Blessed Reformation Day!

October 31, 2006
Luther's 95 Theses: http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/95_theses.html

Reformation Day? What's that? Well, in a nutshell, Reformation Day is the celebration of Luther's discovery that justification is by faith alone. After trying and trying to pay the price for his sins and to please the Lord through his actions, as taught by the church at the time, Luther came across verses such as Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, not of works, lest any man should boast." He learned that his salvation depended on God's gift, not on his own works. This was good news and is good news for all of us! Although we do good works as thankfulness to the Lord for His salvation, nothing that we can do can make us right with God. Only Jesus, dying on the cross for our sins pays the price. Nothing else.

Luther's 95 Theses contained more than the above, and if you're interested in reading more, click on the link above.

Man's Gratitude
Heidelberg Catechism
Lord's Day 32
We have been delivered from our misery by God's grace alone through Christ and not because we have earned it: why then must we still do good?

To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by His blood
but we do good because
Christ by His spirit is also renewing us to be like Himself,
so that in all our living
we may show that we are thankful to God
for all He has done for us,
and so that He may be praised through us.

And we do good,
so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits,
and so that by our godly living
our neighbours may be won over to Christ.

Rom. 6:13; 12:1, 2; I Pet. 2:5-10.
Matt. 5:16; I Cor. 6:19, 20.
Matt. 7:17, 18; Gal. 5:22-24; II Pet. 1:10, 11.
Matt. 5:14-16; Rom. 14:17-19; I Pet. 2:12; 3:1, 2.

The five solas
Sola Gratia ("by grace alone")
Sola Fide ("by faith alone")
Sola Scriptura ("by Scripture alone")
Solus Christus ("Christ alone"; sometimes Solo Christo, "by Christ alone")
Soli Deo gloria ("Glory to God alone")

SOLI DEO GLORIA!