October 26, 2021

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. Psalm 32:8,10

After a time young Ulric Zwingli resumed studies, this time at Basel. A teacher of ancient languages there clearly taught his students, including Ulric, the gospel of God’s free grace. He declared that there is an ancient truth of infinitely greater worth than the popular philosophies swirling about:

“The death of Christ is the sinner’s only ransom.”

This teacher had a strong influence on Zwingli. Upon completion of his studies at Basel, he was called to the field of labor in an Alpine parish near his native valley. As an ordained priest of the Roman Catholic Church, he took very seriously the charge of feeding the flock of Christ. His preparations drew him more deeply into studies of the Scriptures and revealed, with ever-increasing clarity, the contrasts between the truths of Christ and the heresies of Rome.

Zwingli faithfully taught that the Word of God cannot fail.  This teaching brought him under the narrow-eyed scrutiny of papal leadership. Having heard about Luther, Zwingli said:

“If Luther preaches Christ, he does what I am doing….I will bear no other name than that of Christ, whose soldier I am, and who alone is my Chief. Never has one single word been written by me to Luther, nor by Luther to me. And why? That it might be shown how much the Spirit of God is in unison with itself, since both of us, without any collusion, teach the doctrine of Christ with such uniformity.”

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  Ephesians 4:1-3