Oct 31 - What a Great Day in Christian History

This is a post today from Dr. John Thweatt, a friend and pastor of First Baptist Church, Pell City.

What comes to mind when you think about October 31? If the first thing that comes to your mind is Halloween…I am afraid we have not done a good job teaching you Christian History.
492 years ago today, was a day that changed the course of the church for all time. On that day Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Chapel. His desire was to begin a debate about abuses that he saw by the Papacy and the church. He had no intention on beginning a new church or even a movement. He simply wanted to see the church “reformed” that is re-formed by God’s word and in the image of Christ.

Out of the Reformation came five “battle” cries. These expressed the basics of the Gospel for their day. They have not changed over the past 491 years . . . indeed over the past 2000 years . . . though we sometimes forget them or we let other things push them aside. The
five battle cries of the Church then are the same battle cries for the Church today:
Sola Scripture — By Scripture Alone
Solo Christo — By Christ Alone
Sola Gratia — By Grace Alone
Sola Fide — By Faith Alone
Soli Deo Gloria — To God Alone belongs the Glory

I’ll close with a clip from a movie on the life of Luther and by saying along with Luther in regard to the five battle cries–”Here I stand.”

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