While the majority of Americans celebrate Halloween today, Lutherans go against grain and celebrate the Lutheran Reformation.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation when he nailed a piece of paper with set of theses on it to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, proposing a debate. He could have kept quiet. Instead, he challenged the majority culture of his day.

Why did he challenge the Roman Catholic Church, the religion of the majority of people in Germany? Because he read the Bible, and found out that the Catholic Church was teaching things that were not in the Bible, things that were, in fact, contrary to the Bible.

The Bible, the Word of God, gave Martin Luther the courage to challenge the established culture of his day. The message of forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ, with no strings attached, was too important for him to stay silent.

The majority culture of our day is also teaching things that are not in the Bible, things that are, in fact, contrary to the Bible. While the list of those things is long, the most damaging false teachings in our culture are that the Bible is not true and Jesus is not our Savior.

The Bible, the Word of God, gives modern Lutherans the courage to testify from that inspired, infallible Word that Jesus is our Savior. Human beings cannot save themselves. Their many false ideas have kept them on the road to hell.

The gospel, the message of forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ, with no strings attached, is too important for us to stay silent. So we celebrate the Lutheran Reformation, and ask for God’s blessing on the continued preaching and teaching of his gospel.