The heart of the reformation can be expressed in two statements:
Those two pillars (which are two of five solas we will cover here in a moment), form the heart of reformation theology.
Often the moniker TULIP is associated with reformation theology, but that is only half the story. The five solas (or onlys) were the rallying cries for the reformation, and together with TULIP really form the heart and soul of the reformation.
The reformation was was started by Martin Luther in the early 1500's in response to the errors of Catholicism, which dominated the Christian world back then. It was called the dark ages because the light of the Gospel had all but gone out in the world. The reformation was God delivering a world in bondage to a false religious system by reawakening the world to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The solas are both profound and simple, and as my understanding of their meaning has grown, so has my conviction that the solas are as relevant (and as desperately needed) today as they were then.
I cover the five points of Calvinism (TULIP) in another article, so without further ado let's get into the solas. Sola is simply the latin word for only, back then latin was the language of scholars, so the solas come to us as latin phrases, but they are almost as well known in modern english, I give the translations below:
Each of the above solas was originally developed to refute errors of the apostate Roman Catholic Church (henceforth the RCC). Sadly, many of the errors they were meant to refute have crept into what passes for modern evangelicalism today.
Few are those who still carry the label protestant, who even know what the orginal protest was about, nor do they "protest" the same errors since they are being repeated today by their own churches.
The glory of the five solas is they bring the core of Christianity into clear simple focus.
Sola Scriptura - Scripture Alone
Scripture alone was the rallying cry against Rome's many false claims of revelation from God. The Pope claims to be able to speak "ex cathedra" on par with scripture. There were many private revelations from Mary, and the "saints" that served to reinforce false Catholic doctrines (these continue to today and seem to be increasing in their frequency). Vast numbers of testimonies of saints and angels coming and going, and various miracles and revelations by them fill the history of the RCC.
The Pope claimed to be Christ's authority on earth, but the reformation recognized Scripture as the highest expression of God's authority on earth, a direct refutation of the claims of the papacy.
The RCC also claimed to be the keeper of the truth, that it and it alone had the right to interpret scripture, that only the mother church (or the magisterium) has the right and the authority to tell us what is God's truth. They put it another way and say that church tradition is equal to scripture, that both are needed to arrive at the truth.
The reformers countered all of this with Scripture Alone, saying that only scripture was God's authoritative word to mankind.
Scripture claims to be God breathed, theologians call this the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture. In short, men held the pen, but God got exactly the words on the page He desired.
Sola Scriptura affirms the idea of the sufficiency of scripture, that scripture contains everything we need from God, that no additional sources of revelation are necessary, or permitted.
Scripture is also considered inerrant, without error. Both the inerrancy and authority of scripture are claimed by scripture itself.
Scripture is also affirmed to be clear - called the perspicuity of Scripture - God said what He meant, and meant what He said, in plain language.
Scripture also prohibits private interpretation (what does it mean to me), scripture is public with the meanings known to all.
We are also forbidden to go beyond scripture, an outright command of Scripture Alone. Both the OT and NT contain such warnings.
Here is a brief list of some verses with the claims scripture makes about itself:
Today, while the errors of Rome continue to wax and proliferate, we have whole new branches of "christianity" making similar claims of modern-day revelation, they don't quite place it on par with scripture as the RCC does, but it still represents a total abandonment of Scripture Alone.
Sadly, the groups that affirm private revelation today, with a few small exceptions I admit, are plunging headlong into a vast sea of doctrinal errors, thus providing a strong affirmation of the wisdom of Sola Scriptura.
False dreams and visions, which are so prominent today, were well understood by the great puritan John Flavel, when after a day of prayer and fasting had a vision of Christ and exclaimed:
"Avoid Satan, I know no image of Christ but the scriptures."
Well said (Avoid means "get away from me" in this context). And yes, the vision fled after his proclamation. If only we all had that kind of conviction today.
Many people aren't happy without some extra biblical touches from God. A little nudge here and a little nudge there. I think God wants me to do this that or the other thing. The craving for extra biblical revelation is ever part of the sinful human heart.
Whole denominations that are nominally cessationist have embraced tradtions that we can hear from God, which basically turns Him into an imaginary friend that tells us what we want to hear in our minds.
Others think we can divine His will reading providence. This is superstition, no better than black cats, tea leaves, or the omens of the Middle Ages. It is ok to assign providential events to God, as all are - good and bad - but that is not the same as concluding they are a form of communication where God is telling you He wants you to do something.
God's commands are clear and authoritative, and disobedience is sin. Providential events carry no such clarity or authority. Neither do mental divinations from our intuitions or imaginations.
John Calvin called the desire to know the secret counsels of God wickedness. Jonathan Edwards, who dealt with these issues extensively in his ministry during the great awakening, put it this way in my favorite quote from him:
"I can think of no faster way to surrender control of the Church to the Devil than following after mental impressions attributed to God".
John MacArthur says God's will is found in Scripture Alone in his book "Found: God's Will."
Another major point of Scripture Alone, is that Paul counseled Timothy to preach the "whole counsel of God", and nothing more. Scripture Alone includes the idea that a preacher's duty is to preach from scripture, and only from scripture. Clever arguments of men don't belong in the pulpit. It is a place reserved for the Word of God to be expounded and nothing else.
Scripture Alone protects us from going beyond scripture, both in faith and in practice.
Some denominations have abandoned the authority of scripture, which is worse than abandoning the sufficiency of scripture. Many of them have jettisoned every cardinal doctrine of the faith, while still putting Christ's name on the door. The trouble is you won't find Him inside.
Others have abandoned the clarity of scripture, saying you can't really be sure about anything, which is just a polite way of abandoning the authority of scripture, and the end result is the same.
All of orthodox Christianity flows from Sola Scriptura. It is the foundation of truth and the guardian principle that keeps us from going astray.
Sola Fide - Faith Alone
Faith Alone is the most famous of the five solas, it was Martin Luther's battle cry. Luther said that Faith Alone is the doctrine on which the church stands or falls. One cannot be saved unless one understands that one is saved by faith alone in Christ alone. The Bible is so clear that trusting in works is fatal.
The critical issue is justification by faith, are we justified by faith, or by works, or by a combination of the two? The reformers said it was faith alone, the RCC said it was a combination of both. Scripture is very clear on the issue:
gal 5:4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Add even the tiniest bit of works, and the whole thing is lost, it's faith alone, or nothing. Theologians call it merit, do we merit salvation by our own works, or is our merit solely based on Christ's merit imputed to us.
John MacArthur echoes Luther with his famous quote contrasting justification by works with justification by faith:
"There are only two religions in the world, the religion of human achievement, and the religion of divine accomplishment."
Jonathan Edwards wrote how works thinking can so easily ensnare us, that often God lets people (non-Christians) strive for years trying to reform themselves, before they finally come to knowledge of their own spiritual bankruptcy and hopelessness and are ready to bow the knee to our sovereign Lord Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur similarly writes that one must totally abandon all hope in self before one can even enter the narrow gate. If you believe you have any merit, that you are a good person who in some way deserves Heaven, then Heaven is closed to you. This is the heart and soul of the Gospel.
Justification by faith is also humbling, scripture repeatedly commands us to humble ourselves before God, and this is what it's talking about, admitting we have no merit of our own.
Faith Alone affirms the sufficiency of Christ in salvation. The atonement is fully sufficient to pay for our sins.
This was the glorious rediscovery of Martin Luther, that set us free from the works treadmill that the RCC, and virtually all false religions put us on.
joh 19:30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, " It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
To explain further, the RCC had (and has) a deficient view of the atonement. So, they deny that Jesus' work was finished on the cross, instead there is more to be done later. Instead of the sufficiency of Christ, they affirm the deficiency of Christ.
They have multiple systems to compensate for Christ's deficiency, and even with all of them they anathemize (declare as apostate or hellbound) anyone who says they have assurance they are bound for heaven. The Bible teaches the atonement completely pays for our sins and condemns the view that it doesn't. The Bible also teaches that all believers should seek to attain assurance, that it is a welcome and comforting thing that God lovingly provides to us.
The RCC's deficient view of the atonement is propped up by the mass, confession to a priest, and purgatory. Each is an additional system to help atone for our sins, since they view Christ's work as incomplete.
The mass resacrifices Christ every time (this is part of the abomination of the Roman Catholic Priesthood) to pay for additional sins.
Confession to a priest is required to receive forgiveness of new sins, and they dare to forgive sins, when only Christ has that authority. And in fact it is a safe bet that any sin you depend on a priest's forgiveness for is absolutely not forgiven by God because only God can forgive sins (as scripture directly states), and He only forgives those who place their faith in Christ Alone.
Purgatory is the catch-all net in the deficient atonement view of the RCC. They teach nobody can fully earn their way to heaven in this life in their works-based system, and purgatory is the place of final payment, where we pay for any left-over sins in fire.
Purgatory is similar to the Biblical view of Hell, people are tormented in fire, except the RCC teaches that those in purgatory are slowly (very slowly, over tens of thousands of years) cleansed of their sins and will eventually enter heaven. Much has been made of this doctrine over the centuries by the RCC, including pilgramages to holy relics (visiting a relic was worth so many thousands of years reduction in purgatory for yourself or a dead loved one, donations also counted against purgatory). Thus, good deeds and monetary contributions were used to earn less purgatory time. Thus, purgatory is part of the RCC works-rightousness system.
Martin Luther originally objected to what was perhaps the worst abuse of the purgatory doctrine, where one could buy an "indulgence". That is pay some money and receive a certificate guaranteeing that one went straight to heaven and skipped purgatory altogether.
Luther attacked the indulgences in scathing terms, saying that those who bought them and those who sold them were both hellbound.
Of course, Biblically there is no purgatory, and there is no second chance, you are either perfect in this life (by having the righteousness of Christ imputed to you) or you go to Hell, period.
In parts of modern Christianity rather than openly adopt works righteousness, the doctrine of the atonement is simply ignored as less relevant. This is because the necessity of repentance has frequently been abandoned to nothing more than lip-service. The Gospel is often perverted into a self-help Gospel of a fulfilled life. This man-centered Gospel has no more power to save than the indulgences of the 1500's did.
Now any group that professes Christ but denies Faith Alone (such as the RCC) is not a Christian organization at all, they are enemies of the truth and teach deadly poison instead of sound doctrine. This was the love that motivated the reformation, to try to warn and save the vast masses of deceived people who believed they were Heaven-bound but had been sold a lie.
Faith alone is the single greatest doctrine of Christianity, it needs to be preached faithfully and continually, since it is so deadly to misunderstand this doctrine.
Solus Christus - Christ Alone
joh 14:6 Jesus said to him," I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
act 4:12 " And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
ti1 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
mar 15:38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
jo1 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
Solus Christus or Christ Alone means that there is no path to God except through Christ. No other mediators or methods of approaching God are valid. We are saved solely by Christ's atoning work on the cross.
While Faith Alone affirms justification is by imputed righteousness apart from works, Christ Alone stresses the object of our faith must be Christ Alone. Faith Alone in Christ Alone is the sole way to salvation. He is our sole advocate in Heaven, because He alone has the right to impute His righteousness to us, and He alone has the authority to forgive sins.
Christ Alone bans Mary, or any other coredemtrix-like ideologies. Neither can the Church or priests serve as mediators between man and God, it is always direct, through Christ alone. Christ plus anything is banned by Solus Christus, just as Christ plus works is banned by Faith Alone.
Just as Rome denies the sufficiency of Christ on the cross, they deny His sufficiency elsewhere as well.
Christ Alone denies the RCC's claim the Church is an intermediate between Christ and men. The veil was torn, we are allowed directly into God's presence, we don't need priests, saints, or Mary to intervene on our behalf. We can ask God for forgiveness directly. We can pray to God directly. Christ is our sole advocate. Neither do we need any system to provide for our righteousness or to act as a go-between for us with God other than Christ. Our sole access to God is through Christ, and that access is complete and unfettered.
Christ Alone denies all the other religions of the world, there is only one way to salvation, one way to God, one way for prayers to be heard, and that is by Christ alone. Any device invented by man to reach up to God is worthless.
Let us never forget to teach the wretched sinfulness of man, and the great need for Christ's atonement. Let us remember the centrality and supremacy of Christ that He alone is suffient in all things. Let us always seek to have a true understanding of God's redeeming love, in that He spares us from His undying and everlasting wrath in Hell by paying the terrible price Himself.
Sola Gratia - Grace Alone
eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Grace alone is really an affirmation of the sovereignty of God in who gets saved. It's the idea that we did not make the decision for ourselves, rather grace enabled us to choose God. This was the heart of the free-will debate during the reformation.
The core of reformation theology is that God chooses who gets saved, and by regeneration changes the hearts of those He chooses to receive His Gospel, and they live faithful and increasingly holy lives after the moment of regeneration. The choice is made without regard to merit, but rather for His purposes alone, which He does not reveal to us.
joh 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, ...
The reformation position on regeneration was simple; regeneration comes first, then faith - which is a gift of grace - follows regeneration. Therefore, before one can come to faith in Christ, and follow after Him, God must regenerate them first. And all this is by the grace of God.
Today, modern evangelicalism almost universally teaches the error that we must decide for Christ, and then we are born-again afterwards. Notice this directly contradicts Jesus' words above. This "decision" theology almost invariably leads to watering down the Gospel to make it more palatable to "seekers".
Biblically there are no "seekers", only enemies of God whom the Father lovingly and mercifully draws to Christ:
rom 3:11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
joh 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Decision theology also places into the hands of man who gets saved. Which is a flat denial of Christ's words that He made the choice.
However, those who have abandoned grace alone, who believe in decision theology, but are otherwise orthodox, as long as they repent of their sins, we accept as fellow Christians if they believe in faith alone.
Now people struggle with this concept, so it has to be taught clearly and patiently. Grace changes our wills, so it feels like we made the decision, which is actually true, we did. But it's not so obvious that God out of love and mercy first changed our heart and gave us the ability and desire to make that decision and to love Him in return.
jo1 4:19 We love (Him), because He first loved us.
The five points of Calvinism, also known as the doctrines of grace, develop the doctrine of grace alone in much greater detail.
Soli Deo Gloria - God's Glory Alone
All things are done for His glory and His good pleasure. This Bible states this throughout, it is the recurring theme that underlies why God does everything. God glorifies who He is, including His power, His holiness, His love, and His mercy. All of creation has this intent behind it. It (and we) were made to glorify God.
As God does all things for His glory, so should we as Christians. The world is filled with people that don't give God glory, and this should grieve a true Christian. To restate it, our fundamental purpose as a Christian is to give Glod glory (His rightful place) in everything we do and in our hearts.
Let's unpack this a little bit. Prior to the reformation, there was a perceived distinction between things that were done for God, and everything else. So religious efforts were good, and non-religious things were mundane.
The reformation put things back in their proper place, that your entire life is sanctified, and doing the mundane things in a life of faith were of equal value to churchy and religious things.
col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
col 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
Do you see there is a reward for the mundane things done in a life dedicated to Christ?
A life of faith is fully pleasing to the Lord. God is glorified by how we carry ourselves at work, as parents, as children, by everything we do. The idea that some things are "for God" and that some things are mundane is a misunderstanding of the Biblical concept of a sanctified life.
As a result, the reformation freed the prisoners in monasteries and convents, who were taught falsely that dedicating lives to celibacy and meditation was a higher form of lifestyle than the God-given state of holy matrimony. The RCC actually anathemized (declared as hellbound) anyone who would declare that the state of marriage was a higher state than celibacy.
The reformation of course, denied that celibacy was anything, and denied that earning God's approval in such ways was possible. Indeed, they considered it an affront to the completed work of Jesus on the cross.
It also can't be stressed enough how woefully inadequate we are. Even as Christians we are still filled with sinful thoughts and desires, and this will bring grief and sorrow to a true Christian, as well as be a constant reminder that there is no good in us at all. Our lives are made pleasing to God on the basis of the cross alone. Or put in the language of the solas: we are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It is faith that makes us pleasing to God. And faith is God's gift of love to us.
When the Bible says that God glorifies Himself, it means He puts who He is on display. All of creation has this goal in mind. Everything has a purpose as a result.
Evil glorifies God as God uses evil for good. When we endure suffering by God's grace it is an amazing testimony for God's grace and while it sanctifies us, it also carries a rich reward in heaven.
The greatest display of God's love and His holiness are seen on the cross.
God's Holiness is glorified by people going to Hell, as is His justice, and His hatred of sin. Just as clearly His love and mercy is glorified by people going to heaven and having their sins forgiven.
Hopefully it is obvious that nobody will ultimately escape glorifing God, just as all will one day bow the knee and call Him Lord. The question is will you do it willingly now or be forced to later.
Summary
As you can see, the five solas of the reformation are as much needed today as they ever were. These glorious grand doctrines were the rallying cry of Christianity then, and to many of us today, they still are.
We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for God's glory alone, and we know this from Scripture alone.
Sound doctrine is the foundation of maturity in Christ and protects us from false doctrine. I hope you are blessed by these teachings as I am.