Lutherans urged to understand celebration

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LUTHERAN Church assistant bishop, Rev Lucas Ketambing is encouraging church members to understand the meaning of celebrating 500 years of reformation.
Ketambing said that the mindsets of Lutherans should not be influenced merely with the activities showcased during the celebrations.
“Martin Luther was a liberator that liberated us; the reform was something theological and doctrinal setting 95 theses to correct misinterpretation of holy scriptures,” he said.
“The pastors and church leaders need to uphold the Bible and interpret the scriptures accordingly to the guide and lead the members.”
Ketambing made these remarks when witnessing the unveiling of a carved statue of Martin Luther at the Martin Luther Seminary in Lae on Friday.
He said throughout the 500 years since Luther’s historic move, many Lutherans have moved away to various Lutheran revival churches.
“The question that remains unanswered about revival churches, is whether if it was done for theological purposes based on biblical scriptures capturing the principles of holy sacraments,” he said.
Principal of Martin Luther Seminary Dr Michael Wan Rupulga said that Luther endeavoured to correct the misapplications in holy scriptures, especially the selling of indulgences to pay for sins.
He said the four pillars of Luther’s theses was grace alone (sola gratia), Christ alone (sola Christus), faith alone (sola fide) and scripture alone (sola scriptura).
Rupulga said that it was significant to interpret the reformation day on how it would help church members in the PNG context faced with various socio-economic issues influenced by modern technology.
“Correct interpretation and application of the holy scriptures to our own life situations to benefit Christian faith and life is crucial,” Rupulga said.
Australian Lutheran church representative Rev John Strelan said that unveiling Luther’s statue represented not only the past historical journey but also reminded believers of the journey into the future and the elevation of the church to reflect God’s glory to the world.