Five Solas

What makes us different?

When it comes to Christianity we can look around and pretty easily see a multitude of different denominations such as Baptist or Pentacostal or Methodist. However, there is one divide that is a little bigger than the rest. This divide was the reason for many wars and serious hatred and mistrust even today. This divide is between Protestants and Catholics. Basically it is Catholics and everyone else you would think of around here. Now I am not here to sow further seeds of division between the two branches as I believe both Catholics and Protestants can belong under the family of God, but what I am going to do is further explain why there has been such a divide and why it is important for us to understand that divide.

First I want to talk about why it is so important. We as Christians within the last fifty years or so have become shallow. We care only for the surface level truths and have no beliefs deeper than that. We are like trees planted in an inch of soil. We have no nutrients to grow and reach our full potential if we do not dive deeper into God’s word and form some serious beliefs on some things. And yes that does mean that we are going to have disagreements with other people. That is ok. We do not all have to agree on every point to represent Christ as long as we get the basics down we can represent Him in this world but if we want to grow personally then we need to form our own opinions on God’s word and understand Him deeply so that we can recieve those nutrients from him to grow in our faith.

Now the divide between Catholics and Protestants as I said was the source of many wars and still a bit of a sore subject for Christians five hundred years later honestly so we should know, why did some of the earlier Christians choose to split off from the main branch of the Faith? What beliefs did they hold, that we now as Protestants claim to hold, that was worth so much chaos? The answer is found in what we call the Five Solas. This five statements represent five of the major differences between Protestants and Catholics and while they were not named such at the time of the division their ideas were the main points of debate between the two sides. Tonight we are going to take a look at each of the five and break them down and look at some scripture to show you that each of these are founded in Biblical truth.

The first of the five we will talk about tonight is Sola Scriptura. This means by Scripture alone. What is meant by this is that we as believers are governed by Scripture alone. It is only God’s word that has the authority to instruct and guide us in our life. Lets look at some scripture to support this claim.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.”

2 Peter 1:21 “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

So God’s word is very clear in these three passages that His word is the ultimate authority for our lives. Timothy tells us that it is useful in all areas of our life to improve our righteousness and equip us for good works. Proverbs tells us that His word is pure and truthful. There are no mistakes in His word and He never decieves us. And lastly Peter tells us that no man can produce prophecy or scripture or God’s word. It can only come from God when He chooses to speak through men. This means as a believer you do not rely on me or this church to tell you right from wrong. You rely only on the word of God. You have access to His word and are plenty capable of reading it and discerning His will for your life yourself. I am here as a guide and a teacher to help you on the way but I am just a human. I can be wrong. I make mistakes and I may even read my own beliefs into the scripture without knowing it. God’s word however is always true and is never wrong. You can depend on it to lead you well in every step of your path and be useful in all areas of life.

Our second Sola is Solus Christus. What does all of Scripture point to? It all points towards Christ. Every bit of God’s word points towards Christ and it is by Christ alone that man can be saved. Lets look at some scripture to support Christ alone.

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

Romans 3:21–22 “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;”

Romans 5:6–8 “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Solus Christus meant that there is but one mediator between man and God and His name is Jesus Christ. There is no other way to gain atonement, or payment for our sins, other than the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. No amount of good deeds can get you there. No matter who you are or what you have done you owe a debt that you cannot pay on your own and it is only the perfect man the one and only Christ God who took on flesh and suffered every indignity of being human and dying on that cross and being raised who can pay for the sin because of the separation that sin has put between us and God. There is no work that can grant you any level of righteousness. It is only Christ who can impart His own righteousness onto you that you can count as your own.

Now how is it that we can receive this atonement or this payment for our sins that Christ has bought for us? That comes through Sola Fide or by faith alone. Lets look at God’s word.

Philippians 3:9 “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;”

Galatians 2:15–16 “We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

Scripture is very clear that it is by faith alone in Christ that our atonement can be given to us. It is by faith alone that any man can have any measure of righteousness within him. we cannot pay our way in or con our way into having righteousness. We must have faith. What then is faith? I often like to explain it with a chair analogy. Faith is like being tired after a long day and collapsing into a chair. It is finding rest, but it is also fully putting our weight into the chair. Faith is full putting our life into Christs hands saying Lord my life is yours to do with it what you will just point me in the right direction. In doing this we will find rest and we will have the righteousness of Christ placed on us.

How then can man have faith? Is it something that comes from ourself that we create? This is where Sola Gratia comes in

Ephesians 1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,”

Romans 9:16 “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.”

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”

It is by grace alone that a sinner can receive faith and have the righteousness of Christ given to them. It is not some great deed or mighty work to come to faith in Christ. It is not something that we can boast about saying that we are better than other sinners because of our faith. The only reason that you have that faith is that God our of His love and good pleasure extended that faith to you as a gift. It is Gods grace that allows those whom He chooses to have faith in Christ making salvation totally of the Lord. It is all by His amazing grace. Grace however does not stop at salvation.

Titus 2:11–14 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

Grace is also what gives us the ability to live righteously. God extends His grace through many different means like baptism and the Lords Supper or even through simpler means like studying His word and prayer. This grace is what enables us to make it through the temptations and struggles that we face. Have any of you ever noticed that maybe Wednesday you get almost like a surge of strength to resist temptation? Maybe after Sunday you feel it or maybe after taking some time in personal Bible study. This is God giving you that grace and ability to persevere through temptations.

Lastly and most importantly now is Soli Deo Gloria which means to the glory of God alone. Let’s see it in scripture.

Revelation 4:11 ““You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.””

Romans 11:36 “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.”

Psalm 115:1 “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

All of these things that we have talked about from the way that God instructs us through His word, to His plan of redemption in Christ alone, to the way we receive that redemption through faith alone, to the grace alone that enables us to have that faith it is all for the glory of God alone. He is the perfect and sovereign King of the universe. All that God has done has been for His glory. Your very existence is for the glory of God whether you choose to obey Him or not He will be glorified through your life just like we saw with Jonah. All things are for His glorification and in our lives we should be pointing all glory to Him. No man has any glory of His own but only the glory that God lets shine through Him. We need to recognize in all situations that God is in charge and everything is according to His will so we need to praise Him accordingly to what He has done.