Heroes of the Faith: George Wagner

A man is tied to a stake, a bag of gunpowder hung around his neck, and the flames lit all because he won’t say water can save his soul. That’s the true story of George Wagner, killed in Munich in 1527, and we use it to ask a hard question: what do we actually believe about salvation when comfort is no longer on the table? We walk through the historical backdrop of persecution and the danger of church and state acting as one authority, then lay out the convictions that brought Wagner to his death. He rejects the idea that priests can forgive sins, refuses the claim that the Mass turns bread into the literal body of Christ, and insists that salvation comes by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and His shed blood, not through baptismal regeneration. Along the way, we dig into why Jesus was baptized even though He had no sin, and why pointing to the Jordan cannot replace the cross of Calvary. The most haunting moments are personal: officials press him to recant, his wife and children are brought in to break his will, and he still chooses Christ. The episode closes with a direct challenge for every listener who values religious liberty: if following Jesus became illegal, would your life show enough faith to convict you? Subscribe, share this with someone who needs courage, and leave a review with your answer to that question.Church Website — BibleBaptistDeLand.comMinistry Website — JamesWKnox.org YouTube Channel — YouTube.com/JamesWKnoxSermonsSermon Audio — SermonAudio.com/BibleBaptistDeLandWeb Store — Store.JamesWKnox.org