On December 10, 1520, heresy was put to the flames.
Pope Leo X drafted a papal "bull" (official decree) while hunting wild boar. The bull declared that Luther and his doctrines were a wild boar destroying the church in Germania, and the heretical books must be burnt. Entitled "Exsurge Domine" (Arise, O Lord!), the papal church called upon the Lord against Luther, and threatened him with excommunication. The bull declared Luther had sixty days to repent and then burn his heresy.
Luther assembled a crowd at Wittenberg this day 499 years ago, and lit the fire. But instead of "repenting" and burning His books, he threw the papal bull in the flames. That document was the real heresy.
May the Lord arise in our day and defend the Truth and His Church.
Because Jesus fulfilled the covenant of works, we inherit salvation through a covenant of grace. It is in this context that we talk about the “covenant renewal ceremony”. Whenever we gather for public worship, it is because we have been summoned. That is what “church” means: ekklesia, “called out”. It is not a voluntary society of those whose chief concern is to share, to build community, to enjoy fellowship, to have moral instruction for their children, and so forth. Rather, it is a society of those who have been chosen, redeemed, called, justified, and are being sanctified until one day they will finally be glorified in heaven. We gather each Lord’s Day not merely out of habit, social custom, or felt needs but because God has chosen this weekly festival as a foretaste of the everlasting Sabbath day that will be enjoyed fully at the marriage supper of the Lamb. God has called us out of the world and into his marvelous light: That is why we gather. But we also gather to receive God’s gifts. And this is where the emphasis falls or should fall. Throughout Scripture, the service is seen chiefly as God’s action. This is where God walks alone through the severed halves – not of animals this time but through the true temple’s torn curtain – Jesus’ body – on Good Friday. On the cross, God’s glory is hidden under the form of its opposite: shame and derelication, the true faithful Israel being abandoned to exile, the judge becoming the judged in our place. The one who brought us up out of the land of Egypt and made us his people takes the initiative in salvation and throughout the Christian life. The shadows of Christ in the Mosaic covenant, most obviously the detailed legislation for the sacrifices, are fulfilled in the advent of the Messiah. Therefore, we do not worship in an earthly sanctuary but in the heavenly sanctuary where we are seated with Christ in heavenly places; hence Jesus’ statement to the Samaritan women in John 4.
A Better Way
@michaelhorton_ @core_christ @modref
