Ecclesia Reformata Semper Reformanda

Sadly enough, this great day goes in the calendar of Christian History as probably the most under-appreciated day by contemporary Christians. It was 488 years ago when the battlecry of Ad Fontes ("Back to the Sources") was sounded forth by the Reformers. It was the exclamation point and foundational mark of sola Scriptura. It was the reorientation of the church to the authority of Scripture alone, for the Christian life, and polity of the church. It was the denunciation of meritorious efficaciousness in the pronunciation of sola gratia, thereby nullifying any synergistic efforts to accredit salvation to anything but the sheer grace of God which staggers a repentant sinner's heart. It was the exclusive and definitive affirmation of solo Christo, that it is in Christ alone, and it was through his mediatorial work as Prophet, Priest, and King that we have salvation by his sinless life, substitutionary death, and victorious resurrection. It was the reassertion of sola fide where the practice of indulgences, sacraments, pilgrimages, and other substitutes were shown to be fallacious and the solid ground of justification by faith alone anchored the Christian truth about salvation. And it was the end-all of every act, thought, and deed to be soli deo gloria whereas all boasting and exultation should be in God alone. Truly, "let him who boasts, boast in the Lord," and let him who glories, glory in the cross. For by Him and to Him and for Him are all things - our Glorious One. We cannot underestimate or underappreciate the significance of this day in history. The nailing of the 95 Theses on Wittenburg Door by Martin Luther on October 31, 1517 should be not only observed but celebrated by every confessing evangelical with a heart of gratitude and great joy. And in that celebration, we must also be mindful that we are ever reforming, and together, friends, we must always be crying out in days of decline and degradation, Ad Fontes! Ad Fontes! Ad Fontes! Let us always be reforming, even now, for Christ's sake, for the gospel's sake, and for the sake of the kingdom of God. Our God truly is a mighty fortress, so let us have our conscience held captive to the Word of God and speak with humble articulation, bold pronunciation, and faithful exposition to the truth which has "once and for all been handed down to the saints." May this generation rise in the reformation spirit to not only remember Luther but follow in his tread.