Standing tall
We have seen Martin Luther standing in defiance. We have seen him simply point to error and be bold enough to say that ‘this isn’t the gospel’. Would we be so bold?
His boldness had unexpected effects. Over the next four years everyone in Europe heard of Luther’s beliefs. Thousands were saved. Protestant churches sprung up. Protestantism stopped being a one-man movement. It was a full blown heresy for the Catholic Church to crush just as it had had to previously crush hundreds of leaders who had explained the gospel faithfully.
Not even the megalithic edifice of the medieval Catholic church can even slow the purposes of God.
The most obvious and most famous opposition Luther had was in 1521 when he was called before the Diet of Worms. A ‘diet’ is a general assembly and Worms is a place, so it wasn’t about being forced to eat insects until you recant your beliefs, nor was it a particularly early episode of ‘I’m a Celebrity…’.
Luther was called before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to explain himself. Charles V called Luther’s ideas a ‘cesspool of heresies,’ he wasn’t exactly a sympathetic judge.
Luther was presented with all of his writings and asked if they were his. He told them that they were. Luther was then asked if he still believed what he had written. He said that he did, but he apologised for some of his attacks on individuals who disagreed with him. He agreed with what he’d said wholeheartedly, but with repentance accepted that he hadn’t always expressed himself the best.
If you write, you’ve been there.
Luther told them:
Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason —I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other— my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.
Luther couldn’t say he didn’t believe what he’d written, because he did. He didn’t care that the Pope and all the official church said he was wrong, he knew scripture proved him right. This isn’t to say that he wouldn’t listen to correction, this is to say that he wouldn’t listen to correction that didn’t take its authority from the Bible.
We shouldn’t dispute correction, we should however look at where that correction is coming from - is it Biblical?
Luther also uttered the most famous phrase in the reformation, possibly in all of church history, at the Diet of Worms:
Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.
Luther said that he would stand for the gospel. He couldn’t do anything else.
Would that by the grace of God we would all have that strength to stand in the face of opposition.
As he left the Diet, Luther was kidnapped by his friends for his own safety. He was taken to Wartburg castle where he translated the Bible into German. The story was put about that he was dead.
It’s dangerous to stand for the truth. Luther never had to pay with his life, but countless have. We must take Luther’s example and stand tall for what we know to be truth, we must stand for the Bible as our final authority when the world wants to tear it to pieces and scoff.
Our culture says that our final authority should be ourselves and that imposing a book that the newest bits of are at the very least 1900 years old as our authority is ridiculous. Imposing it on others as their authority is not only ridiculous is abusive and hateful.
We must stand tall against subjectivity, liberal autonomy and the new religion of tolerance.
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