Forget Not the Religious Reformation
Written by Rev Tay Piak Kheng on 18 October 2026
“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)
The greatest watershed in church history was the Reformation on 31 Oct 1517, which began in Wittenberg, Germany. The church was freed from the Roman Catholic yoke and emerged from a darkness that had lasted over 1000 years. The authority to read the Bible and other privileges were then restored to God’s children.
Long before Martin Luther, there were other forerunners of the Reformation, such as England’s Wycliffe and Bohemia’s John Hus. Rather than the rules laid down by the Papacy or the Pope, they firmly believed that Scripture is the ultimate authority and that God’s words are the foundation of a saint’s life.
The forerunners’ conviction influenced and kindled Martin Luther. He courageously pinned the Ninety-Five Theses to the doors of the church in Wittenberg to refute the Papacy’s erroneous doctrines and corrupt practices, such as the sale of indulgences, the doctrine of purgatory, and the worship of Mary. God used this great feat to stir up soldiers of truth in other territories, such as Calvin of Geneva, Zwingli of Switzerland, and John Knox of Scotland.
Without the Reformation, our Sunday worship today would be similar to that of 500+ years ago. The congregation would sit in the pews without a Bible in their hands, deprived of the right to recite the word of God; neither would they be allowed to sing praises to God. Hymn singing, reading the Bible and prayer would have been the special privilege of the minority called the clergy. That is why we have stopped the earlier practice of a “Sacred Music Sunday,” where the choir sings all hymns, turning the congregation into an audience. This practice returns us to the times of the Roman Papacy.
Why do we make it a point to commemorate the Reformation each year? To ensure that we do not lose the truth of the Gospel handed down to us through the blood and tears and the unfeigned faith of our forefathers. That is why we constantly encourage brothers and sisters to understand God’s will for humanity through Bible study, rather than binding believers with dogmatic traditions. We also do not categorize believers as clergy or laity because all believers are royal priesthood. The prayer of a believer is as effective as that of a pastor.
A trail of blood spans from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the early churches, the Dark Ages, the Reformation, the Crusades in Europe, and to the present day. Every drop of tears and blood the Church shed in passing on the apostles’ teachings is written in the divine scrolls of deeds. Dear brothers and sisters, the name “Truth Baptist Church” was intended to remind us to hold fast to the spirit of the reformers and to sail the course of “returning to the Bible” at all times. We strive to be vigilant in our pulpit and to uphold the foundational principle of biblical exegesis – interpreting “Scripture in light of Scripture”. Lord, may the next generation of the Truth Baptist Church boldly and faithfully steer forward in “returning to the Bible”!
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