The Five Solas

A gentleman wrote to me suggesting I post the audio to the sermon “the Five Solas.”

I replied that the sermon is already available in the audio section on the blog.

His response, “But you need to remind them. Everyone should hear that sermon!!”

So, with that strong encouragement, here it is, again.

With Scripture alone as our sure foundation, we affirm that justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

Five Things That Stand Together – Alone

For those who have asked, the answer is “yes, that is me in the photo.” Taken on Reformation Day (the last Sunday in October) I’m wearing my Five Solas T-shirt and my Martin Luther rose cap.

New to the Reformed faith, I remember taking a car journey with a fellow minister. I had a book in my hands outlining the five Solas of the Protestant Reformation. Seeing this, my preacher friend remarked, “I just don’t get it? The word “Sola” means alone, right?”

“Yes” I replied.

He then said, “Well how is it in any way possible for five things together to be alone? Its utter hogwash.”

Now I was not sure exactly what “hogwash” was. Perhaps it is the water left behind in a tub after a pig has taken a bath. I wasn’t sure… but whatever it was, I could tell that it was not good in any way at all. My preacher friend thought the concept of the five Solas was intellectually untenable.

You are probably now waiting for me to finish this story by saying that in intellectual prowess and intestinal fortitude, I rose up (if that is possible in the passenger seat of a car) and put ignorance and unbelief to the sword, with a single blast of God given wisdom as the oracles of God thundered forth out of my mouth. Well, I could end the story that way, but I would be lying. The fact is, I did not really know how to answer him. I stumbled around… I am sure I said something, and yet he and I both knew that I had no adequate answer that day.

Don’t get me wrong. I knew there was an answer. I just was not sure what it was or how to articulate it.

Many years on, if I was asked that same question today I think I would seek to provide an answer by using a simple illustration. As with most illustrations (or parables) there is usually a limit as to how far one can go – each image in the parable cannot usually be stretched too far, but the illustration can at least provide a window, an insight, that can help people understand concepts far better than before. The same is true in this case.

The American Space organization NASA has a desire to put a man on the moon and for him to walk on it. With their best personnel, they form a highly skilled team and take what they know of the laws of science and set about the task of designing and building a rocket capable of accomplishing their goal. They build a launch site for the rocket and fill the rocket with specially designed rocket fuel.. and to cut a long story short, the man goes inside the rocket, the countdown… counts all the way down… the rocket launches and many days later, the man lands and walks on the moon. Every goal was achieved; the mission was successful.

We could summarize the mission as follows: Based on the laws of science alone, the man walked on the moon by means of rocket-fuel alone, through enclosing himself in his space suit alone, because of the rocket alone, for the glory of NASA alone.

It was not the laws of science, plus something else added, it was not rocket fuel, plus hamburger meat thrown in, it was not the space suit plus a 30 minute moonwalk wearing only his favorite Football uniform, it was the rocket alone that got him there and not some sea hovercraft added in, and when NASA got him there, the fishermen of Iceland who had nothing to do with the enterprise could not take any of the praise when the goal was realized.

In a similar way, the Reformers, in articulating the five Solas used prepositions to state these central truths. They explain how five things all work together in the plan of God, and yet each is distinct in itself, without the mixture of anything else added to it. Note the words that are capitalized in the following sentence: BASED ON Scripture alone, we can affirm that justification is BY grace alone, THROUGH Faith alone, BECAUSE OF Christ alone, all TO THE GLORY OF God alone.

Now see the contrast between the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church. Rome believed (then as it does now) that justification is by grace, through faith and because of Christ. What Rome does not believe is that justification is by faith alone, or by grace alone, or by Christ alone. For Rome, justification is by grace plus merit, through faith plus works; by Christ plus the sinner’s contribution of inherent righteousness. In contrast, the Reformers called the Church back to the one true Biblical Gospel: Christ saves by Himself alone, and does not need a co-Redemptrix in Mary, or the added righteousness of Mary and the saints in the treasury of merit, which merit is made available to the masses in the form of indulgences by the decree of the Pope, who alone possesses the keys to the treasury. As 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Salvation is by God’s grace alone, received through faith alone, because of Jesus Christ alone, based on the Scriptures alone, to the Glory of God alone.

God has done for us something much more remarkable than anything science and NASA could do. Seeing our desperate need, God has come to us in the Person of His Son, born of a virgin – He lived a sinless life, dying an atoning death, and being raised up from the dead, has provided a great and wondrous salvation for all who will come to Christ as their perfect sin-bearing Savior and Lord.

Let us celebrate the Solas of the Reformation, not because of mere historical interest, but because this is the only way God does in fact save anyone. These five central truths of the Gospel stand together, and forever, and always… alone.

Differences with Rome

Just this week I came across Wes Bredenhof. I particularly enjoyed reading his “Letter to a friend.” Here he outlines the major differences between Protestant and Roman Catholic doctrine both with precision and brevity.

Letter to a Friend By Wes Bredenhof

Some time ago, a friend asked me for some help in figuring out the differences between Roman Catholicism and the biblical faith confessed by Reformed churches. This was my reply:

I think you hit it dead on when you mentioned the “solas” of the Reformation. The “solas” strike at the heart of the differences between Rome and Reformed churches.

Grace Alone

Rome states that salvation is by grace — as your correspondents above have argued. However, it is grace plus man’s effort. The traditional Roman Catholic formulation is, “God will not deny his grace to those who do what is in their power.” In more modern terms, “God helps those who help themselves.” The technical term for this is semi-Pelagianism. Man is not spiritually dead, but only sick and needs a little help from grace.

By contrast, the Reformed churches state that salvation is by grace alone — grace being defined as unmerited or even forfeited divine favour, receiving the opposite of what one deserves. Man is dead in sins and trespasses (Ephesians 2:1), his heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9) and he can do nothing to help himself. This is the traditional Augustinian position — it was emphatically not a Reformation innovation. It is only and entirely by God’s grace that man is saved.

Faith Alone

Rome states that people are justified by faith. However, Rome has explicitly denied that justification is by faith alone and in fact condemns Reformed believers who hold to this position:

If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning thereby that no other cooperation is required for him to obtain the grace of justification, and that in no sense is it necessary for him to make preparation and be disposed by a movement of his own will: let him be anathema [accursed] (Council of Trent, session 6, canon 9).

Moreover, according to Rome, justification is a life-long process by which we are made righteous, rather than a one-time event where we are declared righteous. We must, they say, increase and preserve our justification. Finally, faith is also redefined by Rome to include good works and these good works become part of the meritorious basis of justification.

By contrast, the Reformed churches state that justification is by faith alone (Romans 3-4). God declares us righteous (a one-time event) not on the basis of our faith, but through the instrument of our faith. We’ll come to the basis in a moment.
Continue reading