I am studying the early church and my professor claims that the Reformation is what saved Christianity. Does that mean that before this change people were no longer experiencing the new birth—salvation in Christ alone?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Man is ever reforming, but reformation at best is only temporary. The new birth that comes about when a person repents of sin and receives Christ’s forgiveness and salvation is far more than reformation. Man’s nature must be transformed. Transformation begins when a person is saved, and salvation in Christ alone is the centerpiece of Christ’s church, and Jesus said that the gates of Hell would never prevail (Matthew 16:18).
A group of barbers at their annual convention decided to exhibit the value of their tonsorial art. They found a derelict on skid row, gave him a haircut, a shave, and a bath, and they dressed him in new clothes of the finest tailoring. They had demonstrated to their satisfaction the worth of outward excellence, but three days later the man was in the gutter again. He had been transformed into a respectable-looking man, but the impulses and drives of his inner being had not been changed. He had been powdered and perfumed, but not changed.
Through the new birth, the Bible teaches that man enters a new world. There is a new dimension of living. The change that comes over a man is expressed in the Bible in various contrasts: lust and holiness, darkness and light, death and resurrection, a stranger to the Kingdom of God and now a citizen. The man who has experienced the new birth is called a member of God’s household. The Bible teaches that his will is changed, his objectives for living are changed, his disposition is changed, his affections are changed, and he now has purpose and meaning in his life.
(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)
