Love Under Fire

Truth on Pilate's Staircase

The pope had promised an indulgence to everyone who would climb on their knees up “Pilate's staircase,” which was said to have been miraculously brought from Jerusalem to Rome. One day, as Luther was climbing these steps, a voice like thunder seemed to say, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). He jumped to his feet in shame and horror. At that moment, he saw more clearly than ever before how wrong it was to trust in human works for salvation. He turned his face from Rome. Beginning then, the separation grew until he cut all connection with the papal church. LF 56.1

After he returned from Rome, Luther received the degree of doctor of divinity. Now he was free to devote himself to the Scriptures that he loved. He had taken a solemn vow to be faithful in preaching the Word of God, not the doctrines of the popes. He was no longer just a monk, but the authorized herald of the Bible, called as a shepherd to feed the flock of God that were hungering and thirsting for truth. He firmly declared that Christians should receive no other doctrines than those that are based on the authority of the Sacred Scriptures. LF 56.2

Eager crowds listened to him intently. The good news of a Savior's love, the assurance of pardon and peace through His atoning blood, made their hearts rejoice. At Wittenberg a light began to shine whose rays would become brighter and brighter to the close of time. LF 56.3

But there is always conflict between truth and error. Our Savior Himself declared, “I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). A few years after the start of the Reformation, Luther said: “God ... pushes me forward.... I want to live in peace, but I am thrown into the middle of uprisings and revolutions.”⁷ LF 56.4