Every year around Reformation Day, we celebrate the recovery of the gospel—the glorious truth that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, for the glory of God alone. The Five Solas are not just slogans from a bygone era; they are the beating heart of the Christian life. But if we stop there—if we merely admire the Reformation as a piece of history—we miss its living power. The Reformation was never meant to remain in the past. It was, and still is, about freedom—freedom in Christ that leads to faithfulness in all of life.
The World Turned Upside Down
The Protestant Reformation began on October 31, 1517, when an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door in Wittenberg. It was not an act of rebellion but of renewal—an invitation to return to the Word of God. The Church had drifted from the gospel, trading the free grace of Christ for a system of indulgences, penances, and priestly mediators. Ordinary believers were cut off from the Scriptures, which were locked away in Latin and buried beneath layers of superstition.
But Luther’s hammer struck more than a church door—it struck the conscience of Europe. The sound of that hammer still echoes today. Through Luther’s preaching, writing, and courage, God restored His Word to His people and set them free. The Reformation was, at its core, a recovery of Christian freedom—freedom grounded in Christ, shaped by the gospel, and expressed in faithful service to God and neighbor.
What It Means to Be Reformed
To be Reformed means to be shaped and governed by the Word of God. The Reformers didn’t invent something new—they returned to something ancient: the faith once delivered to the saints. “Reformed” is not merely a label or theological brand; it describes a posture of continual repentance and renewal under Scripture. The Church, they said, must be “reformed and always reforming according to the Word of God.” (ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda secundum verbum Dei).
That means we are always seeking to bring every doctrine, every practice, every habit, and every corner of life into conformity with the truth of God’s Word. Reformation, in that sense, is never finished. Just as individuals are sanctified through daily repentance and renewal, so too the Church must constantly be conformed to Christ. Being Reformed is not about nostalgia for the 1500s—it’s about living faithfully in the present age as a people constantly re-formed by the living Word and Spirit of God.
So we are Cornerstone Reformed Church because we really believe the Bible and want to bring every area of life in line with it. And because we know God’s ways are best, we are a joyfully reformed church, seeking to be reformed and always reforming according to the Word of God. And that’s exactly what Luther wanted for every church.
Freedom in Christ
As we saw in Romans 6:5–11, those united to Christ have been set free—free from the dominion of sin, Satan, and death. This is not an abstract idea; it’s an objective reality. In baptism we were buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life. That means we no longer belong to the old master. The tyrant of sin no longer has authority over us. We are free. But Luther points out, this freedom is not license; it is liberty—liberty to love, to serve, to give, and to live in joyful obedience to Christ our King.
“A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”
— Martin Luther
Freedom in Christ means freedom from the bondage of sin, but it also means freedom for righteousness. We have been liberated from self-centered living so that we might live for the glory of God, the good of His people, and the life of the world… So that we might truly love God and love people.
Freedom That Leads to Service
Paul ties this together beautifully in Colossians 3:22–24, “Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
Even in the most mundane labor, the gospel transforms our work into worship. Because Christ is Lord over every square inch, every vocation becomes an altar, every task an act of service, every day a liturgy of love. The Reformation recovered this truth—not merely a “Protestant Work Ethic,” but a theology of vocation.
Luther wrote, “The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays—not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”
And again he declared, “The works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they may be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks, but all works are measured before God by faith alone.”
This was revolutionary. It meant that all honest work done in faith is holy. A pastor preaching sermons and a dairymaid milking cows both glorify God when they do their tasks in faith. Christian freedom leads to Christian service. We are freed from the bondage of sin so that we might freely and joyfully give ourselves for others. And all of that is a part of our worship of and service to the Lord.
A Kingdom of Priests
And this service is priestly. The Reformation shattered the false division between “sacred” and “secular” callings. Luther’s doctrine of the priesthood of all believers proclaims that every baptized Christian shares in Christ’s priestly ministry. We don’t need a pope or saint as mediator, for there is one Mediator between God and man—the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). United to Him, we are now a royal priesthood, a holy nation, called to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (Rom. 12:1, 1 Pet. 2:9).
“All Christians are truly of the spiritual estate, and there is no difference among them except that of office. We are all consecrated priests through baptism.”
— Martin Luther
Our priestly service begins in worship. Because of the Reformation, we no longer sit as spectators while church leaders perform the Mass on our behalf. We participate—as a kingdom of priests—in the renewal of God’s covenant each Lord’s Day. In Covenant Renewal Worship, we ascend to meet God through Word and Sacrament, we are cleansed, consecrated, and communed with, and then commissioned back into the world to serve.
Through these ordinary means of grace—Scripture read and preached, baptism remembered, and the Supper received—we are fed, strengthened, and sent. Worship is not an escape from the world; it is preparation to serve in it. We ascend to heaven’s throne room each Sunday so that we might descend into our homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces bearing the aroma of Christ.
Right Worship and Right Living
This is why the Reformers fought to place the Word of God in the language of the people and to reform worship according to Scripture. The Reformation wasn’t just about doctrine—it was about doxology. When the Church worships rightly, she lives rightly. When the Bible is opened, the people of God are equipped to live by faith and to work by love.
“The soul can do without everything except the Word of God, without which none at all of its wants are provided for.”
— Martin Luther
Right worship—covenantal, sacramental, and scriptural—forms right living. God edifies and equips us in and through His Word. But the Sacraments are part of the ministry of the Word: Baptism is the gospel in and through water; Communion is the gospel in and through bread and wine. Yet it is always the Word and Spirit working through these visible signs that make them effective. In worship, Christ proclaims His victory over sin and death, and we are renewed in our participation in that victory. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead animates our daily obedience, our repentance, and our joy.
The Freedom of Repentance
Luther’s very first thesis declared that “the entire life of believers is to be one of repentance.” This is not a call to morbid introspection, but to daily resurrection. Because we have died and risen with Christ, repentance is not despair but delight—it is the ongoing rhythm of the Christian life. Each day we put to death the old man and rise to newness of life, living as those who are free.
“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”
— Martin Luther
Luther once said, “I am a baptized man, and I must drown the old Adam daily.” That is the heart of Christian freedom—the daily exercise of dying to sin and living unto God. Repentance, rightly understood, is the daily act of saying, “I am no longer a slave to sin; I belong to Christ.”
And that freedom is what enables us to serve—joyfully, sacrificially, and faithfully—whether we are washing dishes, changing diapers, managing a business, or shepherding souls. Every task done in faith is an act of worship. Every act of love is a proclamation of Christ’s lordship.
“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man would stake his life on it a thousand times.”
— Martin Luther
Living the Reformation
So while we remember the courage of Luther and the other Reformers, let us also remember that the Reformation was not the end of reform, but the beginning. The Church, always in need of renewal, is reformed by the Word and Spirit of God. And that reformation begins each Lord’s Day as the people of God gather to worship, hear, eat, and go.
We are a kingdom of priests, a people set free, a body renewed through Word and Sacrament, sent to make all of life worship. The Reformation was never about mere protest—it was about freedom. Freedom to worship God as He commands. Freedom to serve our neighbors in love. Freedom to die to self daily and live to Christ. Freedom to bring the light of the gospel to every corner of creation.
The Reformation reminds us that Luther had the courage to stand on the Word of God come what may, and so must we. When the Catholic Church called him to recant his reformational teachings, he said, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or clear reason—since I can neither trust the pope nor councils alone, because it is clear that they have often erred and contradicted one another—I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”
“Peace if possible, truth at all costs.”
— Martin Luther
So hold fast to the Word of God come what may. And stand fast in the freedom it gives… And use that freedom, dear saints, and use it well. Live as those who are joyfully reformed, living all of Christ for all of life.
In Christ’s service and yours,
Nick Esch