It has been said that the Protestant Reformation was the greatest movement of God in church history since her birth on Pentecost. The Reformation was the time when God, in effect, said, “Enough,” and rescued the word of God and the church of God out from darkness.

With the commemoration date of the Reformation on October 31, 1517, the 501st anniversary is upon us. It was the day when that little known monk, Martin Luther, nailed a document written in Latin to the doors of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. In doing so, Luther was not intending to start the Reformation, but, to simply dispute the nature of Rome’s teaching on indulgences.

So, what are indulgences? Where did they come from? Why was Luther fired up about them? And what is the implication of this teaching on salvation?

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