To many today is just Halloween. However, in 1517 Martin Luther changed life and religious understanding forever in the church. Luther objected to the sale of indulgences which offered pardon for sins. He came to this conclusion after spending hours studying and praying the Word of God. He came to realize that pardon for sins came at the price of the death of Christ on the cross and thus he was made righteous not by works but by faith alone. The turning point came in his life when he read Romans 1:17 “the righteous shall live by faith.”  After this Luther saw that a change was needed in the teaching of the church. He wrote and posted his 95 theses on the  Wittenburg Castle door hoping to get a debate going on regarding the many injustices he saw in the church and the wrong teaching about salvation. Because of the Gutenberg Press, Luther’s posting went, as we say today, “viral.”  Today we call this day Reformation Day in honor of Martin Luther and his boldness.

We stop and ponder what would have happened if Luther had not been bold? Would we still be paying money to get our sins pardoned? But, thanks be to God for his indescribable gift of a free salvation paid by our Savior Jesus Christ.