When Simon Magus offered to purchase of the apostles the power to work miracles , Peter answered him : " Thy money perish with thee , because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money ." Acts 8:20 . But Tetzel ' s offer was grasped by eager thousands . Gold and silver flowed into his treasury . A salvation that could be bought with money was more easily obtained than that which requires repentance , faith , and diligent effort to resist and overcome sin . ( See Appendix note for page 59 .) The doctrine of indulgences had been opposed by men of learning and piety in the Roman Church , and there were many who had no faith in pretensions so contrary to both reason and revelation . No prelate dared lift his voice against this iniquitous traffic ; but the minds of men were becoming disturbed and uneasy , and many eagerly inquired if God would not work through some instrumentality for the purification of His church .
Luther , though still a papist of the straitest sort , was filled with horror at the blasphemous assumptions of the indulgence mongers . Many of his own congregation had purchased certificates of pardon , and they soon began to come to their pastor , confessing their various sins , and expecting absolution , not because they were penitent and wished to reform , but on the ground of the indulgence . Luther refused them absolution , and warned them that unless they should repent and reform their lives , they must perish in their sins . In great perplexity they repaired to Tetzel with the complaint that their confessor had refused his certificates ; and some boldly demanded that their money be returned to them . The friar was filled with rage . He uttered the most terrible curses , caused fires to be lighted in the public squares , and declared that he " had received an order from the pope to burn all heretics who presumed to oppose his most holy indulgences ." -D ' Aubigne , b . 3 , ch . 4 .
Luther now entered boldly upon his work as a champion of the truth . His voice was heard from the pulpit in earnest , solemn warning . He set before the people the offensive character of sin , and taught them that it is impossible for man , by his own works , to lessen its guilt or evade its punishment . Nothing but repentance toward God and faith in Christ can save the sinner . The grace of Christ cannot be purchased ; it is a free gift . He counseled the people not to buy indulgences , but to look in faith to a crucified Redeemer . He related his own painful experience in vainly seeking by humiliation and penance to secure salvation , and assured his hearers that it was by looking away from himself and believing in Christ that he found peace and joy .
As Tetzel continued his traffic and his impious pretensions , Luther determined upon a more effectual protest against these crying abuses . An occasion soon offered . The castle church of Wittenberg possessed many relics , which on certain holy days were exhibited to the people , and full remission of sins was granted to all who then visited the church and made confession . Accordingly on these days the people in great numbers resorted thither . One of the most important of these occasions , the festival of All Saints , was approaching . On the preceding day , Luther , joining the crowds that were already making their way to the church , posted on its door a paper containing ninety-five propositions against the doctrine of indulgences . He declared his willingness to defend
74