In the video, I refer to some videos about Martin Luther and the Reformation. Please see those videos at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…. I highly recommend those videos!
Can you believe it’s the end of October 30? (Yes, I’m posting this a couple days late.) The election will be here soon, but I’m not talking about that. We have something more important to talk about in the church today – Reformation Day. On that day, we remember and celebrate that God saves us freely because of Jesus. Our works don’t save us and can’t help save us. God gives us salvation free through Jesus and His death and resurrection.
There are many important topics in the Reformation. Maybe you have seen the three Solas – Scripture alone, Grace alone, Faith alone.
Scripture alone: the message of salvation is only in the Bible, no other place. Not in tradition or people’s ideas. Only in the Bible.
Grace alone: grace is God’s kindness, His love, free! We don’t get His kindness because we are good people and work hard. We don’t earn salvation. God saves you because of His goodness, His grace for you. God gives salvation as a free gift.
Faith alone: God gives salvation free. How do I have it? By faith alone. Not by works, not because I accepted it. Not because I grabbed it. Faith trusts in Jesus, and that is how we have salvation.
The Reformation is also about Jesus, that He was crucified and died and rose alive again to save me. There is no other way of salvation.
Another Reformation topic is Law and Gospel. The Law is God’s teaching that shows what we must do. The Gospel tells us what God has done for us. The Law shows our sin, how we failed to do what God requires. The Gospel shows how Jesus has done what God requires and saves us.
We have to keep Law and Gospel clear. We can’t confuse them. If we confuse them, then we might think we can obey the Law and that will save me. But the Law can’t save you. Only the good news of Jesus saves you.
Today, I want to look at 1 Corinthians 2:22-25. Many times for Reformation, people look at Romans 3, that talks about how we can’t obey the Law, but God saves us freely through Jesus. But I want to do something different and think about these verses.
1 Cor. 2:22-25 says, For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
If you look around the world today, you see people using power to rule, power to get what they want. People fight and argue to get what they want. Does God want that? Of course not. But that’s how the world works.
A long time ago, in Bible times, Jewish people wanted signs. They wanted God to give proof of what He was doing. Greek people loved wisdom. Today we want power.
Do we do that in the church? In Martin Luther’s time, people loved power and control. Leaders wanted people to obey them instead of God. Leaders wanted people to trust them instead of God. Are people the same today? We need to be careful, because the world still runs on power. The church should not follow the world’s ways. We need to make sure we don’t desire power.
God’s power is different from the world’s power. We can see examples of power in the Bible. When God made the world, He spoke and created the world. His word was powerful. Later, God defeated the Egyptian army and He freed His people. The Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea. That showed God’s power. Or when He gave the 10 Commandments, God came down on the mountain in lightning and thunder and fire.
But when Jesus died to save us, that looked like weakness. It looked like foolishness. If Jesus was supposed to save us, how could His weakness save us? God was showing us, His weakness beats people’s strength. People boast about their power and control. But God’s weakness, His foolishness, that Jesus would die on the cross, that beats people wisdom and power.
God invites you to trust His free gift. Jesus’ death on the cross forgives all your sin. It isn’t your power or your wisdom that gets forgiveness from God. God gives you forgiveness freely through Jesus’ death and resurrection. That is the good news. That is what the Reformation celebrates.
