5 Solas of Reformation

The Five

The five solas (Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria) of the Protestant Reformation are a foundational set of Christian theological principles held to be central to the doctrines of justification and salvation as taught by most branches of Protestantism

Latin Terms because that was the dominant language used for interpreting the Bible during the reformation. (The Catholic church uses it) and out of it was the reformation.

Sola Scriptura- “Scripture Alone”

Sola scriptura, sometimes referred to as the formal principle of the Reformation, is the belief that “only Scripture, because it is God’s inspired Word, is our inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for the church”

Sola Scriptura teaches us, in the end, that all other authorities in the Christian life serve underneath Scripture, while Scripture alone rules over other authorities, for it alone is God’s inspired, inerrant, and sufficient word.

2 Timothy 3:15–17 ESV

15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Solus Christus- “Christ Alone”

From Scripture being our Ultimate Authority we learn of Jesus.

God would have been perfectly just and holy to leave us in our sin and condemnation. But our great God stooped down so low as to speak a saving word to us lost sinners, a word that reached its pinnacle in the living Word, the Lord Jesus himself (John 1:1).

The Father has done just that by sending his Son to “become flesh” (John 1:14) to represent us, substituting himself on our behalf. Whereas we failed to keep the law, Christ obeyed the law for us; whereas we deserve the penalty for breaking the law, Christ died for us. Christ fulfilled the law we could not keep, and he bore the wrath of God that we deserve (Rom. 3:21–26). And he did so in full. As that old hymn says, “Jesus paid it all.” That means, then, that the work of Christ, and Christ alone, is the basis on which the ungodly are justified in God’s sight.

Romans 3:21–26 ESV

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Sola Fide- “Faith Alone”

But how does the believer receive the redemption Christ has accomplished? Through faith and faith alone. Rather than trusting in ourselves, we trust in another: Jesus Christ.

That means, then, that God declares us right with him not on the basis of something in us but only on the basis of an alien righteousness, a righteousness that is extra nos, outside ourselves. Of course, it is none other than the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9). Faith, then, is the instrument through which we receive this alien righteousness. Through faith in Christ that blessed status in Christ, which God alone can give, is reckoned to us. Hence Paul warns Christians that no one will be justified by works of the law but only through faith in Christ (Gal. 2:15–3:14).

Philippians 3:9 ESV

9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Galatians 2:15–16 ESV

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Sola Gratia- “Grace Alone”

If the work of Christ is the basis of our right standing before God, and if we are justified by God not on the basis of our works but only through faith in the works of his Son, then it follows that our salvation is by grace and by grace alone.

Sola gratia, however, is not limited to our justification, but spans all of salvation from start to finish.

And if his grace in eternity is so free, then so too must his grace be unconditional when applied by the Holy Spirit. The God who has chosen us by grace alone, is the one who alone can call us out of darkness into the light of his own Son (effectual calling; John 6) and raise us from spiritual death to spiritual life (regeneration; John 3). His grace is not synergistic, as if it depends on our will for its success. No, it is monergistic, for he alone works to bring us dead, lifeless sinners to new life in his Son. Moreover, he alone can grant us the faith that believes and work such belief within us so that we embrace Christ as our Savior and Lord

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Soli Deo Gloria- “Glory to God Alone”

Only if our salvation is by grace alone will God alone receive all the glory. If there is something of our own we can claim, then we no longer boast in Christ alone. But if he is the author and finisher of our salvation then he alone is to be magnified for his sovereign grace.