Scripture alone, by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone.

 
For hundreds upon hundreds of years the church had inserted itself in between the sinner and the Savior.  In order to be right with God one must first be right with the church.  Rather than see itself as a chosen conduit through which the power of the Holy Spirit flowed, the church proclaimed itself the respository of God’s grace.  The usurpation of authority led to many abuses and a general lack of knowledge as to the commands of Jesus or the manner in which his apostles followed in Jesus’ footsteps.

Tomorrow is the 492nd anniversary of the public declaration that the purchase of grace in exchange for worldly riches is wrong. The posting of 95 objections to the sale of indulgences on the door of the church building in Wittenburg, Germany serves as a reminder to this day of the proper position of the church within God’s kingdom.

The direct and simple truth of the gospels is unsatisfying for the religiously minded in every generation.  How dare God choose to diminish human agency and supervision and claim exclusive rights to the conviction of the heart, the dispensation of grace and the efficacy of the Word?

This is the faith handed down to us across the ages from the apostles.  This is the faith I will be celebrating this Halloween day.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7, ESV)