Thread: What are the "five Solas" and what do they mean?
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What are the "five Solas" and what do they mean?
Posted : 4 Mar, 2011 08:13 PM
What are the �five solas,� and what do they mean?
The �five solas� is a term used to designate five great foundational rallying cries of the Protestant reformers. They are as follows: �Sola Scriptura� (Scripture Alone); �Sola Gratia� (Grace Alone); �Sola Fide� (Faith Alone); �Solus Christus� (Christ Alone); and �Soli Deo Gloria� (To God Alone Be Glory).
These �five solas� were developed in response to specific perversions of the truth that were taught by the corrupt Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Church taught that the foundation for faith and practice was a combination of the scriptures, sacred tradition, and the teachings of the magisterium and the pope; but the Reformers said, �No, our foundation is sola scriptura�. The Catholic Church taught that we are saved through a combination of God's grace, the merits that we accumulate through penance and good works, and the superfluity of merits that the saints before us accumulated; the reformers responded, �sola gratia�. The Catholic Church taught that we are justified by faith and the works that we produce, which the righteousness that God infuses in us through faith brings about. The reformers responded, �No, we are justified by faith alone, which lays hold of the alien righteousness of Christ that God freely credits to the account of
those who believe�. The Catholic Church taught that we are saved by the merits of Christ and the saints, and that we approach God through Christ, the saints, and Mary, who all pray and intercede for us. The Reformers responded, �No, we are saved by the merits of Christ Alone, and we come to God through Christ Alone�. The Catholic Church adhered to what Martin Luther called the �theology of glory� (in opposition to the �theology of the cross�), in which the glory for a sinner's salvation could be attributed partly to Christ, partly to Mary and the saints, and partly to the sinner himself. The reformers responded, �No, the only true gospel is that which gives all glory to God alone, as is taught in the scriptures.�
Today, the Catholic Church teaches the same essential perversions of truth; and much of Protestantism has seen a regress to many of the same corruptions, in many circles and denominations. It is a pressing need for Christians everywhere to reaffirm and champion anew the �five solas� which underlay and gave impetus to the Protestant Reformation.
Our divine Master called upon sinners to repent and believe the gospel. Some would have us to believe that it is a mistake to call upon persons dead in trespasses and sins to do anything. "How," it is argued, "can those who are dead repent? They are incapable of any spiritual movement. They must first get the power ere they can either repent or believe."
What is our reply to all this? A very simple one indeed--our Lord knows better than all the theologians in the world what ought to be preached. He knows all about man's condition--his guilt, his misery, his spiritual death, his utter helplessness, his total inability to think a single right thought, to utter a single right word, to do a single right act; and yet He called upon men to repent. This is quite enough for us. It is no part of our business to seek to reconcile seeming differences. It may seem to us difficult to reconcile man's utter powerlessness with his responsibility; but "God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain." It is our happy privilege, and our bounder duty, to believe what He says, and do what He tells us. This is true wisdom, and it yields solid peace. ... Our Lord preached repentance, and He commanded His apostles to preach it; and they did so constantly.
