Today is 31 October, Reformation Day. On this day in 1517 Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses in Wittenberg, and the great recovery of the gospel that followed turned on one question: how can a sinner be right with a holy God? I have been thinking about that question this week because two new surveys landed on my desk, and both made me realise how much it still needs answering.

What the surveys found

The first is the UK edition of the State of Theology survey, run by Whitestone Insight with Ligonier Ministries UK. As Christian Today reported on 14 October, 5,177 British adults were surveyed in late January. 39% were unsure about the Trinity, 56% were unsure about the Holy Spirit’s role in new birth, and 46% were unsure about justification. Among evangelicals, by contrast, 90% affirmed justification by faith.

Two lines in the report stood out to me. Ligonier said the result “demonstrates that the UK is a mission field, a country where many people are unfamiliar with biblical teachings”. And Whitestone observed that “Britain may be becoming less confidently secular without becoming substantially more Christian.”

The second is chapter 7 of the American Bible Society’s State of the Bible. Its press release of 8 October, covered by The Christian Post, reports that only 49% of Americans now believe in the virgin birth, 53% in the resurrection and 44% in the Red Sea crossing. Among practising Christians, the figures are 97%, 99% and 92%.

What stood out to me

The thing that struck me is the word unsure. These are not mostly people who have heard the gospel and rejected it. They are people who are not sure what it is. Whitestone’s line about being “less confidently secular without becoming substantially more Christian” describes plenty of South Africans too. Spiritual interest is high, but spiritual vagueness is just as high. A vague spirituality can live quite comfortably with the idea that God will accept me if I try hard enough.

The other thing is the gap between the general public and those who actually practise the faith. When people sit under the Word week by week, the basic doctrines stick. That should encourage every pastor who faithfully preaches through books of the Bible. It should also encourage every parent who reads the Bible at the table.

Faith alone, in the Bible’s words

The Reformers did not invent sola fide; they recovered it from Paul. “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Romans 3:28, NASB 1995). Paul goes further: “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5, NASB 1995).

Notice who God justifies: the ungodly. Not the improved, not the sincere, not the religious. The ungodly. That is why justification has to be by faith alone. Faith is the empty hand that receives Christ’s righteousness, credited to us as a gift. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NASB 1995).

The result is not a nervous hope but settled peace: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1, NASB 1995).

Why it still matters

It is easy to treat Reformation Day as a history lesson, but justification is not a museum piece. Every human heart is a natural Pelagian, working to earn favour and to boast. Our culture’s “be true to yourself” spirituality is simply the old works-righteousness in modern dress. Many churches in our country add their own layers too: prophets, prosperity, anointed objects, or a ladder of religious performance. When people do not know what justification is, they will believe almost anything about how to get right with God.

If you want a readable case for why the Reformation’s answers still matter, I recommend Still Protesting: Why the Reformation Matters by D. G. Hart. The book’s description says he “investigates what was at stake in the sixteenth century and why Protestantism still matters”. You can get it at Good Neighbours (R195 at the time of writing).

Learn – Grow – Change

• Learn: Read Romans 3:21–5:1 in one sitting this weekend, and notice how often Paul says “faith” and “apart from works.”
• Grow: Ask yourself honestly what you rest on when your conscience accuses you. Is it Christ’s righteousness, or your recent track record?
• Change: Practise explaining justification in two minutes to a friend, child or colleague. The surveys tell us there are many who are “unsure.”

Five hundred and nine years on, the question is the same, and so is the answer: “But the righteous man shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17, NASB 1995).