Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sovereign Grace Bible Church

Jim Kang, Pastor-Teacher

THE FIVE SOLAS OF THE REFORMATION GOSPEL

Selected Scripture

INTRODUCTION

The Protestant Reformation was largely a divine response to unbiblical doctrines and unbiblical practices by unbiblical authorities. I say a divine response because this was an act of God. When we read or study history, we naturally focus our attention to the people that are involved, but forget that the people are mere instruments or means in which God fulfills his sovereign purpose. This is also true when we watch a play or a movie. We get the story from the characters in the play or movie, but forget that behind it all, the one who is really responsible is not the actors but one who wrote the script.

This is especially true when we consider the Protestant Reformation. Although there are valuable benefits in studying key people in history or actors in play, it is ultimately a great insult to God for failing to recognize that it is him who is behind it all. As much as I appreciate Luther, Calvin, and other Reformers, ultimately, it is to God I give allegiance and glory. As the psalmist said, “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory” (Psalm 115:1a).

After the periods of Christ, the apostles, and church fathers, the church has been in darkness in most of her history, until God providentially orchestrated the Reformation. That is why the Protestant Reformers of the 16th Century used the Latin phrase Post Tenebras Lux – “after darkness, light.”

And what was the light that the Reformers and church historians refer to? In essence, the light refers to rediscovering of the biblical gospel, namely the doctrine of justification. However, because terms like justification, faith and grace are also used by the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), the Reformers wanted to make absolute distinctions from the RCC’s usage and definition of those terms, hence, the institution of the Five-Solas, namely Sola Scriptura, Solus Christus, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, and Soli Deo Gloria.

This morning my goal is not to simply explain to you what each of those five-solas mean, but also to help you understand what each of them imply biblically, theologically, and practically. With that in mind, let me begin with the first sola.

I. Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)

It’s important to point out that the RCC does profess that they believe the Bible. In fact, they would even say that Scripture is authoritative, and that people must live by Scripture. Hence, if you’re going to critique a particular view that you disagree, at least, present your opponent’s view fairly and not make a straw man argument. So, the Catholics do affirm that the Bible is God’s word, that it is important, and that it is authoritative.

However, the Reformers would quickly reply with this statement: We’re glad that you believe that the Bible is God’s Word, that it is important, and that it is authoritative. However, is the Bible the final authority? Or, are the popes and church tradition equally authoritative to Scripture?

The fundamental issue that Sola Scriptura fights for is authority. That is to say, what is at stake is power and authority. Furthermore, whose authority?

Let me say what this does not mean. The notion of Sola Scriptura does not mean that human authority is not important, or that man cannot be authoritative. In fact, having erroneous view of Sola Scriptura is the root of so many problems, not only in the RCC but more so in the professing evangelical churches.

Let me describe for you what typically happens when you misunderstand Sola Scriptura. One, people would run around and say, “I don’t need church; I don’t need anyone telling me what to do; all I need is me and my Bible.” Hence, what this type of misunderstanding often produces is the spirit of autonomy. Yet, the very Bible they so profess clearly debunks such nonsense.

To this type of people, I often use Hebrews 13:17, which says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” So, I would directly ask, who is your pastor, and are you currently joyfully obeying and submitting to your pastor or elders leadership? If the answer is no, then I quickly tell him/her that they are in clear violation of Scripture, hence, they are in sin. And I would graciously tell him/her not to say they “love Jesus” when in fact they are living in sin.

Such autonomy leads to disregard for being committed and having accountability to other Christians in a local church, and having no authority to submit to in a local church, hence, eventually these independent and autonomous people give authority to themselves to become the authority. In other words, they promote themselves to be the authoritative figures when they have absolutely no credential to show.

How would you like to walk into a doctor’s office who gave himself the credential? Or, how would you like to have someone cut you open on the operating table who gave himself the credential? If we expect people from different vocational fields to have standards and credentials, how much more should we expect from ministers of the word? Some people, especially, the young guys who want to be in the ministry but do not want to go through a formal training that demands a hard work, often say things that I used to say when I was young and immature, namely that God used people without any formal training. I used to say, what about Spurgeon, Moody, Tozer, and Lloyd-Jones who never gone to seminary? When I hear young guys talk like that, I quickly remind them that they’re no Spurgeon, Moody, Tozer, or Lloyd-Jones!

Another byproduct of misunderstanding Sola Scriptura is privatization of Scripture. Since they care little about being committed to a local church or having to submit to the elders of a local church to be instructed, rebuked, corrected, and be equipped, they often resort to privatization of Scripture through a small group Bible study, where the matter of Bible interpretation is at the mercy of people’s opinions.

In addition, another related concern that I have is overly consumed promotion for “personal Bible study” that is so prevalent among evangelicals. Although I value the importance of reading and studying the Bible for yourself, you should do so not with the idea that you are self-sufficient. The Bible calls that pride.

We have so many mavericks in today’s churches that their sole authority lies at the result of their “personal Bible study,” where God “personally” shown them “the real” meaning and insights of a particular passage of Scripture. Or, their sole authority lies as a result of what they have read or what they have heard on radio or TV, but care little as to what their own pastor teaches. In fact, for many of these people, their pastor is not the pastor of their local churches but pastor-at-large via online, TV, or some evangelical personalities.

Although Luther, Calvin and other Reformers had some differences, they all taught to respect the authoritative teaching office of ministers. In fact, for John Calvin, not only he had a high view of preaching, but he also encouraged Christians to have a high regard for those who are called to preach. You can imagine if you would to sit under the ministry of Calvin for many years, not only you would develop a deep appreciation and affection for the word, but also to those who are called to preach the word. In fact, Calvin alluded the preachers to “the very mouth of God.” He said in his Institutes:

Those who think the authority of the Word is dragged down by the baseness of the men called to teach it disclose their own ungratefulness. For, among the many excellent gifts with which God has adored the human race, it is a singular privilege that he deigns to consecrate to himself the mouths and tongues of men in order that his voice may resound in them (4.1.5).[1]

I say all that to show you that Sola Scriptura does not mean that human authority is not important, or that man cannot be authoritative. That would be a clear contradiction to Ephesians 4:11-12, Hebrews 13:17, and a number of other passages.

Now, what Sola Scriptura does mean is that the inerrant Scripture is the only source of written revelation of God, which all things are measured. Moreover, the Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from the penalty of our sin and the Bible alone is the standard by which all faith and practices are measured. Hence, this has several implications. First, because the Bible alone is inerrant, sufficient, and is the final court of appeal, no church creed, church council or individual can override the Bible.

Second, since the canon of Scripture is closed, there are no more ongoing “new” prophetic revelations of God. Hence, when we speak of God, we always say, “It is written,” not “Well, God told me last night,” as if he speaks outside of what he has already written. In addition, the Holy Spirit does not speak independently or contrary to what is already set forth in the Bible. Moreover, no personal experiences can override the Bible; rather all personal experiences must be tested according to Scripture.

II. Solus Christus (Christ Alone)

I would like to remind you once again that the RCC does affirm the historical Jesus, namely born of the virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, and on the third day, he arose from the dead, and after several days he ascended into heaven. However, it is one thing to affirm the historical Jesus, but it is something else to understand what that implies theologically and practically.

Once again, the key word in Solus Christus is solus. Here, the issue is how much of the person and the works of Christ affect the justifying of sinners? Unlike the RCC’s teachings and practices, the Reformers taught that Christ’s sinless life and his substitutionary atonement alone are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to God.

Thus, what Solus Christus clearly implies is that nothing can take away and nothing can add to what Christ has already accomplished. Hence, when we speak of Christ alone, it is just that, Christ alone. It is not Christ plus the pope, Christ plus sacramental grace, Christ plus ongoing mass, Christ plus penance, Christ plus baptism, etc. That is what Luther and other Reformers called heresies in both doctrines and practices, because those things are not the true depictions of the true gospel; rather, it clearly contradicts the biblical gospel.

III. Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)

I would like to remind you that the RCC does speak of grace. However, where the Reformers drastically differ is its definition and descriptions of the word grace. With that in mind, would you please turn your Bible to Romans 11:6? This is one of the key biblical arguments against the RCC’s view and practices.

However, to get the full force of Romans 11:6, we must understand the context, both immediate and remote context. The immediate context in which Romans 11:6 is found is about God’s election or God’s choice of his remnant (11:1-5), especially, end of verse 5 states, “[God’s] remnant according to God’s gracious choice.” That means God’s choice is not predicated on the recipients of his grace. That is to say, God’s remnant is not God’s remnant because they were so good or deserving to be God’s remnant. Rather, as the text reads “according to God’s gracious choice.” In theology, this refers to God’s sovereign choice or his sovereign grace. His choice is completely unilateral, not bilateral; and his choice is completely monergistic, not synergistic. All that is to say, his saving grace is an example of the sovereignty of God. In fact, if we would to move beyond the immediate context of Romans 11 to the remote context, more examples of God’s sovereignty scream for our attention. For instance, just look at the sheer powerful example in 9:10-16. A text like this utterly destroys Arminian soteriology.

Now, here is the force of Romans 11:6. Since salvation is by grace (meaning, receiving from God that which I do not deserve or cannot be earned by any merits of my own), it is no longer on the basis of works (e.g. penance, mass, sacramental rituals, etc). Otherwise grace is no longer grace.

Again, the key word in Sola Gratia is sola. To say grace alone, what we are really saying is that salvation is the work of God’s sovereign grace alone. No one or nothing can contribute or cooperate with God’s grace alone.

IV. Sola Fide (Faith Alone)

Faith can be defined and described as a noun, as in belief, doctrines, doctrinal statement, or articles of faith. It can be also defined and described as a verb, as in to believe. In regards to Christian salvation, both are required – belief and to believe.

However, most people think of faith as in having faith in faith. One of the popular postmodern statements is “Just believe, as long as you do so sincerely.” What that implies is that it doesn’t matter what you believe (whether something is true or false) as long as you do so sincerely. In other words, your sincerity outweighs the substance, which is a pure nonsense. The problem with such notion is that you can be sincere about something all you want, but not realizing that you can be sincerely wrong!

Sola Fide emphasizes on both correct belief and correctly acting on that belief, namely simply to believe. Some theologians refer to this act of believing as “appropriating the act of faith.”

What Reformed theology teaches is that even the ability to believe is an act of God’s sovereign grace. Hence, when people argue whether salvation is an act of my believing or act of God (sovereignty of God vs. responsibility of man), as I often say, it is not either or, but both.

V. Soli Deo Gloria (God’s Glory Alone)

Here lies the answer for God’s reconciliation of sinners to himself – so that he alone would be glorified. Hence, the goal of God’s redemption is worship. It is to the praise of the glory of his grace (Ephesians 1:6). God saved us, ultimately, so that he would be worshipped.

CONCLUSION

The Five-Solas of Reformation Gospel can be summarized this way: we are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, which is revealed in Scripture alone, all for God’s glory alone.

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[1] John Calvin, The Institutes of Christian Religion, 2 volumes, translated and indexed by Ford Lewis Battles, edited by John T. McNeill (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2006), 2:1018.