Hier stehe ich

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. – 1 Corinthians 15v1-2

Last weekend I spent the evening with some friends watching a film based on the life of Martin Luther. My heart was challenged several times. One of those times was the part of his life where on the 16^th of April 1521 he was called before the Council of Worms and commanded to retract his statements where he rejected tradition and called on people to simply accept the gospel. After saying that he would recant and reject anything that he had said that was not accord with scriptures Luther said this, "Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason — I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other — my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe."

He then uttered, according to records that go back nearly to that day, these words – “Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir. Amen” (Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen)

Luther stood – putting everything on the line. He knew that his life was in danger, yet he stood.

What gave him that confidence? We only need go back to Paul’s words to the Corinthians. Paul had preached it, they had received it, they could stand on the gospel, and those who held fast proved they were saved by it.

How far are we willing to go to stand on the gospel? Could we follow Luther’s example? We may differ on all kinds of petty issues. We may not all stand on the same place when it comes to eschatology or ecclesiology, our views on styles of worship and personal standards may differ, we may all dot our “i”s or cross our “t”s exactly the same way, but there is a place where all true Christians stand – we must stand on the gospel, we can do no other, God help us.