Five Solas: Where did they come from and what are they?

Introduction

This is the beginning of a new series called: The 5 Solas.

It is part of what I am calling: Foundations.

We, sometimes, get overwhelmed with ‘Christian-ese’ words like Doctrine, Dogma, Theology, Reformation, and the like, but these words should not scare us or be a stumbling block. All of these words come from our Church History.

Right Now Media Plug

We have RIght Now Media, and in the “Current Series Focus” is a study done by Ranjiy David, “The Five Solas of the Reformation”. There is a study guide in there as well. I would encourage you to go and watch this, 1 a week, and do the study guide. I have reviewed it, so that these will complement each other.

So Next Wednesday. SO between next Wednesday and Sunday, maybe Friday, you could go on there and watch the study, and would repeatedly be experiencing the Word of God and have more opportunities to dive into what we are focusing on.

What does “sola” mean?

Sola - Latin word

Means: alone; by oneself

What are the 5 solas?

Sola Scripture - Scripture Alone

Sola Christus - Christ Alone

Sola Fide - Faith Alone

Sola Gratia - Grace Alone

Soli Deo Gloria - Glory to God Alone

At this point, perhaps you are thinking, I have heard something about this before. It may sound a little familiar. And it should, because if you have been here very long, you have heard me reference this; and you have read this in the Word of God.

Usually it comes like this:

We are saved by By Grace, through Faith, IN CHRIST ALONE.

This would be 3 solas:

By Grace, BY FAITH, BY CHRIST

Of course we can only read about Christ now in the Scripture - there is nothing else -

BY SCRIPTURE

Why does God save us? Because He chooses to - for His glory!

So you have had some experience with the 5 solas.

Where did this idea of 5 solas come from?

These are commonly called the 5 solas of the Reformation.

These 5 Solas are what really made us, the product of the Reformation, stand out form the teachings of Rome. Rome being the Catholic Church, which at the time was the primary head of the “Christian religion”.

Please note that I was specific in using the term ‘religion’ here, instead of the proper term for what Christianity is: relationship.

Perhaps you have heard of great mean such as Martin Luther,

Martin Luther was a Catholic Augustinian Monk! He was a Monk with a Mallet and he nailed a document called Disputation on the Power of Indulgences (95 Thesis) against the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517.

Luther's statements challenged the Catholic Church's role as intermediary between people and God, especially to the indulgence system, which allowed people to purchase a certificate of pardon for the punishment of their sins.

This document was a series of 95 ideas about Christianity that he invited people to debate with him!

This action would kick off what we now call the Reformation, or the Protestant Reformation.

The Word Protestant comes from the Protestation at Speyer in 1529. The Nobility (6 princes and representatives from 14 Imperial Free Cities) protested against the enforcement of the Edict of Worms which subjected advocates of Lutheranism to forfeit all of their property. They were against a ban on Martin Luther and wanted the unhindered spread of the evangelical faith.

These other men, William Tyndale, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, and others - great men of the reformation, were firmly committed to the truths of Scripture and sovereign grace.

Why should we study them

These 5 solas, are so important. These are basically 5 statements of what lays at the Core of what we believe.

Luther's objections to the indulgence system paved the way for other challenges to the Catholic doctrine throughout Europe.

Luther argued against the practice of buying or earning forgiveness, believing instead that salvation is a gift God gives to those who have faith.

John Calvin in France

Huldrych Zwingli in Switzerland proposed new ideas about the practice of Holy Communion

a group called Anabaptists rejected the idea that infants should be baptized in favor of the notion that baptism was reserved for adult Christians.

All these, and others, had a specific notion in common:

That individual believers should be less dependent on the Catholic Church (its pope and priests), for spiritual guidance and salvation. Instead, Protestants believed people should be independent in their relationship with God, taking personal responsibility for their faith and referring directly to the Bible for spiritual wisdom.

Another Special thing to know: This Reformation, played such an important role in the Dream, the IDEA, the EXPERIMENT: the United States!

Reformation comes to America

Group 1 (Separatists)

Protestant reform in England began with Henry VIII in 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a marriage annulment. Subsequently, King Henry rejected the Pope's authority, instead creating and assuming authority over the Church of England (the Anglican Church), a hybrid church that combined some Catholic doctrine and some Protestant ideals.

Over the next 20 years, there was religious turbulence in England as Queen Mary (1553–1558) reinstated Catholicism in England while persecuting and exiling Protestants, only to have Queen Elizabeth I and her Parliament attempt to lead the country back toward Protestantism during her reign (1558–1603).

Some English citizens did not believe Queen Elizabeth's efforts to restore England to Protestantism went far enough. These citizens fell into two groups, both labeled Puritans by their opponents.

The first group, known as separatists, believed the Church of England was so corrupt that their only choice was to leave England, separate from the church, and start a new church. They called this the English Separatist Church.

Around 1607 or 1609, some of the separatists tried to start the new lives they imagined in Holland, in the Netherlands. Ultimately, the endeavor failed due to poverty and the sense that the children were assimilating too much into Dutch culture, so many of the separatists returned to England.

By 1620, members of the English Separatist Church were ready for a second try at establishing a new life and church. Those who set sail aboard the Mayflower for New England and eventually landed near Plymouth, Massachusetts, would, in time, become known as the Pilgrims.

Group 2 (non-separatists)

The other group of English citizens who did not believe Queen Elizabeth's reform efforts went far enough were called non-separatists; over time, the term "Puritan" would become synonymous with the non-separatists. They did not seek to leave the Church of England; they wanted only to reform it by eliminating the remnants of Catholicism that remained. In terms of theology, most of them were Calvinists.

Although they did not desire to separate from the Church of England, some Puritans saw emigrating to New England as their best chance at true reform of the church and freedom to worship as they chose. In 1630, a decade after the Pilgrims embarked on a similar journey for similar reasons, the first Puritans traveled to the New World and established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston, Massachusetts.

Very Briefly,

because we will dive deep into these in the coming weeks:

Sola Scriptura (the defining benchmark of the reformation) is the belief that because Scripture is the Inspired Word of God, it is the only inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for the church.

John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”

2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Sola Christus is the belief that Christ alone is the basis on which the sinner can be saved and justified in God’s sight.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”

Acts 16:31 “They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.””

John 14:6 “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Sola Fida means that the believer receives the redemption offered by Christ, only through faith.

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.”

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.”

Sola Gratia means that our salvation, is by grace and by grace alone.

Ephesians 1:4 “For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.”

Romans 9:16 “So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy.”

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

Soli Deo gloria means that only God receives glory for our salvation.

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. As Christians, these solas should cultivate an attitude of total humility. Whether it is in our secular vocations or our praise on a Sunday morning, to God alone be the glory.

These 5 Solas capture the Gospel of Jesus Christ and explain how that Gospel captures a sinner. They also define where the authority of the gospel resides and to what end that gospel is preached and proclaimed.