Some More Comments About Sola Scriptura

A while back, I wrote a short series on the Five Solas of the Reformation. The first of the Five Solas is “Sola Scriptura” (Scripture Alone). In a nutshell, Sola Scriptura means that the Bible is God's sole written revelation and it is the final authority on all things relating to doctrine. A visitor to my blog, someone posting under the name, teak421, took exception to my points and left two comments to rebut. I visited his blog and read some of his links and it he seems to advocate two other sources of revelation: apostolic successors and the Church (namely the Catholic Church). As is sometimes my practice, I've decided to use his comments as an opportunity to elaborate out my previous post.

First, let me point out an amusing irony. To teak421's credit, he cited a few verses to bolster his argument but how ironic it is to attempt to use the Bible as evidence that the Bible is not the final authority on doctrine! If the apostles are the final authority on doctrine, then why doesn't he cite them? But let's look at those passages he mentioned:

One verse he cited is Ephesians 2:19-22 which says the house of God is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Of course this passage is true but in what sense was this building accomplished? I believe the answer is obvious: God used the prophets (of the OT) and the apostles (of the NT) to speak His words before there was a written revelation (see my post here). It is a great error to make the apostles more than what they are. Consider what the apostles said about themselves.

In 1 Corinthians 1:12-14, Paul says, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” Paul is clear to point out that his teaching is not ultimately his own but rather is Christ's – it's Christ's crucifixion, His death, His baptism, His resurrection, His everything. It's not about Paul or the apostles; it's about Christ's work and teachings. And only a few verses later (v.19), we see another interesting practice employed by Paul where he cites Scripture to back up what he is saying. Which brings me to Acts 17:11, “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Luke commends the noble Bereans for comparing Paul's teaching with Scripture to judge if what he says is true. The clear implication is that Scripture trumps the apostles!

Peter also recognized that no one but Christ had the words of life. He stated such overtly in John 6:68. When Jesus asked the apostles if they too would leave Him, Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” So I ask, who has the words of life – the apostles or Jesus?

But regardless of the role of the apostles, I have blogged before that I do not believe there are any more apostles. God has given us the cannon of Scripture and there is no more revelation. If anyone claims to have revelation from God that contradicts Scripture, he is a false prophet. Scripture is the final authority.

Now, to teak421's second point: the Catholic church. The claim of the Church is that there is an apostolic succession within the Church beginning with Peter as the first pope. I immediately disqualify that claim based on my arguments above. However, there are still the traditions of the Church that are supposed to have begun from the time of the apostles. Do these traditions carry equal weight with the Bible? The answer is a simple no. Jesus Himself rejected such an idea. I refer you to Matthew 15:3-6 where Jesus rebuked the Pharisees saying, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.”

I'm not sure how much more clear this could be. Jesus told the Pharisees that when traditions conflict with the written word of God, the Scriptures win.

In his comments, teak421 said, “Who decides who is right? You? Me? or a guy name Steve?” I would say, “Who, indeed! Me, teak421, the pope, the Catholic Church, or the Bible?” I still say the Bible.

Further reading:

The Five Solas Part 1: Sola Scriptura

The Five Solas Part 2: Sola Fide

The Five Solas Part 3: Sola Gratia

The Five Solas Part 4: Solus Christus

The Five Solas Part 5: Soli Deo Gloria

The Five Solas Part 5: Soli Deo Gloria

The final of the Five Solas of the Reformation is Soli Deo Gloria, or “Glory to God alone.” Certainly there can be no argument that we are to have no other gods before the Lord but the doctrine of Soli Deo Gloria goes beyond that and holds that all of creation exists for the glory of God. He is The Sovereign Lord over everything He has made and everything we do should be done for His honor and glory.

We see this in many passages of Scripture.

Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations. For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. Give unto the LORD, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth. (1 Chronicles 16:23-31)

If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:11)

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

The list could go on: Revelation 1:6, Ephesians 3:21, Revelation 7:12, Romans 11:36, et al.

Of the Five Solas, this doctrine is perhaps the easiest to defend from Scripture yet is by far the hardest to live in practice. We are creatures of ego, vanity, pride, greed, covetousness, and selfishness. We often act with no other motive than our own self interest and for our own gratification. But the Bible is clear – whatever we do, we are to do it for the glory of God.

How would such a thing look in practice? I wish I could say exactly how it would be done but I would be a poor example.

We could be like the good servants who invested the talents of their lord (Matthew 25:14-30). As they went about their work while their master was away, they knew in their minds their labor was for his benefit.

We could be like the man freed from demons (Mark 5:1-20) who published abroad in the 10 cities what the Lord had done for him.

We could try to be like Jesus. What better Teacher could there be?

What are you doing now for the glory of God? That question shames me. Whatever I do, I know I could do more. All glory is due God. Soli Deo Gloria.

Further reading:

The Five Solas Part 1: Sola Scriptura

The Five Solas Part 2: Sola Fide

The Five Solas Part 3: Sola Gratia

The Five Solas Part 4: Solus Christus

Some More Comments About Sola Scriptura

The Five Solas Part 4: Solus Christus

Solus Christus means “Christ alone.” It is sometimes written as Sola Christo, “by Christ alone.” It is the fundamental belief that salvation is found only in, by, and through the Person of Jesus Christ alone. He is the only Mediator between men and God and His finished work on the cross is, by itself, sufficient for the removal of our sins. Salvation is not by Christ plus the saints. Salvation is not by Christ plus any works. Salvation is not by Christ plus some particular church. Christ is not one of many ways to God – He is the only way to God and His death is the only payment for our sins. Let’s look at some scripture verses that confirm this.

The proof text for this doctrine could possibly be John 14:6 where Jesus said, “… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” That hardly needs to be expounded upon. Unfortunately, while some people may claim to believe this, they still add additional requisites to salvation. To them, it’s not Christ alone but Christ + something else. In other words – though Jesus may be the way, we need something else in order to have Jesus.

Some people believe the salvation Jesus offers is dispensed through the Church. Perhaps they believe they receive salvation through a priest or some other religious leader.

Paul seems to dispel that idea in Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” We see that we don’t have to ask a priest for forgiveness; we call upon Jesus directly (see also Romans 10:13).

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul further dispels any notion that forgiveness can somehow be obtain through the saints or apostles by admonishing those who claim to be followers of him or any other apostle. In 1 Corinthians 1:12-13 he said, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?”

Peter said concerning Jesus, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

In my second post in this series, I discussed how salvation is obtained through faith alone (Sola Fide) and not through any works. Now we must also consider that our faith must be in Christ’s finished work alone. In the OT laws concerning sacrifice, the blood of animals was offered as a temporary covering for our sins. The shedding of blood is necessary for the remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22). But the OT sacrifices were only a foreshadowing of the perfect sacrifice that was to come – Jesus’ death on the cross.

It is only by His sacrifice that we may receive atonement for our sins. Consider Hebrews 9:11-12, “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

Therefore, is not by the rituals of sacrifice of goats and calves but only through the shed blood of Jesus that we obtain redemption. Hebrews 10:10 further says, “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

That single event of Jesus’ passion on the cross is the one and only sacrifice for sin. His death (and His death only) is sufficient to remove all of my sins: past, present, and future. No other sacrifice is available for forgiveness nor is any other necessary.

Finally, 1 Timothy 2:5 tells us that Christ is our only mediator with God. We need no priest, no preacher, no saint, no other person living or dead to mediate for us. Christ stands at the right hand of God making intercession for us (Romans 8:34).

Christ alone is our Savior. Our faith in Him is well placed. There is no other way, no other sacrifice, and no other name through whom we have salvation.

Further reading:

The Five Solas Part 1: Sola Scriptura

The Five Solas Part 2: Sola Fide

The Five Solas Part 3: Sola Gratia

The Five Solas Part 5: Soli Deo Gloria

Some More Comments About Sola Scriptura

The Five Solas Part 3: Sola Gratia

Sola Gratia means “grace alone.” In my last post on this series, we talked about Sola Fide (faith alone) and how we receive salvation simply by believing and not by works. In that post, I mentioned how faith is sometimes viewed as a work – that is, we believe God must save us because we believe. More simply put, it is the mistaken belief that we “earn” our salvation by believing.

Sola Gratia is the simple understanding that salvation is only available by the grace of God. “Grace,” by definition, means “unmerited favor.” God is not obligated to save us. In fact, God, who is perfectly just, would be justified to condemn us for our sins. He makes salvation available only because of His love for us. Furthermore, He only loves us because of who He is – not because of who we are or because of anything we’ve done.

To understand this fully, we need to consider the Biblical description of the condition of man before Christ’s sacrifice for us.

Consider these verses:

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10

Because of our hard heartedness, we have become like potsherds that strive against our Maker (Isaiah 45). The Potter who shaped the clay surely has the right to undo it. Likewise, how can we fault God, who made us, if He should decide to destroy us for our rebellion? But here is where the grace of God is shown:

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

The holy God, who would be just to pour His wrath on us because of our continuous rebellion against Him, instead sent His Son to suffer the wrath in our place. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him (Isaiah 53:5). Now that’s grace!

Another interesting verse to consider is Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Ask yourself this: what are “wages”? Normally, wages are something you earn. They are what you deserve after you’ve worked for someone. But Romans says the “wages” of sin is death. The thing we “earn”, the thing we “deserve” for our work, is death. And what is a “gift”? A gift is given only by the grace of the giver. You don’t work for it. You don’t deserve. You only receive it.

That’s God grace for us. He doesn’t give us what we deserve. Our works have only earned us death. But instead, He gives us the gift of eternal life.

Sola Gratia – grace alone!

Further reading:

The Five Solas Part 1: Sola Scriptura

The Five Solas Part 2: Sola Fide

The Five Solas Part 4: Solus Christus

The Five Solas Part 5: Soli Deo Gloria

Some More Comments About Sola Scriptura

The Five Solas Part 2: Sola Fide

The next Sola we will review in this series is Sola Fide or “Faith Alone” which is sometimes referred to as “justification by faith.” It is the belief that we receive salvation only through faith in Christ; good works of any sort play no role whatsoever in our salvation.

Among the Five Solas this is may be the most controversial and is the dividing line between many most mainstream protestant denominations and other beliefs. For example, there are some groups that believe that after a person accepts Christ he must immediately be baptized before he is saved. So they believe in salvation by faith + baptism and not “faith alone.” Mormons (which is not a Christian group anyway) believe they must work toward their salvation and Jesus simply “makes up the difference” where they fall short.

I believe the Bible is clear about how we are saved. There are many verses that support this but let’s start with perhaps the most definitive: Romans 10:9:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

This passage leaves very little wiggle room for interpretation. Of course, one text is not a proof text so we need to look at the abundance of Scripture that supports salvation by faith alone. Salvation by faith is the primary theme of John’s gospel consider John 1:12, John 3:15-16, John 3:18, John 3:36, John 5:24, John 6:47, John 8:24, John 11:25-26, John 12:46, and John 20:31. Indeed, from John’s gospel alone, one would be hard pressed to add to salvation any ingredient other than faith.

We also have the example of the publican and Pharisee (Luke 18:10-14). The Pharisee essentially bragged to God about how good he was in keeping the Law. The publican only prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus said it was the publican and not the Pharisee who was justified.

As an additional thought, we must be careful to understand that even faith could be considered a work. Look at Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

You see, we are saved “through faith”; we are not saved “because of faith.” We do not say to God, “God, I have faith so You are required to save me.” Even the faith we have is not of ourselves – God gives us even the faith through which He saves us! How wonderful is God!!

Though I believe the Bible is clear that we are saved through faith many people will use some passages to argue otherwise.

Some will point to passages that command us to obey the Law (such as Matthew 5:48). I concede that Christ expects us to try to follow the Law but following the Law is not what saves us. Indeed, no one except Christ has ever kept the Law. Read Romans 3:10. If we must do good works to be saved, then we have no hope for salvation because our works are nothing more than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

Some people will point to Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” The irony is that, in context, the people discussed in v. 21 are the ones who rely on their works to save them: they cast out demons, prophesied, and performed miracles. However, Jesus still calls them workers of iniquity! Jesus tells us the will of the Father in John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Doing the will of the Father does not mean doing good works; it means we must have faith in the Son!

Still others read passages that discuss God judging our deeds and confuse our reward with our salvation (Matthew 16:27, Revelation 14:12-13, et al). At the White Throne Judgment, the lost are indeed judged by their works (Revelation 20:13) but they are all condemned because their names are not written in the Book of Life. Christians’ works are judged for our reward but our salvation is already secured. Read 1 Corinthians 3:14-15:

If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

In other words, when our works are judged we might lose our reward but we are still saved.

But the chief text cited by believers in salvation by works is certainly James 2. Consider, for example, v. 14, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?” Wow! The clear implication of that verse alone is that faith by itself cannot save a person.

However, in the context of the entire chapter, James is talking about how works are the evidence of faith. A person who claims to have faith but demonstrates no evidence of faith (that is, continues to live like a sinner) likely isn’t truly saved. Look at v. 21-22, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” We see then that Abraham’s works were wrought by his faith. He had faith and so he performed the works. Likewise, if we truly have faith there should be evidence of our faith in our works. I believe James’s point is summed up well in v. 18, “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”

Let me conclude by saying that Christ’s work on the cross is sufficient to cover my sins. When Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), He meant just that. No more work is necessary. If we feel we must add something done by our own hands, we are basically saying to Jesus that His death wasn’t enough! I know that nothing I can do could compare to His sacrifice and so I will put my trust completely in Him to save me.

Further reading:

The Five Solas Part 1: Sola Scriptura

The Five Solas Part 3: Sola Gratia

The Five Solas Part 4: Solus Christus

The Five Solas Part 5: Soli Deo Gloria

Some More Comments About Sola Scriptura

The Five Solas Part 1: Sola Scriptura

Over the next several days I will be publishing a series of posts on the Five Solas. The Five Solas are five Latin phrases (or slogans) that emerged during the Protestant Reformation and summarize the Reformers' basic beliefs and emphasis in contradistinction to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church of the day. "Sola" means "alone". These five points represent a remarkably precise and enduring summary of the Christian faith.

While most Christians will agree with these points in principle, I’ve noticed that many aren’t able to argue for the accuracy of them using Scripture. For example, the first Sola we will explore is Sola Scriptura or “Scripture Alone.” Most Christians will agree that the Bible is our only source of authority and other sacred writings (such as the Book of Mormon), Church traditions, or men’s opinions are all subservient to the Bible. Yet how many Christians are able to defend this view of Scripture using only Scripture? It would be the height of hypocrisy to insist the Bible is the final source of authority if the Bible itself does not make that claim!

The most obvious passage dealing with the idea of Sola Scriptura could be nothing else than 2 Timothy 3:15-17:

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 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 perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

We see from this passage the following things:

>That the Scriptures are given by God.
>That the Scriptures are inerrant (how else could all Scripture be profitable?)
>That Scripture alone is able to make us “wise unto salvation”
>That with just the Scriptures we may be perfect and “thoroughly furnished unto all good works”

That single passage stands on its own merit and little more needs to be discussed. However, some groups may claim to agree with the above passage but at the same time will say that they have some other revelation in addition to the Scripture. If that is true, then it isn’t Scripture alone – it’s Scripture plus some other revelation.

Some groups, for example, claim that they hold either traditions or teachings that must be read, followed, or understood before a follower can correctly understand the Bible. For example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are renowned for their “Bible study” groups. They print Bible study material such as the Watch Tower magazine which they claim is necessary to correctly understand the Scriptures. The organization actually discourages members from reading the Bible independently of the supporting material which they provide.

For people who believe that such instruction is necessary to correctly understand the Bible, I direct you to 2 Peter 1:20:

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

There is no secret understanding of Scripture. The Bible says what it means – plainly. There ordinary understanding of a passage is the correct one and no other material is necessary to discover some other meaning. If someone claims that a passage means something other than what an ordinary reading reveals, great care should be taken to not let such a person deceive you (2 Corinthians 11:3-5).

Another claim held by some groups is to have additional Scriptures. The Mormons, for example, claim to have a companion to the Bible, The Book of Mormon. To them I would say that the cannon of Scripture is closed. Nothing more can be added or taken from the Scriptures. Consider Revelation 22:18-19:

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

The Scriptures alone are our revelation from God. No other man or book can have revelation which contradicts the Scripture. The Bible alone is sufficient and everything the God wanted to know about Him is contained therein.

Further reading:

The Five Solas Part 2: Sola Fide

The Five Solas Part 3: Sola Gratia

The Five Solas Part 4: Solus Christus

The Five Solas Part 5: Soli Deo Gloria

Some More Comments About Sola Scriptura