As I write this, I’m preparing to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in Essen, Germany, and in Rome.
Germany, of course, was the land of the Reformation under the ministry of men like Martin Luther, where the authority of the Word of God was reclaimed after centuries of misuse by church authorities. The timeless, Biblical truth of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, swept across the German frontier and beyond and changed the face of much of Europe.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The battle cry of the Reformation became Post tenebras lux, which when translated from Latin becomes “After the darkness comes the light.”
Sadly, even in a country with such a historic faith, secularism and theological liberalism have become predominant in virtually every sector of public and private life. Less than 10% of Germans attend church on Sundays, and evangelicals comprise a small percentage of the country’s population.
So, how wonderful it is when we see men and women place their faith in Christ alone after hearing the unchanging message of the Gospel—the Good News of forgiveness of sin through repentance and faith in the saving death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Of course, we see the same secularism and liberalism in our own country as in Germany. America was founded by Pilgrims looking for the freedom to openly practice their faith after suffering stiff persecution at the hands of their countrymen. These separatist Puritans, who first fled England to the Netherlands before landing at Plymouth Rock in 1620, led devoted lives of faith in Christ, influencing large swaths of the culture. Later, there came the Great Awakenings during the 18th century, when tens of thousands were saved through the powerful preaching of the Gospel by men like George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards.
Now, fast forward a few hundred years, and we have the same scenario across much of Europe. Progressive, anti-God public policies and errant theology bend and move along with the cultural winds, no longer tethered to the unchanging truth of God’s Word.
“I want people to understand that the Bible is the absolute authority for all of life. It is the Word of God, without error, from Genesis to Revelation.”
Marriage between one man and one woman is under attack. Homosexuality is celebrated and promoted by the highest government authorities. Godly men and women who stand against these strong cultural, godless winds are attacked and ridiculed.
A growing number of young people and adults now claim no religious affiliation at all and are classified under the sad title of “nones,” people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular.” In 2007, when the Pew Research Center asked its questions about religious identity, Christians outnumbered “nones” by 5-to-1. Now that ratio is just a bit more than 2-to-1. That’s alarming! And if the current hostility toward people of faith continues on the same trajectory, we are in serious trouble as a nation.