What if Luther had Compromised

John MacArthur has some wonderful thoughts on Luther and compromise and its application for today’s church.

It is interesting to speculate what the church would be like today if Martin Luther had been prone to compromise. The pressure was heavy on him to tone down his teaching, soften his message, stop poking his finger in the eye of the papacy. Even many of his friends and supporters urged Luther to come to terms with Rome for the sake of harmony in the church. Luther himself prayed earnestly that the effect of his teaching would not be divisive.
When he nailed his 95 Theses to the door, the last thing he wanted to do was split the church.

Yet sometimes division is fitting, even healthy, for the church. Especially in times like Luther’s—and like ours—when the visible church seems full of counterfeit Christians, it is right for the true people of God to declare themselves. Compromise is sometimes a worse evil than division. Second Corinthians 6:14-17 isn’t speaking only of marriage when it says,

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.

Sometimes we lose sight of the cost of not being faithful in all areas and with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  It is easy to think that we are saved and we are okay, the details are not that important.  Maybe we see others who claim to be Christians and are tempted to think they are so much happier and better off because they are not so concerned with being abandoned to God.  Imagine what the condition of the church could be like if Luther had shared such logic.  We are to live for the Kingdom of God, not ourselves.  This means that we should not be content with compromise because even if it has no realized effect upon us it may cost those around us or generations to come.

Soli Deo Gloria!