The Five Solas and the Joy of Reformation Day
As the calendar turns to November, Protestant Christian churches would do well to remember how the flames of Reformation were lit by Martin Luther on October 31st, 1517. With hammer, nail and conviction, the monk humbly displayed godly courage in Wittenberg as he nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of All Saints Church in protest to the perversion of essential biblical and doctrinal truths by the Roman Catholic Church. Our church, and other Christian & Missionary Alliance churches all over the world, are a product, sons and daughters if you will, of that movement.
Out of the ashes a movement started over 500 years ago, the Protestant Reformation arose rooted in five essentials, solas (which is latin for “alone”), of the Christian faith, essentials that we should reflect on today to light the path of where we chart our course.
Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)
The Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura, affirms that Scripture is to be understood as the primary source of divine special revelation, the only inspired, infallible, final, and authoritative word of faith and practice. Why? Because Scripture is “God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16), it is God speaking to us.
But the beauty of this reality stems in that the word of God is accessible to all mankind, not a select few which was the tension between the Reformers and the Roman Catholics. God has revealed Himself fully in His Word and for each person, young and old, the scriptures are the place and source of all that we can learn about God and our relationship to Him.
The joyous truth for us is that this affirms that we each have direct access to God and not only access, but we have access to an extraordinary God through a very ordinary human act…reading. How wonderful is it that God would use such a simple means to communicate to us.
Sola Fide (Faith Alone)
Many would say that justification by faith alone is the root cause of the Reformation. The doctrine of justification sola fide (by faith alone) was a primary point of contention between the Protestant Reformers and the Roman Catholics in the sixteenth century, and it has remained a point of disagreement enduring to today. Martin Luther and his followers expressed the importance of the doctrine of justification by faith alone (rather than by way of baptism and works as taught by the Roman Catholics in the Council of Trent) by teaching that it is “the article by which the church stands or falls.”
Sola fide is built on the foundation of Galatians 3:10-11, “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”
What this means for us is that there is no meritorious or “good work” that will satisfy the justice of God. It relies solely on the work of Jesus Christ and faith in his work on our behalf.
This reality should give us hope and joy as it is not reliant on me “being better” it is reliant on my ability say “Christ is perfect and he is my Savior”.
Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)
Building on the work of Augustine in the 5th century, the Protestant doctrine of sola gratis is found as an essential for all genuine Christian churches including churches in the Christian & Missionary Alliance . It underlies everything said regarding the state of the fallen sinner, salvation, conversion, justification, and more.
Sola Gratia affirms the essential reality expressed in Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
It is God’s response to the justice demanded as previously mentioned in justification by faith; while God’s justice demands consequence, our faith in Jesus Christ as the means for justification is met with grace from on high. This glorious reality should inspire joy in every believer; God’s justice is met with unmerited favor and love through His Son and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sola Christus (Christ Alone)
The Reformers were intent on proclaiming Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). They recognized that because Christ is the only way of salvation for man, He is central the central figure of scripture and the only means of salvation (Acts 4:12). This was the dispute between the Reformers and the Roman Catholics.
The problem wasn’t the person of Christ, but rather the work of Christ and how it happens. The Reformers rejected the idea that the work of Christ in man’s life came through the sacraments (the mass specifically) and was administered by the papacy.
Martin Luther and the Reformers realized that the elaborate system of works espoused in the Roman Catholic church obscured the person and work of Christ and in many ways barred man access to Jesus Christ outside of the work of the church, which is undeniably false.
The Son of God we see in scripture is accessible to all and as such Sola Christus reminds us of the reality that each of us have direct access to the person and work of Christ and there are no other means for us to reach Him other than by faith in Him and His work.
Soli Deo Gloria (The Glory of God Alone)
The fifth Sola is not so much independent as much as it is the envelope in which the other four are wrapped. The scriptures point to the glory of God, our justification points to the glory of God, His grace reveals the glory of God and there is no greater means by which we see the glory of God than in the person and work of His Son Jesus Christ.
When we speak of the glory of God, what we are saying is we see the way in which God is most clearly seen and how He reveals Himself for who He is and what He does.
What this means for the church is undeniable; God also glorifies Himself in and through the church. We as believers are called to do whatever we do to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). We are to use our gifts to serve one another “in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 4:10–11).
We are to worship not for our own entertainment or edification but to exalt the glory of God. When the Word of God is preached it is preached to reveal the glory of God. In short, all we do in the church should radically be about the glory of God and not ourselves and as we see that with us we should be able to affirm what Peter affirmed in 1 Peter 1:8 “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory”.
As we look upon this Reformation Day, and the work first proclaimed by Martin Luther in 1517 and the subsequent work of reformers that has led us to today, a rediscovery of the five solas of the Reformation can be a powerful means of helping us chart a course as We treasure Christ (through scripture alone, by faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone, for the glory of God alone) together.
Pastor Danny