On 21 October, around 90 people gathered at Kensit Evangelical Church, Finchley, to hear two lectures given by the Revd Dr Nick Needham, Lecturer in Church History at Highland Bible College, Dingwall in a conference organised by The Protestant Truth Society in celebration of Luther’s ‘nail in the door’ 500 years ago.
The Material Principle of the Protestant Reformation, and The Formal Principle of the Protestant Reformation were the lecture headings. The material principle meant the teaching of justification; while the formal principle meant the teaching of Scripture itself. Though it is the Reformed position to place Scripture first, then justification, Dr Needham took the Lutheran sequence in presenting the lectures by looking at justification first.
Luther’s heart cry was: ‘How can a sinner be just with God?’ He saw faith in the righteousness of God as that which must condemn the sinner, not save the sinner. How can the gospel be good news if it damns the sinner?
Declare righteous
Yet, going back to the original sources, Luther came to see that the Greek word for justify meant to ‘declare righteous’, not to ‘make righteous’, as mistranslated into Latin. This is applied to the sinner through faith alone in Christ Jesus, apart from any works of righteousness done by the sinner. This faith is more than mere assent to gospel truths. It is a complete forsaking of self and a trusting wholly in Jesus Christ. Luther’s day was dark concerning these matters (seen greatly in the selling of indulgences), yet the early Church Fathers and later Christians like Bernard of Clairvaux (1091–1153) believed in justification by faith alone. This was not a new teaching discovered by Luther. Dr Needham closed by reminding us that true saints, being justified by faith alone, are found in many quarters of the Christian church.
Source of authority
The second lecture began with a look at the teaching of Scripture alone – the Formal Principle. For Luther it would eventually boil down to one’s source of authority. Is authority derived from the Pope, the church, or the Bible? The Bible became available in the Greek language due to the publication of Erasmus’ New Testament in 1516. After debates with noted scholars, including the formidable John Eck, Luther was accused of being one of Jan Hus’s followers. This he denied at first, but later said: ‘We are all Hussites’. Jan Hus was the Czechoslovakian martyr burned at the stake 100 years before. His name means ‘goose’. He cried out before his death: ‘You may roast the goose, but a hundred years from now God will raise up a swan whose voice you will not be able to silence.’ Luther was that swan!
‘Here I stand’
After being asked to recant, Luther said: ‘I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot, and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand, may God help me.’
