A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
I hope you find this blog post helpful. It was originally written to be used with my Family Worship Guide that focuses on the hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. If you would like to get that Family Worship Guide for free, just go HERE or sign up for my email list at the bottom of this page and you will have access to it. I hope this is a helpful resource for you.
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God was written by Martin Luther, who is one of the men God used to change the future of our Christian freedom.
Before we talk about the song, let me tell you a story about Martin Luther.
The Roman Catholic Church had been telling the people that they had to have good behavior and pay money to the church for their sins to be forgiven. Most people had no access to the Bible and had to depend on the leadership to tell them what it said. What they were telling the people was not the truth.
For a long time, Martin Luther thought he had to work hard and have good behavior to earn his way to have a relationship with God, but he never felt peace. He felt like he could never be good enough or do enough to earn his way to heaven. And he was right. After becoming a monk and later a professor to teach the Bible, he spent much time studying the Bible. He found what he had been searching for all of his life. He found that he is made righteous by faith in God, not by works. He found that he was saved by God’s grace and not by good behavior. He found truth in the Scripture and knew he wanted to share it with the world. And that is what he did.
On October 31, 1517 he nailed his ninety-five theses (statements that made an argument about what the church leadership was telling people) to the door of the Wittenburg Castle Church in Germany. Church doors were often used as a place people could place signs they wanted people to see. He did this on All Saint’s Eve, a special church holiday when many people would be entering through that door. Copies of the theses were also made and spread throughout Germany, then Europe. People were finally getting to know the truth of God’s Word. This was the beginning of what we call the Protestant Reformation.
The Roman Catholic Church was not happy about this. There was a lot of persecution. Some people were put into prison, including Martin Luther, and some even lost their lives.
During the years after the Reformation began, Martin Luther wanted to bring back singing in the church. He wrote many hymns and the one that is very well known is A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. This song is often referred to as The Battle Hymn of the Reformation. The hymn is based off of Psalm 46 and it helped people remember how strong God is and that he was helping them through the difficult time of persecution. It was a song of praise to the God who they were living and, possibly, dying for.
The original name for this hymn is Ein’ feast Burg its Unser Gott. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God has been translated into many languages. There are at least sixty English translations of this song. The most popular was done by Frederic Henry Hodge, which is the one most familiar to us today.
Martin Luther’s studies of the Bible, along with other men who wanted people to know the truth of God’s Word, found that the Christian faith is based on five solas, statements that encompass our faith. Over time, these statements have helped set the tone for what Protestant Christians believe.
Sola Gratia…by grace alone
Sola Fide…through faith alone
Solus Christus…in Christ alone
Soli Deo Gloria… for the glory of God alone
Sola Scriptura…according to Scripture alone
God used Martin Luther to help Protestant Christians know and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. God sent his son, Jesus, to live, die the death that we deserve, and be raised to life. Because of this we are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. This gospel is in Scripture alone, and it is all for God’s glory alone.
I hope you find this blog post helpful. It was originally written to be used with my Family Worship Guide that focuses on the hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. If you would like to get that Family Worship Guide for free, just go HERE or sign up for my email list at the bottom of this page and you will have access to it. The Family Worship Guide will give you a 28-day plan to help you and your family read the Bible, sing, and pray together. This guide focuses on the five solas that were mentioned above. You will spend the month looking to see how the Bible backs up the five solas. This guide is rich with Gospel truths that changes lives. I hope this is a helpful resource for you.
