The largest of Luther’s complaints was the sale of indulgences.
For Protestants the first question is likely to be: “What is an indulgence?” and rightly so, because that word is never used in the New Testament text.
An indulgence, according to the catechism of the Roman
Church is “a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins
whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly
disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the
Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with
authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints."
If you want to read further about indulgences the RC catechism
is available online for anyone who wishes to read it.
For Christians who believe the gospel message, that our sins
are forgiven through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ - which is the
message taught by the Apostles (ref. Acts 2:38, 5:31, 10:43, 13:38, 26:18)
throughout the New Testament we may ask – what is this ‘punishment’ that is
being described and which can be remitted through an indulgence.
Again – you will not find a clear description of ‘temporal
punishment’ in the New Testament – and that is because it is not a concept taught
by the Apostles, but invented by the Roman Church as they departed over time
from the Apostolic tradition. Going into
the history (or claimed history) as to how this occurred would take too long to
describe, however the RC’s Baltimore Catechism, Part 3 gives some description
about what is meant by ‘temporal punishment’ as follows:
Q. 629. What punishments are due to actual sins?
Q. 804. Why does God require a temporal punishment as a
satisfaction for sin?
Q. 805. Which are
the chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to
sin?
As can be seen – the concept of ‘temporal punishment’ is tied
closely to the idea of purgatory – another invention of the Roman church that
departs from the Apostolic teachings and has no reference in the New Testament writings.
The Roman church teaches that there are two punishments due
to us for our sins, one eternal, and one temporal. The satisfaction that Christ gave for sin on
the cross covers the eternal aspect, however we must work to cover the temporal
aspect of punishment.
As in Q.805 above – the chief means we are said to satisfy
God are our own works – such as prayer, fasting, giving etc. these are often
done as acts of ‘penance’ (subject for another post). If we do not do enough good acts of penance in
this life to cover the ‘temporal punishment’ due to us, then time must be spent
in purgatory to purge us from the effects of our sin and bear the punishments due.
However, besides, good works, another way in which the RC Church teaches
that we can avoid temporal punishment is through receiving an indulgence. Quoting from the Catechism of the Roman
Church:
“An indulgence is
obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing
granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and
opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain
from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishments due for
their sins.”
"This treasury includes as well the prayers and good
works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense, unfathomable, and
even pristine in their value before God. In the treasury, too, are the prayers
and good works of all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps
of Christ the Lord and by his grace have made their lives holy and carried out
the mission the Father entrusted to them.”
In an indulgence, a Christian - through some act of penance
prescribed by the Church – receives the merit of Christ, or is transferred some
perceived merit from Mary or the saints (apparently not needed by them and free
to be transferred), and thus covers their ‘temporal punishment’, freeing them
from the penalty of sins, reducing time in purgatory and assisting them in some
way along the path to salvation.
Hopefully for those familiar with the teaching of the Apostles and the New Testament scriptures it can easily be seen how this doctrine at best obscures the glorious truth of the Gospel and at worst presents an entirely different Gospel altogether.
Luther’s largest complaint was the ‘sale of indulgences’. This was a practice in which the RC Church ‘opens for the saint the treasury of merits of Christ, Mary and the saints’ when in an act of ‘penance’ the believer gave a financial gift to the Church. Although Roman Catholics will object to the characterization of this practice as a sale of ‘grace for money’ (it is supposed to be done as an act of penance to receive grace) the corruption of the Church at that time meant that in essence this is what it became in the eyes of many.
The problems with indulgences, temporal sin, purgatory are
many – and I for one am very thankful for the Reformation. Because of the Reformation this false
practice and false teaching does not obscure or dilute for me the glory of the
Gospel and what Jesus Christ accomplished for me on the cross through his death
burial and resurrection.
At the cross Jesus Christ bore the entire punishment due
to our sins – temporal and eternal punishment is taken away and we are
washed clean. Christ is the propitiation
for our sins, and the effectiveness of his sacrifice is entirely ours through
faith.
It is true that forgiveness of our sins does not negate the
natural consequences of sins. In a sense
we could look at this as a ‘temporal punishment’ – and from what I have read,
it seems to me that the RC Church may be confusing natural consequences with divine temporal punishment. Although our sins are forgiven
by God we do continue in sin until we reach heaven. These sins do entail consequences, such as
breaking the law which requires appropriate civil penalties. Our sins often hurt relationships and will require
us to make things right by making restitution and asking forgiveness from a
grieved party so that broken relationships can be mended and restored. However, this is much different from a belief
that God is inflicting a ‘punishment’ on us in this life that must be paid for
by good works.
As children of God – adopted into his family, we are no
longer subject to God’s punishment. God will work in our life to discipline us,
which may at times feel like a ‘punishment’ however – “he disciplines us
for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness”. (Hebrews 12:4-12)
No grace or merit can be transferred from other Saints or
Mary to you. There is no ‘treasury
of merit’ held by the Church that can be dispensed by the Pope or his
representatives. The prophet Ezekiel makes
this clear: “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the
iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness
of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
(Ezekiel 18:20)
The only grace that we can receive as Christians and that we
are called to be enjoying is the grace of Jesus Christ. I am sure Roman Catholics when pressed will
claim that all the ‘merits in the treasury’ ultimately come from Jesus Christ –
however besides the concept being an invention - we do not need human mediators
of Christ’s merit and grace. We can go
straight to the source - Jesus Christ, the good shepherd who gives us
everything that we need and who is the only mediator between God and man. “His divine power has given us
everything we need for life and Godliness, through our knowledge of HIM who
called us, by his own glory and goodness.”
When Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of All Saints
Church in Wittenburg his main complaint was indulgences, and the sacramental
system that included penance, temporal sins, and purgatory.
Sadly, to this day, the Roman Catholic Church – although they have (I believe) abandoned
the ‘sale of indulgences' still offers indulgences – for example: Pope Leo
XIV granted a plenary indulgence for 100th World Mission Sunday just this past month. According to Vatican News ‘the indulgence
can be obtained under the usual conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic
Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.’
As Luther wrote in his first Thesis: “When our Lord and
Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of
believers to be one of repentance.”
If you are a Christian who has repented of your sins and is
trusting in Christ for forgiveness, you can rest assured that all God’s wrath
was satisfied at the cross, all punishments were borne by him when he died in
our place. Your prayers and penances are
not earning you time off of purgatory – they instead are aligning your heart to
God’s and are the path we walk towards salvation with the help of the Holy Spirit. Repentance and confession are important aspects
of the Christian life, but we can rest assured that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
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