Martin Luther's 95 theses thew the Christianity of the time on its head.
Luther pretty much stated, " You don't need to buy your way into Heaven."
This got others into questioning the purchase and use of indulgences. "Do I, or do I not have to pay someone else to secure my way in to Heaven?."
Eventually, with the help of the printing press and Luther, people began to read the Bible for themselves instead of allowing the clergy in the Catholic Church to do it it for them.
When people began to think for themselves they started realizing that the only relationship between God is the one between God and the individual. They realized they could live without the Church telling them what to think.
Long term impact
We would probably all be Catholics today without Martin Luther.
We would not have Protestantism without the Reformation of the way people viewed religion that Martin Luther sparked.
We might still be under Papal Rule because the Reformation got people interested in the separating Church and State.
America would not have been settled by the Puritan Pilgrims without Protestantism and ideas about freedom of religion.
We would not have the religious freedom to worship God as we choose.
We would still be paying others to have our sins removed through confession and indulgences and the observation of Church rituals like the Seven Sacraments instead of having one on one relations with the God of our understanding.
We would not have these liberties and the world would not have changed as it did because we would be ruled by the Pope and Catholic Monarchs.
We might not be free Americans like we are today.
Short Term impacts with long term consequences
Luther revolutionized how people saw and interacted with God.
Monks, nuns, and priests left the Church and got married.
Society, politics, and the economy began to change.
People made welfare systems for the poor, and public schools.
People realized they had a direct line to God and they didn't need anyone to pray for them.
People saw that they could ask for forgiveness themselves and that Baptism and Holy Communion were the only two Sacraments they needed.
People began to believe you don't need to pay priests for prayers to get you and your family into Heaven, or to repent and be absolved from sin. The only way sin can be taken away is between yourself and God.
They found out you can do all that by yourself and Protestantism in many forms is still going on today because of what Martin Luther said and did.
All because of Martin Luther's Ninety-five theses.