GRAND ORANGE
LODGE OF IRELAND

Why should we remember an event which took place over 500 years ago?
What relevance does it have today?

 

The simple answer is that the Reformation of the 16th century was about rediscovering the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a gospel which still today is crucial for life and eternity.
The original desire of Martin Luther was to encourage the Roman Catholic Church back to gospel truth. That it led to the Protestant Reformation is a reminder that the Church is built on the gospel and not the other way round. 

 

The Reformation shows us that God does not bless a church or denomination when faithlessness or a man-made approach to the Scriptures is followed. It reminds us that the wonderful gospel of grace can be effectively lost to a church which distorts and neglects the Scriptures. 

 

The Reformation teaches us that the purity of the gospel matters and compromising on it will lead to destruction. The church ought to be built upon the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and proclaim that good news - that is the treasure of the gospel which is still priceless today. 
It was into a spiritual bleakness that the Reformers were born, and we live today in an equally dark world. A world which glories in depraved behaviour which ought to make every person ashamed. But God is able to shine His light into even the darkest of places and there is a great need to recall what He did more than 500 years ago and how it still impacts on life and living today. 

 

The Reformation, therefore, is an important reminder of how God used - and still uses today - people to point others to the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

 

By Wor. Bro. Rev. John Noble,

Grand Chaplain