Martin Luther revolutionized western society five centuries ago with a gospel message of salvation as God’s free gift. His good news fragmented the Christian West after centuries of doctrinal calcification under Rome’s watchful eye.
To a certain degree, however, Luther continued the Pauline tradition of mental gymnastics in regards to justification. Evangelical preachers, five centuries following Luther, sound as confused as Paul in Romans.
“Make it make sense,” as the saying goes.
Same product, new packaging
But here’s what truly makes sense. Despite the rise of a gospel message that is much easier to swallow, Christianity ultimately continues to remain a system of reward and punishment.
Luther simply repackaged the gospel, but the product inside remains the same. You must have faith, and faith requires hard work.
A gift is a gift
Strings remain attached with this relatively new interpretation of the gospel. Mainly, that string is faith. One must “surrender himself to Jesus.”
Surrendering is no small feat. To do that, you must be Peter walking on water without second thought, or you’ll drown. You must put one foot out, and then the next, until there’s no safety net.
That’s a big, bold step. But wait. We’re talking about a free gift here, right? It’s free, I guess, even if it requires you to attempt to walk on water after Jesus.
That’s a high cost in my book. I’m sure many others feel the same.
A different type of work
In Paul’s context, his focus is on the Jewish law, which contains works as a means to God’s favor. His theology moves away from the law.
In Luther’s context, he lives in an age where Christianity calcified into a system of rules with rewards and punishment the way Judaism did.
In both cases we may be moving away from a ritualistic religion. But trusting God with blind faith remains a work, and a very dangerous one at that.
More accurate yet misleading
Perhaps Luther’s interpretation of the gospel is more accurate than the Roman faith of the Middle Ages. But it’s dishonest to say we’re not saved by our works if Christianity requires faith.
Believing something when at times the opposite is undeniably true requires a lot more work than simply reciting the rosary.