{"id":32531,"date":"2022-09-10T16:13:11","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/echoes-of-the-reformation\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:13:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:13:11","slug":"echoes-of-the-reformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/echoes-of-the-reformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Echoes of the Reformation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Why the five solas are still crucial to who we are as Christians<\/h3>\n

By Brandon D. Smith<\/em><\/p>\n

In our rapidly changing culture, something that happened five minutes ago can often be forgotten. But this year, we celebrate an event from 500 years ago that still reverberates.<\/p>\n

In 1517, a German theology professor named Martin Luther challenged the Roman Catholic Church by publishing his 95 Theses and, as legend has it, nailing them to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.<\/p>\n

Luther\u2019s theses were a clarion call for the Catholic Church to reform. In short, Luther saw the church drifting away from core biblical truths about the authority of Scripture and the grace found in Christ alone through faith alone.<\/p>\n

The church\u2019s view of salvation had become centered on man\u2019s efforts rather than on God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n

Following Luther\u2019s action, five beliefs emerged as the foundation of the Reformation. The five solas, as they are known today, were birthed out of the German reformer\u2019s convictions and infused into the movement that followed his lead.<\/p>\n

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Centuries later, those beliefs still echo. They still have weight and meaning today. They\u2019re still core to who we are and what we confess as Christians.<\/p>\n

Sola Scriptura \u2013 Scripture Alone<\/p>\n

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. 2 Timothy 3:16-17<\/em><\/p>\n

The church in Luther\u2019s day didn\u2019t grasp this Scripture. The church taught the Pope could access God in a way equal to the Bible. The Pope had as much power as Scripture.<\/p>\n

But Paul tells Timothy that Scripture is from God and makes Christians \u201ccomplete.\u201d It\u2019s not Scripture plus anything else. Scripture alone is all we need to learn about God and teach others about God.<\/p>\n

In our modern world\u2014where authority is often defined by one\u2019s personal beliefs\u2014Christians need to be reminded Scripture alone is our authority.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to look to someone or something else to find truth or wisdom, but Scripture is God-breathed. It is literally God\u2019s words breathed out into ink. Scripture is the ultimate deposit of truth and wisdom.<\/p>\n

Sola Gratia \u2013 Grace Alone<\/p>\n

For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:14<\/em><\/p>\n

Grace is most easily defined as \u201cunmerited favor.\u201d God gives grace because He\u2019s loving and merciful, not because we deserve it. It\u2019s free. Absolutely, positively free. Just as in Luther\u2019s day, we need to make sure people understand grace can\u2019t be bought or earned.<\/p>\n

We are saved by grace alone. God in His Word tells us we have no shot of earning it. And that\u2019s OK, because Jesus is walking, talking grace\u2014grace with 10 fingers and 10 toes.<\/p>\n

The fact that His feet touched the earth\u2019s soil shows us we couldn\u2019t do it alone. God Incarnate had to come here to live the life we couldn\u2019t live and die the death we should\u2019ve died.<\/p>\n

Instead of looking for grace anywhere else, Christians must be constantly reminded the gift of grace is found in the perfect Gift-Giver (James 1:17).<\/p>\n

Sola Fide \u2013 Faith Alone<\/p>\n

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God\u2019s gift\u2014not from works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9<\/em><\/p>\n

In this verse, we see grace and faith together. The fact that we even have faith is a gift of grace! We are justified\u2014declared right with God\u2014through faith alone. This sola is perhaps the cornerstone of the Reformation.<\/p>\n

Luther\u2019s struggle with his own sin, his continued feeling of absolute wretchedness, reminded him that faith was all he had. He couldn\u2019t offer anything else.<\/p>\n

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Knees on the ground and palms in the air, he had faith that God saved him. That was his only hope, and it was the only hope he needed.<\/p>\n

Though we\u2019re always tempted to try to justify ourselves, we can never forget we are justified based on Christ\u2019s righteousness and nothing else. It\u2019s not about what we do but about what He\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

Solus Christus \u2013 Christ Alone<\/p>\n

Jesus told him, \u201cI am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.\u201d John 14:6<\/em><\/p>\n

In Timothy George\u2019s Theology of the Reformers, he quotes Luther reminding the wayward leaders of his day: \u201cYou are not lords over the pastoral office.\u2026 You have not instituted the office, but God\u2019s Son alone has done so.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to salvation: Christ alone. And, despite their importance according to Hebrews 13:17, even when it comes to church leaders: Christ alone.<\/p>\n

There is no Christianity without Christ. Sometimes, when we\u2019re caught up in ourselves or even our churches and ministries, we forget we don\u2019t own Christianity.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re on Christ\u2019s mission; He\u2019s not on ours. There is no grace without Christ. There is no faith without Christ. Frankly, there is no Scripture without Christ, for Scripture is about Him (John 5:39).<\/p>\n

No man is perfect, but one Man was. Let us continue to remind others and ourselves that grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is our only hope for salvation.<\/p>\n

Soli Deo Gloria \u2013 Glory to God Alone<\/p>\n

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Psalm 19:1<\/em><\/p>\n

I noted earlier that sola fide might be the cornerstone of the Reformation. If that\u2019s the case, soli Deo gloria might be the mortar that holds the stones together.<\/p>\n

In short, God\u2019s glory is the total sum of who He is and what He does. He takes second place to no one.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s glory is the proclamation that He is sovereign over all things. We see it clearly in creation (He is sovereign, all-powerful, and beautiful) and in salvation (He is loving, just, and merciful).<\/p>\n

Because of our sin, we are glory hogs. We want\u2014crave\u2014glory. Christians should always remember, however, that God\u2019s glory is the aim of our worship.<\/p>\n

If we could save ourselves, we could share glory with God. But as we know, we can\u2019t save ourselves. Glory to God, however, He has saved us!<\/p>\n

Doctrine is not an academic add-on to the Christian life. What we believe is a filter for everything we do. According to Paul in Romans 10:9, what we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts is a matter of our salvation, of our eternity.<\/p>\n

Luther and the Reformers fought for everyday Christians, not just scholars or seminarians.<\/p>\n

As David VanDrunen points out in his book God\u2019s Glory Alone: The Majestic Heart of Christian Faith and Life, the church in Luther\u2019s day didn\u2019t deny the importance of Scripture, grace, faith, and Christ in salvation. But if you had asked about \u201cthe little word alone, we would soon find genuine disagreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once we understand that alone really means alone, we can stand before God with nothing to offer but humble worship for who He is and what He has done. The Reformation still echoes today, if we are willing to listen.<\/p>\n

BRANDON D. SMITH (@BrandonSmith85) works with the Christian Standard Bible and teaches theology at California Baptist University. He\u2019s also co-author of Rooted: Theology for Growing Christians and co-hosts the Word Matters podcast.<\/p>\n

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Why the five solas are still crucial to who we are as Christians By Brandon D. Smith In our rapidly changing culture, something that happened five minutes ago can often be forgotten. But this year, we celebrate an event from 500 years ago that still reverberates. In 1517, a German theology professor named Martin Luther … Continue reading “Echoes of the Reformation”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}