord for the Reformation. God used that move to restore VERY vital things to the church, things which we might sometimes take for granted!

God Bless you!
Pastor Curtis
Sat Oct 31 9:00pm EST