95 Theses

When Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church he started a reformation that has changed the world. Five centuries later we still reap the benefits of the writings of the discontented monk of Wittenberg. What was so important in these writings? Why did they anger the entire priesthood, including the pope himself?

Luther began by hammering the selling of indulgences. The idea being presented by the priests was that purchasing indulgences brought forgiveness of sin on earth and could speed up the release of a soul from purgatory (purgatory is not mentioned in the Bible, but the common person did not have access to a Bible in his own language at the time). The selling of indulgences became the first pyramid scheme; a man would get a personal loan, purchase his way into becoming a priest, then sell indulgences to pay off his loan. The victims in this were the people scrounging up money in belief that they were getting grandma out of purgatory, or worse, thinking they were securing salvation for themselves. Here are some of Luther’s theses on this matter:

“The pope neither desires, nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his own authority…Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who say that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences…They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory. It is certain that when money clinks into the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased…Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.”

Luther continued with more biting language and stinging rebukes. It is no wonder he was excommunicated by the pope (another non-biblical invention that the commoner was duped into believing). His point was clear: man is forgiven of sin without buying indulgence letters, which was good news for the poor who could not afford them. Salvation is a free gift. If you think you can earn it by being a good person, you are just as deceived as those who thought they could buy it. The only way to have your sins forgiven is to accept the free gift of Jesus Christ. Ask Him to forgive you and save you, and you can rest assured that He will.

“For by grace you are saved through faith, and not of yourselves. It is a free gift of God.”

Ephesians 2:8-9