Was the Split Caused by the Reformation Ultimately for Better or Worse? – LIVE Q&A for October 31, 2024

Was the Split Caused by the Reformation Ultimately for Better or Worse?

507 years ago, October 31, 1514, Martin Luther (probably) nailed a list of 95 complaints against the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences.

The Protestant Reformation has many characters, and in a real sense it didn’t begin with Martin Luther. John Hus and John Wycliff had their own important contributions.

But, what Luther did was – in a historical sense – irreplaceable.

Coming out of the Reformation in Germany – which spread from there all over Europe – the church was profoundly split. Was that for better or worse?

Worse

• Brutal religious wars (such as the 30 Years War).
• 45,000 Christian denominations (a bogus figure, but I don’t think that different denominations are in and of themselves a bad thing).

Remember Ephesians 4:3: endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

• A sense of disunity, competition, conflict.

Better

• A return to the Scriptures – sola scriptura

• Rejection of papal domination.

What Luther said was true:

I believe in neither pope nor councils alone; for it is perfectly well established that they have frequently erred, as well as contradicted themselves. Unless then I shall be convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason, I must be bound by those Scriptures which have been brought forward by me; yes, my conscience has been taken captive by these words of God.

• The Counter-Reformation – which was really good for Roman Catholicism.

I don’t mean this theologically. In some ways, Roman Catholicism became worse theologically in their response to Protestantism (such as the anathemas of the Council of Trent). But I think that it is undeniably that in a moral and organizational sense, the Protestant Reformation forced the Roman Catholics to get their act together. A lot of the moral corruption was cleared up.

• A remarkable revival of Christianity, especially among the radical reformers.

What a blessing it would have been in Luther’s time if the reformation had been carried out completely! Great as the work was, it was, in some points, a very superficial thing, and left deadly errors untouched. (Charles Spurgeon 1872)

All in all, I would say that the Protestant Reformation was for the better – much better!

As believers, what things from our lives should be submitted to our pastor?

As believers, what things from our lives should be submitted to our pastor?

I would say you should bring theological and biblical questions to your pastor. That’s a great thing for you to do. I would say you can bring major life choices to your pastor and things where you feel that you need direction.

Now, there are Christian circles that exert high levels of control. Years ago, they would call that the “shepherding movement.” In movements like this, you were under such bondage to the pastor and elders who were over you that you couldn’t buy a car, change jobs, enroll in school, leave school, or go on a date without your pastor’s permission. I think those are inherently controlling and abusive approaches which really should be rejected.

Let’s say you really don’t know what to do in a specific situation. It’s a good thing to bring it to your pastor and say, “I’m wondering if I should take this job. Would you please pray with me?”

However, I want to caution every believer about the desire to have your pastor tell you what to do. We don’t approach our pastor saying, “I don’t know what job to take, pastor. Tell me what to do. Pastor, I don’t know what city to live in. Tell me what to do.” I’m not saying that it’s wrong to get your pastor’s advice if you want your pastor’s advice, but we need to beware of the unhealthy attitude that basically says, “I don’t want to be responsible for my own decision, so I’m going to make the pastor responsible for it.” That’s not good, and it’s not healthy. Even when you do ask for guidance or advice on things that you’re confused about, make sure that you’re not putting on your pastor an undue measure of responsibility for your own life.

What is the biblical response to “declaring and decreeing” prayer?

What is the biblical response to “declaring” praying? I was in false teaching for over 20 years, and we used to declare and decree when we were praying.

One biblical response to “declaring” praying that I would give you is this: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Oftentimes there is an enormous amount of pride associated with what people call “declaring” prayer. It becomes self-focused and not Christ-focused at all. It’s focused on how awesome I am. There is an air of arrogance and self-focus and pride that is often evident in those movements.

Friends, if you want a great life verse for your Christian life, let me give it to you right now. James 4:6 – God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. If you can live your life in light of that, you’ll receive so much grace from God.

Another helpful passage is 1 John 5:14 – Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. The problem with a lot of declaring prayer is that it presumes to know more about the will of God than it does. There is not a humility about what they know to be God’s will. They’re often arrogant in their estimation of what the will of God is.

For example, I don’t know how many times I’ve heard somebody pronouncing in prayer that somebody is healed, but later on, that person dies of cancer. What are they going to do with that? Oftentimes there is no apology and no recognition that they were wrong. They don’t admit, “I declared your husband healed and he died of cancer.” There’s no humility. There’s a lot wrapped up in declaring prayer that is proud and arrogant and presumptuous about knowing the will of God. But we can take comfort that God gives grace to the humble, and that He hears us when we ask in prayer according to His will.

Can people respond to God’s salvation on their own, or do they need God’s grace? If so, does God give this grace to everyone or only to the elect?

I’m learning about total depravity. Can people respond to God’s salvation on their own, or do they need God’s grace? If so, does God give this grace to everyone or only to the elect?

These are critical questions about things that are dividing lines between some aspects of Reformed theology and those who don’t believe in Reformed theology. I do believe that the Scriptures say that nobody can put their faith in Jesus Christ unless God does a prior work in them. Absolutely left to ourselves, we won’t seek after God. But if God does a prior work in somebody, then that person may believe.

Christians debate about the nature of that work and the resistibility of that work. I’m comfortable agreeing with what Jesus said in John 6:44 – “No man comes to me except the Father draws him.” There’s a work that God does. There’s a work that the Holy Spirit does in bringing men to Christ. I don’t have any problem saying that God does a prior work in anybody who believes.

Now, does God give this grace to everyone? Well, not everybody has the same opportunities for salvation. There are people who have lived their whole life without ever hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. That person does not have the same opportunity of salvation as the person who grew up in a Christian home and attended a faithful church.

I don’t have any problem saying that not everybody receives the same opportunity, and in the end, it’s true that it’s ultimately God’s elect who respond. But you know what, we don’t know who the elect are until they believe. So, there are a lot of forces at work here.

Jesus is God and God is so holy, how was He able to be around sinners, walking and eating with them?

Sometimes Christians explain things wrongly. I’ve heard pastors say something like, “God is so holy that He cannot allow anything sinful in His presence.” Okay, that’s not really true. The Bible tells us, for example, in the book of Job, that God gave an audience to Satan in heaven. The Bible also talks about there being evil spirit or wicked spirits around God in heaven, or at least somewhere near Him.

I would say that the idea that the holiness of God means that He is absolutely unable to have anything unholy in His presence is a wrong conception. If we throw out that wrong conception, I don’t think there’s any problem with saying and understanding that Jesus could not only be in the presence of sinners, but could also receive great title given to Him in the gospels: the friend of sinners. Aren’t you glad that Jesus Christ is the friend of sinners? That gives me hope, because I know that Jesus can be my friend and I can be His friend.

Is the parable in Matthew 22:11-14 about someone being sent out of Heaven into Hell?

In Matthew 22:11-14, who is the man who made it to the wedding feast (heaven) and wasn’t dressed correctly and was cast out (to hell)?

We need to be careful about assigning great theological significance to every detail of a parable. The point of parables is to make a point, not to spell out a whole theological system. Now I will say that there are some parables, such as the parable of the sower, otherwise known as the parable the soils, where Jesus does identify each element of the parable in some detail. But it is explained in the parable or directly following the parable.

Apart from those kind of explanations in the Scriptures themselves, we need to be careful in assigning meaning. I don’t think we should take the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22 to indicate that there will be people who make it into Heaven who are then kicked out of Heaven and sent to Hell. The whole point of this parable was not to give a detailed explanation of the mechanics of heaven, but to warn the religious leaders of Jesus’ day – who felt so confident that they were right in every way – that they needed a righteousness provided by Jesus Christ. They need a righteousness that is given by God.

It seems that you may be wondering, “Does this mean that there are some people who go to heaven, but then they get kicked out of heaven because they don’t have the right garment on?” No, Jesus was warning the religious leaders (and by extension, warning the population of His time) of the great danger that was before them by just assuming that they were good enough on their own. That’s how I would explain it.