While we were home on break, we got to watch the movie “Luther” with my brother and Nicci. Great movie about Martin Luther’s life! It really highlighted the incredible need for the protestant movement and its move toward remaining true to Biblical Christianity. I owe so much to that man’s life and especially his gumption to stand up for truth!
In Martin Luther’s time, the Catholic church would sell indulgences to raise money. Basically, they were selling “tickets to heaven” in order to build bigger cathedrals. Indulgences are a Roman Catholic tradition of deferring punishment for sins through a good work or a prayer. This can be for your sins or for someone else, including someone in purgatory (which does not exist). This stems from the Roman Catholic belief that Jesus sacrifice forgives sins and saves us from hell, but that punishment or payment is still needed to earn a way into heaven. Martin Luther found this detestable, because it violated the very message of Christ. Vatican 2 – a reformation of the Catholic Church in the 1960′s – recognized this criticism and minimized the usage of Indulgences.
However, I just read that the Catholic church has again resorted to the usage of indulgences. (NY Times Article).
This is terribly depressing to me? Why? Because it violates the entire message of the gospel and negates what Jesus Christ did on the cross.
One simple example that highlights how this goes against the Bible: Romans 6:23 says
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sin is anything against the will of God. Sin seperates from God and from each other. Sin earns us death, just like Adam and Eve’s sin brought death upon them and all mankind. In Hebrews, it says that, under the Law, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrws 9:22). Jesus blood paid that debt of death by taking the wrath of God upon Himself on the cross. ”In [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Because Jesus paid for our sins upon the cross, by grace we recieve eternal life – which is living with Jesus in His heavenly kingdom forever. This is salvation. Jesus said “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life” (John 6:47). He said truly twice, just to emphasize how imporant this is! Indulgences declare that sin can be paid for by good works and that eternal life is earned, not gifted.
The Catholic church indeed hates sin and desires to bring people to God. There are many Jesus-loving, God-fearing Christians in the Catholic church. I’ve done Bible studies with some great Catholics. Indeed, I look up to many Catholics, especially for their ardent hold on moral stances – which I really appreciate and agree whole-heartedly with. However, I join with Martin Luther and the protestants that follow his steps by declaring that the Catholic Church needs to repent of this practice of indulgences because it robs the gospel of its power and disgraces Christ’s work through His crucifixion.