I can't believe I'm going to hand this in to-morrow.

As a protestant person, I appreciate the theology of Martin Luther very much. Please understand that I am very thankful for the good that the Catholic church has done in this world. God has used it mightily for many good things. But my conscience does not allow me to sugar-coat what I believe about the Roman Catholic Church any longer, and Concerning Christian Liberty by Luther is an excellent summary of what I believe. I will therefore take this opportunity to expose my beliefs to criticism. But enough of that, let us speak about history for a moment. The medieval catholic world was in upheaval after Luther suggested changes that should be made in the church. Because of the church’s close connection with the government, the entire socio-political structure of the 16th century was disturbed by Luther’s theology. The question still is posed: was this disruption necessary and right? Through the writing of this essay I have come to appreciate even more the sacrifices he and other reformers made so that my church today follows the Word of God. Martin Luther’s essay Concerning Christian Liberty is a wonderful call for reformation in the Catholic Christian Church. His insistence upon the power of the Word of God, his philosophy of good works, and his understanding of human nature are a beautiful argument for a return to Scripture-based worship and doctrine.
Martin Luther insisted that the Word of God, the scriptures, are the only way for knowing God. As we read in II Peter 1:19-21:
"And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to
pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy
came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin
in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were moved along by the Holy
Spirit."
Luther understands that we do well let the Word of God dwell in us richly. The imagery Peter uses is that of a light in a dark place, as well as the imagery of God being the morning star. By reading and listening to God’s Word, the Bible, God works faith in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, with patience and by opening one’s heart, God causes the morning star of faith in Him to rise in us. Luther speaks to this effect where he says "One thing, and one alone, is necessary for life, justification, and Christian liberty; and that is the most holy word of God, the Gospel of Christ". This beautiful statement, backed by Scripture, is a call for reform in the Catholic church so that superstitious rituals and traditions that have no basis in Scripture should be removed from Catholic doctrine. The response this call was and still is needed in the Catholic church. Foolish practices, such as the worship of saints and of Mary, the twisted view of the sacraments as practiced in the Catholic church, and the hypocritical lives of many members need to be reformed. I speak here not of the corruption of the priesthood, but of the lives of each individual Catholic, which often show that religion is a small compartment of their life that does not affect the rest of their lives. This also shows the general reluctance of the Catholic church to act on the truth that is revealed to them. In I Corinthians 4:20, Paul tells us that "the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power." and again God speaks to us through the Apostle John: "Dear children, let us not love with words of tongue but with actions and in truth." (I John 3:18). Spiritual apathy is the biggest enemy of the Christian life. When we are shown what God wants of us, we should act! This flies in the face of the judgement that the Council of Trent passed on Luther’s theology, namely that what he said was true, but that the church must be careful in how it teaches this. This shows the general forgetfulness the Catholic church has towards the power of the living Word of God. If II Peter 1: 19-21 applies to the leaders of the church, how much more should it apply to those who are being led! The Word of God, when used properly, creates faith in us, and this faith invariably leads to good works, not spiritual apathy. This leads nicely into the next part of Luther’s demand for change: That of good works.
Luther says "When you begin to believe, you learn at the same time that all that is in you is utterly guilty, sinful, and damnable, according to that saying ‘All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God’ (Rom. 3:23)". At first glance this seems a terribly depressing thought. But Luther continues: "When you have learned this, you will know that Christ is necessary for you, since He has suffered and risen again for you, that, believing on Him, you might by this faith become another man, all your sins being remitted, and you being justified by the merits of another man, namely Christ alone." By this argument, again based in Scripture, we realize that we as humans have nothing to bring to the table. God requires perfection, in body and soul, neither criterion of which we are able to satisfy. As the Psalmist says: "My sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge."(Psalm 51:3,4). Although our first natural response is to say "Hey, I’m not that bad!" what David says is true for all of us. All our actions are stained with sin, even the "good" that we do. By faith, however, we are justified and we are renewed to do good works. We "become another man". Our old sinful self is crucified with Christ on the cross, and our new self is raised with Christ to newness of life. When this conversion of our inner man happens, the natural next step is for our outer man, or our bodies and actions, to change. Just as a good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad fruit, a person who is made new by faith does good works, and a person who is not renewed does evil. Just as good fruit does not make a good tree, good works do not make a good person. To suppose this is to get the order of things wrong. In the same breath, however, what good is a good tree if it will not bear fruit? How will it be distinguished from the bad tree that also bears no fruit? It cannot! And similarly, "faith without deeds is dead." (James 2:26). The renewal of our hearts, by the spirit of God, who works through the Word of God, naturally leads us to do good. Again, once we realize that this is how God would have our faith and our life interact, it is not in our power to say no to him! We must live in this knowledge, allowing our good works to overflow from a heart full of love for God, and we must also teach this truth in the church. The spirit of God, working in a life converted to God’s service, will consistently not allow spiritual apathy. The renewal of our nature ensures this. Luther’s view of human nature is also a valuable one, from which we can learn very much.
There are those who believe that Luther’s view of human nature is twisted due to his own religious experience, and that a terrible wrong is done in building a church from the experiences of one man. Our society has seen all too often the effects of cults which are based on the spiritual experience of only a few people. These cults are often narrow minded, dangerous, and suicidal. However, the key difference between Luther’s theology and the theology of any cult is that Luther did not base his beliefs upon his personal religious experience, but instead upon the living Word of God. His dualistic view of human nature sprouts not from his own sad existence, but from the Gospel.
Luther speaks of both inner and outer man. It is important to remember that here he speaks of the inner man being renewed by the Spirit of God. He says: "For the inner man, being conformed to God and created after the image of God through faith, rejoices and delights itself in Christ, in whom such blessings have been conferred on it, and hence has only this task before it: to serve God with joy and for nought in free love. But in doing this he comes into collision with that contrary will in his own flesh, which is striving to serve the world and to seek its own gratification." Luther again takes this dualism from scripture (see Romans 7:22, 23). Our new inner nature, which is completely renewed at the moment of our conversion, is at war with the remaining part of our old nature, our flesh. This dualism is different from other dualism in that the border between physical and spiritual is not the border between our two natures. Instead, our old nature still affects our intellect, our reason, and our consciousness. However, our soul, the spirit that lives in us, is what is converted. From the moment of conversion more and more of the flesh is converted by the work of the Holy Spirit, until Christ returns and our souls will be united with our flesh in perfection, so that we may serve God perfectly. "As long as we live in the flesh, we are but beginning and making advances in that which shall be completed in a future life." This is the synthesis between our natures, the perfection that comes only with unity with God.
We can see, therefore, that unity with God is the ultimate purpose and direction of the human race. All of our actions in this life should be actions of worship. In order to worship God, we must know Him. This is the importance of studying the Bible. We must allow it to speak to us by constantly reading it, searching it, and finding meaning for life in it. When we find instruction from God in it, let us not hesitate to change! "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him." (Colossians 3:17). Do all in the service of God!
We can also conclude that Luther’s call for reformation should have been heard and acted upon. Many of the struggles of the Catholic Church today stem from the fact that the Word of God is made subject to tradition and the teaching of the church. I implore you, do not forget the power of God’s grace, love and Word. If given the opportunity to tell any person one thing, I would tell them to search the Bible. By it alone are we shown our salvation. The Roman Catholic Church is therefore at fault for not taking instruction from the Word, and many of the reasons for the destruction of the medieval Catholic world can be traced back to the Catholic church’s slipping away from the Word. Luther was only a man though. The call that the church should have heeded was not his, it was the call of our Lord! His words still remain: "‘Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back from captivity.’"