The Five Solas

Nov 05, 2023

Summary of Sermon

On Oct 31st, many of the denominations of churches on earth celebrated the Reformation. This was an event in 1517, where a famous Catholic priest called Martin Luther rebelled against the heresies of the Catholic church that he served. Those who are in conservative independent Baptist churches have never been a part of the Catholic church. The local church was started by Jesus on the shores of Galilee in about 30 AD. The Catholic church did not begin until about 590 AD. Luther famously nailed 95 theses to the door of a church and they can be broken down into 5 basic areas:

Sola Scriptura: 2 Tim 3:161-6, the Bible and the Bible alone are all we need as churches to know and obey the will of God. No other books or revelations are needed.

Sola Fide: Romans 4:1-12, we are saved by faith alone and here we see in Romans 4 that Abraham ‘believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness’, pure faith and nothing else.

Sala Gratia: Ephesians 2:8-9, we are saved by grace and grace alone. We can do no work to earn our salvation. God designed, offered and paid for the salvation we have. He alone sustains us until we are gathered to Him.

Sola Christus: Jesus and Jesus alone is our salvation. John 14: 6, Acts 4: 12. There is no other name for salvation but Jesus.

Sola Deo Gloria: we live and breathe for the glory of God; the church exists and all creation is for the glory of God. In Ephesians 3:20-21, ALL glory belongs to God.