Every year in the month of October, I dig out all my church history books, and especially books related to the Protestant Reformation. Reformation Day is today, and October is the perfect time to dive into the history of this turning point in the history of the church.
This year, one phrase that has stood out to me is the Latin post tenebrous lux - which means "after darkness, light".
I love that this become somewhat of a slogan for the Reformation. So much is contained in those words.
The Reformation dusted off the light of the gospel.
When I think post tenebrous lux the first thing I think of with all my book reading is, of course, the Reformation itself. Medieval times before the Reformation were indeed dark spiritually. Few ordinary people had access to any part of God's word, and they all had to rely on the Catholic church's presentation of the words of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible, which most people could not read for themselves to either confirm or deny the church's teaching.
Human beings are sinful, and without God's word being available for accountability, this led to alot of unbiblical teaching and corruption. People were taught that they never could know if they would be in Heaven after they died - to claim assurance was considered a sin. They must become righteous in themselves to a certain level in order to receive the grace of God that would usher them into Heaven - if not, they must do their time suffering in Purgatory. But of course, they could purchase indulgences to shorten their loved ones' time in Purgatory - there were cathedrals to be built, and this was the church's way of raising money.
Imagine living in a time when there was no hope of you ever being able to read the Bible for yourself, no hope of ever being sure of Heaven, because who could ever know if they had been righteous enough? What a burden to bear!
The Reformation was a perfect storm of events that God used for the recovery of the gospel, and it made the Bible available to the ordinary man. The reformers discovered from Scripture that we as sinners can never attain to any level of righteousness on our own. All our righteous deeds are as filthy rags.
But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like [b]filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,Have taken us away.Isaiah 64:6
No, it is Jesus's righteousness that wholly saves us, through faith in Him alone. When we trust in Him by faith, a faith given to us by the grace of God, the righteousness of Christ is accounted to us, and His righteousness is perfect. Because of Jesus's death to pay the price of our sin, and His perfect righteousness which He gives to us, we can be perfectly assured of Heaven when we trust in Him alone. No one else gets the glory for any piece of our salvation except God alone. And the reformers knew all this because of careful study of God's word alone, which leads to the next thing that the slogan of the Reformation reminds me of.
Scripture is a light.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.Psalm 119:105
I don't think alot of modern Christians fully understand how rare and beautiful of a thing it is that they are able to hold a Bible in their lap and read it for themselves - indeed, to sometimes have a shelf full of unread Bibles, even. We take Scripture for granted today, but there was a time when there was no translation of Scripture that the masses could read. There was a time when people would go to great lengths and pay a high price, just for a few pages of the Bible. No wonder there was a period of darkness, because the only way we can come to a knowledge of the truth is through the word of God!
The Bible often refers to itself as light, because it is the very word of God, active, effective for bringing the light of the knowledge of Christ to our hearts.
Back then, even a few pages was as a blessed lamp, giving hope to those wandering in darkness. Now so many Bibles "light" our land that we have sometimes forgotten what a beautiful light it truly is.
The Reformation is what allowed us to have a shelf of unused Bibles in the first place - God allowed Luther and the other reformers to recognize the true gospel in Scripture around the same time as Gutenburg invented the printing press. A perfect development at the perfect time to allow God's word to be read by anyone who could read.
Sometimes the world is dark, sometimes so dark things seem hopeless. But God always brings us light, in His wonderful mercy and grace.
Christ is our light.
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6
When I read the phrase "after darkness, light", the other thing that came to mind is Christ Himself. Without the work of Jesus on our behalf, we would be lost in the darkness of our sin. Because He suffered the punishment that we ourselves deserved for our sin, having no sin Himself, He became the perfect sacrifice in our place.
He bought us peace with God with His blood.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace...Ephesians 2:13-14
On that glorious morning, He rose from the dead and conquered death and darkness forever! The darkness that is left in our world today is just the remnants, the last ragings of a defeated foe. Our light has come in the hope we now have in Christ.
So many are still walking in darkness, blind to the light of the knowledge of Christ. They don't know what He has done to save them. They are blind and dead in their sins, relying on lies, perhaps relying on their own supposed goodness to somehow be enough, even though it never can be. Everything we do is tainted with sin, which God cannot have in His presence. Humanity has no hope of seeing His face - except if we give up any notion of our own goodness, confess we are sinners, and cling to the Savior as our only hope.
On this day in particular, many celebrate darkness and make light of death, a morbid coping mechanism. I hope while our culture glorifies death and darkness today, we who have placed our trust in only Christ won't forget that we also are to be the light of the world.
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Mathew 5:14-16
We are lights not because of anything we have done, but because of the light God has given us in Christ and His word which we are now called to share. We know the hope that is in Christ, because we ourselves have been brought out of the darkness of our sin and death into the marvelous light of salvation in Jesus. When that really sinks in, how can we help but want to share it? I hope today is a day for you to bask in the light of the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus, and find some way to reflect that to others. That's why we are still here!
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
Ephesians 5:8
Let's give others a chance to also treasure those words. After darkness, light. After blindness and darkness and sin and rebellion and death - Christ.
Soli deo gloria - all to the glory of God alone.
Happy Reformation Day, friends!
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