In the gospel of grace ...

By Angela Lombardo

More than 500 years ago Martin Luther made an amazing discovery that changed the course of history. The church was in deep darkness, but the light of the gospel was about to break through. Of course, I’m talking about the Reformation.

Some equate the Reformation with dusty, old tomes and boring history. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are two truths that have captured me. In the gospel of grace, there is freedom. “Although [Luther] diligently confessed his sins, he could find no assurance that God was forgiving them,” writes Scott H. Hendrix in Martin Luther: Visionary Reformer. Luther found that the righteousness of God is a gift, received by faith alone in Jesus Christ. The freedom found in Christ changes everything. Like Luther, I have been set free from the chains of sin that once weighed me down. In the gospel of grace, Jesus Christ is preached. The Reformation floods my soul with Jesus. In Luther’s sermons he tenaciously preached Christ. I need to hear the Word alone, Christ alone, grace alone. I need that kind of preaching. Every Sunday.

I wasn’t there but it seems … I was!

Lombardo is a member of Helmar Lutheran, Newark, Ill.