The Reformation Project: Thesis 15

15. "He is not righteous who does much, but he who, without work, believes much in Christ."

This thesis is in quotation marks, as it is directly pulled from Martin Luther's Heidelberg Disputation. Those theses, published two years after the more famous 95 Theses were nailed to the Castle Church door at Wittenberg, represent a maturing of Luther's Protestant convictions.  As others have noted, the Heidelberg Disputation furthered Luther's break with the medieval church by setting forth a relentlessly cross centered understanding of Christianity, of justification, and of the Christian life. Put another way, it was a theology of the cross, in contrast to the Roman church's theology of glory.

It is also liberating, because the person who believes much in Christ believes in work that is done. The one who does much, instead of believing, never can be sure that he has ever done enough.

Do Christians understand the liberty and rest that is found in cross centered Christianity? American Christians are known not for their relentless cross centeredness, but for their relentless activism. Yet, Paul said that the one that has been justified by faith (past completed action) has (present possession) peace with God.

This is the result of preaching that is cross centered.

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