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People who only acted according to the Word

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Bible verse : Romans 1:17(NIV)
For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

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Jesus completed salvation on this earth and ascended to heaven. The church began on this earth through the disciples who obeyed the word of Jesus.
The first church built was the Jerusalem Church. Since then, many churches have been established wherever the gospel is preached.

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Over time, the gospel spread throughout Europe. Most countries in Europe have become Christian countries that believe in Jesus.
Naturally, the power of the church grew stronger, and the pope, who represented the church, had more power than the king.

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The church of this era when the church had strong power is called the Catholic Church. As the Catholic Church gained great power, more and more bad things began to happen. Church leaders have become corrupted in their power, and the church has lost its function. That is why this period was called the Dark Ages.

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The most serious problem is that the leaders of the church made people do wrong things with content that had nothing to do with the Bible. In particular, indulgences were sold to people in the name of exemption from punishment for sins.
They taught that anyone can be saved and go to heaven as long as he pays a lot of money and buys indulgences. This was a false teaching not found in the Bible.

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The movement to correct these erroneous church teachings and return to the correct faith based only on the words of the Bible is the Church Reformation that took place in 1517, that is, the Reformation.
Martin Luther was the representative person who played the most important role in the beginning of the Reformation.

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At that time, Martin Luther was a priest teaching the Bible at the University of Wittenberg in Germany.
Luther studied the Bible passage in Romans 1:17 and realized that the church at that time was teaching believers the Bible incorrectly.
“For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."”

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Luther jumped up on the spot. “Yes, salvation is not achieved through my efforts, but rather through faith in Jesus. Why didn’t I realize this?”
At that time, Luther realized that salvation is not achieved by man effort, but is a gift from God given only to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

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Realizing this, Martin Luther posted on the gate of Wittenberg Cathedral the writings that the church at that time taught differently from the Word of God.
Among the contents, there were contents about the parts that the church at the time did differently from the Bible, including the sale of indulgences.
This day was October 31, 1517. And this article became the signal of the Reformation that changed world history.

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However, the church at that time did not repent of their mistakes in Martin Luther's actions to return to the true Word of God.
The pope even tried to deprive Martin Luther of his priesthood and kill him. But Martin Luther did not give up on trying to establish the church rightly with only the Word of God.

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God was with Martin Luther. The Reformation, which began with Martin Luther, spread throughout Europe.
The Reformation started by Martin Luther gave birth to another great Reformer.
That man is John Calvin.

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John Calvin wrote the manuscript for his friend Nicolas Cobb's inauguration as president of the University of Paris. It wrote, "Our salvation comes freely through faith in Jesus alone, and it is wrong to persecute others in the name of religion."
There were also content that pointed out how far the church at the time was away from the teachings of the Bible.
Calvin also pointed out that the church at the time was far from the Word of God.

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Because of this, John Calvin and his friends were persecuted by many people.
While working to reform the church, Calvin was saddened to lose both his wife and children. However, Calvin did not give up on establishing the word of God correctly. No difficulties could stop him from doing so.

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John Calvin, while pastoring in the city of Geneva, emphasized a life that thoroughly lived according to the Word of God.
However, he was banished from there by those who did not like it.
However, despite any difficulties, he did not give up and returned to that city to minister.
Due to John Calvin, who did not give up for 14 years and wanted to make Geneva a holy city, the city gradually became holy and had a great influence on many other cities.

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John Calvin did not do this because he was healthy. He had a lot of health problems, but that couldn't stop Calvin's passion to establish the Word of God correctly.
Calvin gave 200 sermons and 200 lectures every year, and wrote many books, including ‘Christian Compulsions’, and did his best to help people live only by the Word of God.

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Martin Luther and John Calvin are representative people who only acted according to the Word of God. God was with them who acted righteously with courage.
The Reformation is the work of God revealed only through the people who acted according to the Word of God. God is still with those who act only according to the Word of God. Children of God are those who only act according to the Word of God. I hope that in the future, no matter what kind of dream you have or what kind of job you have, you will become wonderful children of faith who live by acting only as required by the Word of God.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)