Why Sola?
History is important. It is easy to forget yesterday’s miracle in today’s storm. This is why God often commanded Moses to write things down as a memorial. For example, Exodus 17:14 reads, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven” (English Standard Version). This would allow many generations to remember and recall the Lord's faithfulness. Many have quoted, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The modern church needs to remember her roots. We, Sola Baptist Church, searched carefully for a name that would constantly remind her of the war fought for biblical truth and keep her grounded in the gospel truth for God’s glory alone.
The Reformation was a time in church history when religious practices and beliefs were realigned with the Word of God. Alan Cairns describes the Reformation as “The 16th-century movement which exposed and opposed the apostasy of Romanism and rediscovered and republished the pure gospel of the New Testament.”[1] The Reformation produced theologians of the highest caliber. The Reformers attacked the Roman Catholic church at the core by standing on Biblical truths. The Reformers sought to regain the truths of the Gospel that justification was by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone instead of some form of human merit. This reformation did not come without much bloodshed. Many Reformers stood on the truths of God’s Word, which cost them their life. The modern church of today would do well to take a glance back and glean from some of the discipleship practices of the Reformation.
The Reformation began when the German Augustinian monk Martin Luther (1483-1546) posted his Ninety-Five Theses to protest the abuse of indulgences on October 31, 1517. Cairns writes, “Rome defines indulgence as ‘“a remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, the guilt of which has been forgiven.”’ In practice, especially in the days preceding the Protestant Reformation, indulgences became equated with a license to sin. The theory was, and is, that by some ‘“good work,”’ or some payment to obtain someone else’s merit, satisfaction for certain sins may be made.”[2] The name “Protestant” arose when the reformers made an official protest to act against these ecclesial reforms. The reformers protested for justification by grace alone through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from any human merit.
Many great reformers sacrificed their lives to return the church to Scripture as the only source of infallible revelation and sufficient for the Christian faith and practice. Some of them were John Wycliff (1330-1384), Jan Hus (ca 1372-1415), Lorenzo Valla (ca 1407 – 1457), the German Monk Martin Luther (1483-1546), Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) in Switzerland, French reformer John Calvin (1509-1564), English Bible Scholar William Tyndale (1494-1536), and Scottish Reformer John Knox (1514-1572).[3]
The Protestant Reformation can be summarized with the five solas. Although the five solas were not Reformation slogans, they serve as a sufficient summary of the Reformed faith. Latin was the primary language during the Reformation, and “sola” is a Latin word that means alone. These five solas capture the core of the gospel. They answer how a sinner can be made right with the Holy God. The five solas are listed below.
Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation
References
[1] Alan Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms (Belfast; Greenville, SC: Ambassador Emerald International, 2002), 372.
[2] Ibid. 230-231
[3] Dr. Steven J. Lawson has written biographies on many of these men. He has a collection of books titled, “A Long Line of Godly Men.”
[4] Thompson, Jeremy. 2022. Lists from Church History. Faithlife Biblical and Theological Lists. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife.
The Reformation was a time in church history when religious practices and beliefs were realigned with the Word of God. Alan Cairns describes the Reformation as “The 16th-century movement which exposed and opposed the apostasy of Romanism and rediscovered and republished the pure gospel of the New Testament.”[1] The Reformation produced theologians of the highest caliber. The Reformers attacked the Roman Catholic church at the core by standing on Biblical truths. The Reformers sought to regain the truths of the Gospel that justification was by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone instead of some form of human merit. This reformation did not come without much bloodshed. Many Reformers stood on the truths of God’s Word, which cost them their life. The modern church of today would do well to take a glance back and glean from some of the discipleship practices of the Reformation.
The Reformation began when the German Augustinian monk Martin Luther (1483-1546) posted his Ninety-Five Theses to protest the abuse of indulgences on October 31, 1517. Cairns writes, “Rome defines indulgence as ‘“a remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, the guilt of which has been forgiven.”’ In practice, especially in the days preceding the Protestant Reformation, indulgences became equated with a license to sin. The theory was, and is, that by some ‘“good work,”’ or some payment to obtain someone else’s merit, satisfaction for certain sins may be made.”[2] The name “Protestant” arose when the reformers made an official protest to act against these ecclesial reforms. The reformers protested for justification by grace alone through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from any human merit.
Many great reformers sacrificed their lives to return the church to Scripture as the only source of infallible revelation and sufficient for the Christian faith and practice. Some of them were John Wycliff (1330-1384), Jan Hus (ca 1372-1415), Lorenzo Valla (ca 1407 – 1457), the German Monk Martin Luther (1483-1546), Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) in Switzerland, French reformer John Calvin (1509-1564), English Bible Scholar William Tyndale (1494-1536), and Scottish Reformer John Knox (1514-1572).[3]
The Protestant Reformation can be summarized with the five solas. Although the five solas were not Reformation slogans, they serve as a sufficient summary of the Reformed faith. Latin was the primary language during the Reformation, and “sola” is a Latin word that means alone. These five solas capture the core of the gospel. They answer how a sinner can be made right with the Holy God. The five solas are listed below.
Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation
- Sola Fide — The doctrine that Christian believers are justified by faith alone rather than on the basis of good works.
- Sola Gratia — The doctrine that salvation is based only on the grace of God and not human merit.
- Sola Scriptura — The doctrine that scripture is the only source of infallible revelation and is sufficient for Christian faith and practice.
- Soli Deo Gloria — The doctrine that all glory is reserved for God alone and should not be given to any other person or being, including Mary, saints, or angels.
- Solus Christus —The doctrine that Christ is the only mediator between God and human beings apart from a priestly class or sacraments.[4]
References
[1] Alan Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms (Belfast; Greenville, SC: Ambassador Emerald International, 2002), 372.
[2] Ibid. 230-231
[3] Dr. Steven J. Lawson has written biographies on many of these men. He has a collection of books titled, “A Long Line of Godly Men.”
[4] Thompson, Jeremy. 2022. Lists from Church History. Faithlife Biblical and Theological Lists. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife.