Remembering the Reformation
Stephen J. Nichols’ The Reformation (Crossway, 2007). For those who find history difficult, Nichols’ style of writing is a breath of fresh air. He does not fill page after page with dry lists of names and dates. Instead, his gift is the ability to draw readers into the lives of the people about whom he writes, allowing us to see these great historical figures, warts and all.
Does the Protestant Reformation still matter? If so, why? These are important questions, especially in our day and age, because for many living today in the twenty-first century, what is important is not the past, but the future. We live at an unusual time in history. In terms of technology, the world has changed faster in the last one hundred years than it did in the previous two thousand years combined. This has affected us in many ways. Our generation no longer looks to the wisdom of the past for guidance; instead, we look for the next new invention. History is “yesterday’s news.” What matters is tomorrow.
Sadly, the same way of thinking has influenced Christians. We look at church history with a jaundiced eye, finding it boring or irrelevant, but we must understand that this is an unwise approach. God has always called his people to remember his gracious works in the past. Israel was called to remember the exodus. Christians are called to remember the death of Christ. The same principle holds true with the lessons of church history. It has been rightly said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The church simply cannot afford to forget the lessons of the Reformation.
There are hundreds of books on the Reformation, but if one coming to the subject for the first time were looking for the best place to start, he would be hard pressed to find a better introduction than Stephen J. Nichols’ The Reformation (Crossway, 2007). For those who find history difficult, Nichols’ style of writing is a breath of fresh air. He does not fill page after page with dry lists of names and dates. Instead, his gift is the ability to draw readers into the lives of the people about whom he writes, allowing us to see these great historical figures, warts and all.
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Finishing Strong
Remember how Romans 10:9 combines words with reality: “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord” and “believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.” The profoundly sober warning here is also a precious gift – Jesus wants his hearers to recognize the danger before it is too late. The reality he seeks is a real relationship with God the Father so that we want to do his will.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has undoubtedly stood the test of time. It remains well-known in church circles and well-quoted even outside the church. However, we might want to question how much it has been taken to heart and implemented. Jesus knew there was no guarantee that his hearers (and subsequently, Matthew’s readers) would implement it. That is why his conclusion is so firm.
Let’s consider the four parts of the conclusion:
1. Everyone Must Choose Their Path in Light of Jesus’ Exclusive Claims
(Matthew 7:13-14) We live in a world that loves the idea of there being many roads and that they all lead up different sides of a mountain to the same lofty peak. That is a nice sentiment, but it is not reality. Jesus taught that there are only two. There are two roads, two gates, two crowds, and two destinations. To take the wide gate onto the broad road is easy. No discernment is needed, no stand needs to be taken, the crowd is large, and affirmation flows freely. That road leads to destruction.
C.S. Lewis reflected on the point in his education where he began to “broaden his mind.” He wrote,
“I was soon altering ‘I believe’ to ‘one does feel.’ And oh, the relief of it! . . . from the tyrannous noon of revelation, I passed into the cool evening of Higher Thought, where there was nothing to be obeyed and nothing to be believed except what was either comforting or exciting.”
It is easy to pass through a wide gate. All baggage is acceptable, even our sins, self-righteousness, and pride. But getting through a narrow gate requires us to pass through alone – without being propped up by others or weighed down by baggage. Jesus is the only way to God. That may be uncomfortable to hear in our contemporary culture. Still, it is no less valid or demanding than ever.
2. The Narrow Road Requires Vigilance
(Matthew 7:15-20) There will be false prophets who seek to lead Jesus’ followers astray. Two things are true of these false prophets. They are both disguised and betrayed. Disguised means they are not easy to spot – they are not cartoon villains! But they will ultimately be betrayed by their fruit.
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Escaping the Clever “Kafka Trap”
The “You’re a racist either way” charge (called a “Kafka trap”) is just one current example of the kind of nonsense used by our own culture’s thought police to cloud our minds and confuse us. Racism exists, of course, but claiming all whites are racist because they’re white simply trivializes genuine racial bigotry.
The secular world clearly controls the language game. Be careful you’re not taken in by it. Let me show you what I mean.
Since critical race theory is the latest worldview counterfeit (see July’s Solid Ground), consider this example of linguistic arm-twisting. Someone says, “If you say you’re not a racist, that just proves you are a racist.” How would you answer?
I suspect you already see the verbal sleight of hand—the ham-handed attempt at rhetorical manipulation. If you admit you’re a racist, you’re a racist. If you deny you’re a racist, you’re a racist. Racist if you do; racist if you don’t.
Even though the nonsense is obvious, the charge still catches good people off guard. What now? I have a tactical response to this challenge that I’ll share with you in a moment, but first let me show you what’s going on.
Nearly 75 years ago, George Orwell wrote 1984, a dystopian novel about a totalitarian world of mass surveillance and iron-fisted political/cultural suppression. The despotism was abetted in part by “Newspeak,” a clever manipulation of language that Big Brother employed to obscure truth and make it almost impossible to think clearly about any issue opposing the Party.
Orwell’s work was prophetic, though the world he warned of didn’t begin to materialize in liberal democracies like ours until decades later than he predicted. The practice of manipulating language to confuse or even silence opposition, used so effectively in Orwell’s time by Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany, is now standard fare.
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Desiring to See Christ in the Word
The goodness of worship and the reading of the word and the singing of the psalms and the communion of the saints along with the signs of the covenant found in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper all work in their own unique and significant way to show us Christ. The question is if we are interested enough to listen, be corrected, and find peace in His shed blood?
If we were to note one of the doctrines of Christianity that was somewhat missing from the shorter catechism it would be the twin blessings of the Church and her worship. It is not that the WSC did not care about it. There are certain advantages to being the Larger catechism. The opportunity has arisen in the WLC where the writers can now introduce this particular aspect of the life of the believer. Our divines are interested in helping men and women know what to do with the convictions of sin they have felt from the deep, and clear, expositions of the law they read in the Ten Commandments from Q. 91 through Q. 152. God’s work in His word is to bring people to Christ. As 2 Peter 3:9 reminds us, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” All godly ministers have (or at least should have) the same desire, so it should surprise us not that our standards provide a warm invitation to close with the Redeemer and find peace in Him.
God has given ways, or what we call means or instruments to see that sinners might know the way to the redemption purchased by Jesus. They are not complicated, nor are they via secret handshakes or flashy showcases. The plain use of words through the power of the Holy Spirit is the manner in which He seeks that the lost might be found. Key to understanding the beauty of New Testament worship is being reminded that the shadows have passed. Our pattern for worship today is to be found in the exile life of the synagogue as we await the return of Christ. It is not the Temple of sacrifices and trumpets, but the simple exposition and praise of the word of God for men. The Church gets it wrong when it thinks it needs to gussy up the message of salvation. However, before we go too much into the explaining let’s go to the Q/A’s:
Q. 153. What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us by reason of the transgression of the law?
A. That we may escape the wrath and curse of God due to us by reason of the transgression of the law, he requires of us repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and the diligent use of the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of his mediation.
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