Chapter 6 · 3 min read · 3 min listen
Here I Stand
“We ought to obey God rather than men.” — Acts 5:29 (KJV)
About a hundred years after Hus, a German monk and university teacher named Martin Luther started asking questions that would shake Europe. He came to believe from the Bible that we are made right with God by faith in Jesus, as a free gift, not by our own works or by paying the church. When he spoke out against the selling of forgiveness, the church leaders and the emperor demanded he take it back.
In 1521 he was ordered to appear before the emperor, Charles V, and the great princes of Germany at a city called Worms. His friends begged him not to go. They remembered what had happened to Hus. Luther’s answer was blunt: he would go to Worms “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; yea, although I knew there were as many devils to resist me as there are tiles to cover the houses in Worms.”
When he stood before the emperor, they pointed to a pile of his books and asked him plainly: would he defend them, or take back what he had written? This was the moment. Luther answered:
“If I be not convinced by testimonies of the Scriptures… my conscience is so bound and captivated in these Scriptures and the Word of God, that I will not, nor may not revoke any manner of thing; considering it is not godly or lawful to do anything against conscience. Hereupon I stand and rest: I have not what else to say. God have mercy upon me!”
You may have heard the more famous version: “Here I stand. I can do no other.” The point is the same. Luther was not being stubborn for the sake of it. He said that if they could show him from the Bible that he was wrong, he would change his mind. But he would not go against what God’s word and his conscience told him, not even to save his life. He added simply: “I am tied by the Scriptures.”
Luther was declared an outlaw. Anyone could have killed him without punishment. But friends kidnapped him on the way home and hid him safely in a castle, where he used the time to translate the New Testament into German so ordinary people could read it.
Two lessons for you. First, conscience matters. When you are sure from God’s word that something is right or wrong, you shouldn’t give way just because powerful or popular people disagree. Peter said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Second, conscience must be tied to Scripture, not just to your feelings. Luther’s courage came from being “tied by the Scriptures.” Stand firm on what God says, and be humble enough to be corrected by it.
One thing to do this week: think of an area where you feel pressure to go along with something you believe is wrong. Look up what the Bible actually says about it this week. Then ask God for courage to stand where he stands, kindly but firmly.
Questions to think about
Think it through first — then tap a question to see one way to answer it.
What did Luther say to friends who warned him not to go to Worms?
That he would go in the name of Jesus Christ even if there were as many devils as there were roof tiles in Worms.
What did Luther say when asked to take back his writings?
That unless he was convinced by Scripture, his conscience was bound by God’s word and he would not take anything back, because it is not right to act against conscience: “Hereupon I stand and rest.”
What two lessons does this chapter draw about conscience?
That we should not give way on what we are sure God’s word says just because powerful people disagree, and that our conscience must be tied to Scripture, not just to our feelings.
Chapter 6 complete
Here I Stand