Reformation Day Special: Why We Need Another Reformation

Today marks the 507th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Five hundred and seven years ago to the day, on the 31 October 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther, in protest against the Roman Catholic Church, nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. This set off a series of events that forever changed the church.

How was the church changed? Thanks to the Reformation, the true apostolic gospel has been recovered and we can hear it preached today in God-honouring churches. We also have the Scriptures readily available almost every language of the world. We can worship God in congregational singing in our mother tongue, approach God directly through Jesus Christ and know with certainty that if we repent and call upon the name of Jesus, our sins are forgiven and we will be raised up with him on the last day.

Yet on the other hand, this apostolic gospel that Luther and the other reformers like Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, Bucer, Bullinger and Melanchthon recovered is being obscured in some parts of the church. In our own South African context we are seeing a rise of frankly unbiblical practices which are contrary to the gospel.  This should not surprise us. The gospel needs to be defended and recovered in every generation because it is so contrary to human nature. Our human nature says that we need to earn our way up to God through our good works or spiritual practices. The gospel says God has come down to us in Christ and done everything necessary to restore us to him, all as a gift of grace. I would suggest to you that the need for another Reformation in our church here in South Africa is even greater than it was in Luther’s time.

* 8:31 -correction: "sacramental system" not "sacrificial system."

Rev. Antonio Coppola, Pastor of Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church.

For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!