For Lutherans, Reformation Day is about being catholic.
And that means it’s all about the central article of the catholic faith: How Christ atoned for the world’s sin on the cross and thus justifies those incapable of earning salvation themselves. The question of what is “catholic” (a word meaning “universal,” as in the “one holy catholic and apostolic church” of the Nicene Creed) was the reason for the Lutheran Reformation and is the reason Roman Catholics and Lutherans are separate churches today. Lutherans believe the catholic, apostolic faith teaches that Christ’s salvation is bestowed to man as a free gift received by faith, not something in any way merited.
Debates over Luther’s 95 Theses, which had been chiefly a response to the sale of indulgences, soon revealed the real issue of the Reformation: The question of whether man plays any role in his salvation. Essentially, Lutherans and Roman Catholics disagree on whether grace is imputed or infused. According to Lutherans, saving righteousness is imputed — Christ paid the entire penalty for mankind’s sin and man is declared justified entirely by Christ’s merits. According to Roman Catholic teaching, this righteousness is, at least in part, intrinsic and merited — Christ dispenses grace, giving man the ability to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to earn the merits necessary to gain eternal life.
The Roman Catholic Catechism reads that, “moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life.”
For Luther, this teaching diminished the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross by declaring that justification was a process that included the contribution of man’s works. It obscured apostolic teaching such as the Apostle Paul’s in Romans 3:28: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” In short, it obscured the central article of the catholic faith: The glory of Christ’s death and resurrection, which Lutherans believe is the heart and center and sole means of man’s salvation. According to Lutherans, good works are necessary, but they are the natural fruits of salvation after one has been justified by Christ — not a contribution to a process of justification.
Luther’s call for reform (not revolt) was an attempt at being truly catholic — not starting something new or breaking away from the Church. He was saddened when Rome excommunicated him; he originally nailed his theses to the church door in Wittenberg in hopes of starting discussion within the Church.
It is because Lutherans are catholic that we believe in the Real Presence, recognize the wisdom of tradition and the church fathers, have no problem with the concept of pope as a leader of the church, highly respect Mary and the saints, make the sign of the cross, and practice private confession and absolution. But it is also because we are catholic that we cannot agree with the belief of our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters that salvation is a process of merited rewards, rather than an utterly free gift. This teaching puts the Gospel at stake and risks diminishing the glory of Christ’s saving work on the cross.
The separation between Lutherans and Roman Catholics is tragic. Unfortunately, neither Trent, nor Vatican II, nor the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification has brought unity on the question that divided us nearly 500 years ago and still divides us today: Whether man merits any part of eternal life or whether it is all Christ’s work alone.
Reformation Day, then, is not a commemoration of the beginning of the true Christian faith on earth. On the contrary, Reformation Day (notably on our liturgical calendars as a lesser festival and not a principal feast) is remembered among Lutherans each year precisely because the Church and the catholic faith did not begin in 1517, but rather in AD 30, with the death and resurrection of Our Lord.
For Lutherans, Reformation Day isn’t about 95 theses being nailed to the door of the Wittenberg castle church — it is about Christ, the true door to salvation, being nailed to a cross for a sinful Luther and a sinful world. As Luther’s theses 500 years ago were a call for discussion within the Church catholic, let’s continue to engage in discussion about the issue of justification today — as fellow catholics.
