The Five Solas

Through my studies of the Puritan's (Thomas Watson, John Flavel, J.R. Miller, John Owen, Charles Spurgeon) I have come to learn of the five solas. The five key doctrines of salvation. If you are unfamiliar with these I simply want to give a brief introduction of them to you. If these intrigue you you should seek some fine books, which I will post at the end.


The first of the five is sola fide, or "through faith alone." These five points of doctrine all came from the Reformation period of our early church history. This first sola comes from the corrupt teaching of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) that there were several graces you must accomplish to acquire saving faith. Some of the more notable RCC graces are infant baptism, confirmation, marriage, mass, and last rights. These and a few more had to be done to fully satisfy God's favor and the bestowing of His grace. Martin Luther came along and said, "No!" His study revealed what had always been in the Scriptures, but had been buried by the obscure and false teaching of the RCC. Scripture teachs that believers are justified by faith. The Epistle to the Romans speak of Abraham believing God for the promise and then God crediting His righteousness to Abraham. God required nothing of Abraham except simple faith in His divine promises. There is no man-made work or ritual that can appease God for His grace.


This takes us to the second, sola gratia, or "by grace alone." This teaches us that our salvation is non-meritorious. There is no merit that man can achieve that will appease God. Grace alone is what God displays in His mercy. Unregenerate man has no standing before God except wrath. All we like sheep have gone astray, there is none righteous, no one seeks after God is what the Word describes. As objects of holy God's wrath we can receive only one thing from God and that is His damnation. We do not deserve His grace, but wrath, we are sinful beings who have disobeyed His laws. But, thanks be to Christ Jesus, we are offered His mercy. His mercy places our sinfulness on Christ and Christ's righteousness on us. This is GRACE! Not that we could love Him, but that He loved us first!


The third sola, solus christus, "in Christ alone," teaches us that there is no other name under heaven by which man might be saved. Our salvation is a narrow minded one. Only those who enter through the narrow gate and follow the narrow way will enter heaven. There is no grace for those of the Muslim faith, Hindu faith, or any other faith. Any faith, even supposed Christian faiths, that water down Christ and His death on the cross are not faiths at all. Beloved, this is why it is imperative that you scrutinize over the Words of Scripture and over those who teach you. Are they teaching Christ alone, or do they mix him with any sort of man-made ritual or any other requirement that ultimately takes away from Christ's atoning death on the cross? There are many churches out there that teach Christ, but do they teach Christ from the Bible.


This leads us to our fourth sola, sola Scriptura, "according to Scripture alone." This sola teaches that all that is needed to know about our salvation comes from the Word of God. There are no new revelations from God, no new thoughts about our salvation, no new revelations from angels. We have a closed canon (Bible)! This means that preachers should be preaching God's Word, not the latest poll survey from Barna or whatever drivel comes out of the evangelical fads of today. The biggest church and most popular preacher does not guarantee solid biblical teaching. I encouage you to read my posts entitled, "True Preaching," where I delve into these issues more. There is alot of truth out there, but not all of it is biblical truth. Not all of it goes to the heart of the matter--our position with or without Christ. Millions of self-help books line our shelves, but none of them have the authority of God in them. Only the inspired, God-breathed pages of holy writ are authoritative. Go to them and them alone. Read the Proverbs, there is more self-help in those 31 chapter than all the books of the world!

The last sola, soli deo gloria, "to the glory of God alone," speaks to the core of what it is all about. Life, family, church, jobs, the world, all of it is for His glory. Go into the Psalms and see how often God's fame and glory is desired by the Psalmist. The first name we get from God is Jealous. He is a jealous God who is jealous of His own glory. This is why the New Testament speaks to our humility. We are nothing without Him and thus all glory goes to Him. When the church gathers it isn't for the sake of the unbeliever, despite what many pastors and churches try to sell, it is for His glory. The saints, or called out one's, come together to magnify His name by preaching, reading, singing, praying, and meditating upon His Word. Whether you eat or drink, in whatever you do, do it all for His glory.

I hope this gives you a little understanding of these foundational truths that have helped align the modern church with God. There is a resurgence of these teachings out there. You don't have to look to hard to see new books and new authors exposing these great truths. A few good books to get you on your way:

"What Makes a Church Evangelical?" James Montgomery Boice
"By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me" Sinclair Ferguson
"Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?" James Montgomery Boice

A good article to read is this:
http://www.founders.org/journal/fj78/article1.html

God bless you in your journey,
Paul

Overcoming Evil - Get in the War!

Romans 12:15 tells Christians that we are to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. This implies that we as believers know each other pretty well.

These words have been thrown out there a million times. But do you have a church or a group of folks in your church that these words are completely true? Satan is at war with God and he will do whatever he can to run Christ's name through the mud. Satan knows that he has limited time and ability, but he will do all that he can to destroy our Savior's image if we let him.

One way for us to combat his hatred is for your church and my church to come together and really be ONE.

When we weep do we really weep? If someone goes into the hospital are we doing all we can to help them keep the home fires burning? If you are the one weeping are you allowing your church family to weep with you? We all say that we don't want to be a burden to someone, but this is what being a Christian means. We can burden one another and we should be willing to go out of our way to help one another, and we should be willing to allow other believers to come into our lives and help us.

Do we really rejoice with one another? If someone got a better job or a new car, do we sincerely rejoice with them or do we fake it? Do we fake it because of jealousy or envy? If a brother or sister receives something that will help them make a greater impact for the Kingdom of God then we should rejoice. We need to stick it to Satan and realize we are on the same side and by truly loving each other deeply!

Evil will be more easily overcome if we know we have a whole army of fellow believers standing right behind us. I think of those Verizon commercials where the guy has a whole army of Verizon employees standing behind him (helicopters flying over, people taking notes, people doing all sorts of work). THAT SHOULD BE US! Do you have every fellow believers back in your church? Go down the list of people at church? Will you weep with them and rejoice with them.

God help us for not being more authentic!!!

Overcoming Evil with A Blessing

What kind of words fall from your lips? Harsh words or encouraging and pleasant words? The way you respond with your words to evil is a HUGE determiner whether you are sending out blessings or curses.

Romans 12:14 says we are to bless and not curse. When you are reprimanded, whether righteously or unrighteously, how do you respond? When you "talk"with your spouse, do your words reveal a heart that seeks to bless or curse?

Jesus, our Savior and model for life, said not a word of revilement when He was being beaten and hung on the cross.

You object, "I am not Jesus Christ!" No kidding! But, you are His child, I hope, and if so then His Spirit within you is transforming you. Earlier in Romans 12 Paul tells us to transform our minds by renewing ourselves in Christ. The Lord Jesus will enable you to do as He pleases. His commands should always give us hope, for that which He commands He empowers in us to do. Paul tells the Ephesians that Jesus' power has been granted to us (Ephesians 1:19).

To curse is to speak down, against, and in disbelief. To bless is to encourage, hope, and believe. Beloved, your blessing should be done in the heat of the moment, when you are most apt to lash out, that is the appropriate time to speak words that give life and not damnations! Begin now to think about your words. Meditate upon those passages that bring grace to our words: James 3:1-12; Ephesians 4:29.