The Truth About Believing: "Sola Fide"

Today we continue our look at “The Five Solas,” the five biblical truths about the nature and purpose of salvation. One of these five basic truths is Sola Fide, which in Latin literally means, “by faith alone.” This biblical doctrine teaches us that salvation comes to humanity only through faith in the finished work of Christ, not by virtue of any deeds we do, trying to be good enough or earn our own way to heaven.

As with the rest of “The Five Solas,” Sola Fide rests firmly on the unanimous testimony of God’s Word. For example, Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” John 3:16, 18 declares, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. . . . Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Based on these and many other such texts of Scripture, the early church taught that biblical faith consists of three complementary aspects: knowing, agreeing, and relying. Faith means knowing the truth that Christ died to save us, agreeing with that truth, and relying upon Christ to save you. In other words, it is not enough to merely know the facts of the Gospel and agree with them in principle: you must rely completely upon Christ. Without that ultimate dependence on Who Christ is and what He has done, faith is incomplete.

Notice also that biblical faith must have a proper object: it’s not simply believing in whatever or whomever we want to believe in, even if our faith is sincere and strong. Rather, biblical faith means believing in the one and only reliable Savior, Jesus Christ. Many people seem to put their faith in faith, and try to work themselves into a state of believing that if they just believe strong enough and long enough, then what they are hoping for will come to pass. Of course, then, if their longed-for result doesn’t pan out, they conclude that they didn’t have “enough faith.” Interestingly enough, this completely misses the point of biblical teaching on faith, which states that what matters is not the quantity of our faith, but the object of our faith. In other words, do you believe in believing, or do you believe in Christ?

It’s like this. Suppose you want to walk across a frozen river. You stand on this side, gazing across to the other shore, over the snow-covered ice on the river. As you stir up your faith with memories of other frozen rivers on which you have walked, you believe the ice will hold you, and step onto it to cross to the other side. Will you make it, or will you go through into the frigid water below? The outcome is determined not primarily by the strength of your faith, but by the strength of the ice.

The good news is that Jesus is strong enough: we can depend on Him, for He alone is mighty to save us. This is why the “Five Solas” go together. We have salvation only through faith in the grace of God as mediated only through Christ and revealed only through the Scriptures. May your faith be driven by God’s Word, rooted in Christ, and centered on His grace!

Next week: “Soli Deo Gloria,” only for the glory of God

The Truth About Salvation: Sola Gratia

Today we continue our look at “The Five Solas,” the five biblical truths taught since the early church that constitute the unique claims of Christianity regarding the nature and purpose of salvation. One of these five basic truths is Sola Gratia, which in Latin literally means, “by grace alone.” This truth teaches us that salvation comes to humanity only because of God’s grace as revealed and mediated through the life, death and resurrection of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Grace itself can be defined as God's favor through Christ to people who deserve His wrath. By His grace, we do not receive the wrath we deserve. Instead, we receive the favor we don't deserve.

As with the rest of “The Five Solas,” Sola Gratia rests firmly on the unanimous testimony of God’s Word. A couple of texts in particular reveal this crucial truth. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Titus 3:5-7 declares, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

The crucial aspect of this truth is that in our relationship with God, we bring nothing to the bargaining table. We are dependent entirely upon God’s grace to put us into a relationship with Him. As that prince of preachers Charles Hadden Spurgeon stated it, “It is not because of anything in us, or that ever can be in us, that we are saved; but because of the boundless love, goodness, pity, compassion, mercy, and grace of God.” In other words, we’re not saved because of anything we are or do, but only because God gave His favor through Christ to us who deserve His wrath.

It is the grace of God that shows us our innate sinfulness; that convinces us that we can’t save ourselves by our own merit; that reveals to us that Christ is sufficient to be our Savior; and that then makes us able to trust Christ’s finished work for our salvation. Thus, as we remember God’s grace, we are rightly moved to glorify Him as the sole source of this immense miracle of being forgiven, made new and adopted into His family.

John Newton, a slave-trader whom God saved and called to preach, wrote of the working of grace in his life this way:

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved.

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Never let yourself stop being amazed by God’s grace!

Next week: “Sola Fide,” only through faith

A note about this Blog's reading level . . .

I just checked the reading level of this blog (at http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx), and discovered that you only need a JUNIOR HIGH reading level to understand my blog.

Not surprising, since it is written for publication in the local newspaper here in Sterling, Colorado.

Still, I occasionally have people in my church ask me to put some dictionaries in the pew racks. I think I don't take that as a complement.

"To extrapolate freely, paradoxical though it may appear, implies a tangential rather than an elliptical approach, inasmuch as the sum of the applied apologia tend rather to inculcate the ambivalence . . ." I seem to remember that from somebody's comedic monologue thirty or so years ago. Maybe George Carlin?

The Truth About Jesus: "Solus Christus"

Today we continue our look at “The Five Solas,” the five truths taught since the early church that constitute the unique claims of Christianity regarding the nature and purpose of salvation. One of these five basic truths is Solus Christus, which in Latin literally means, “through Christ alone,” meaning that salvation is available to humanity only through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The doctrine of Solus Christus forces us to think clearly and logically about the biblical claims of Christ. At the heart of Christ’s claims are His words recorded in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through Me.” In other words, Jesus declared Himself to be not just ONE way to heaven, but that He was and is the ONLY way to heaven.

Oddly enough, some are offended by this claim. “How dare this Jesus make such a statement?” some say indignantly. “That’s not what He really meant” others maintain, as they do some interpretive chicanery trying to circumvent the plain evidence of Holy Scripture.

It’s like this. Humanity is drowning in a sea of our own sin, and Jesus has jumped in to save us, calling out as He does so, “Trust Me. I’m your only hope.” How tragic that so many of the drowning respond to Him, “How dare You claim to be my only hope?!” even as they sink under the everlasting waves of their own perdition.

And so, in an attempt to minimize Jesus’ claim to be the only way to heaven, some call Him a great moral teacher or a good spiritual example for humanity.

What nonsense! To say that Jesus was just a great teacher, when He claimed to be the Son of God and the only Savior of humanity, is just sloppy thinking. In the face of Jesus’ claim, only the following responses make sense: either His claim was false or it was true.

If His claim was false, He would be a deluded fool or the devil in disguise, but certainly not a great teacher or spiritual example. But, if Jesus’ claim is true, we should worship and trust Him with our whole hearts, for He alone is our hope of salvation.

Deride Him as a fool, denounce Him as a demon, or trust Him as Your Savior; but don’t try to pass off some silliness about His being merely a teacher or example. Humanity’s need for a Savior and Christ’s claim to be the only Savior available are too serious to treat with such flawed thinking. The truth is that God sent His Son as humanity’s only source of salvation: Solus Christus.

Some say it’s offensive to think that He claimed to be the only way to heaven. I say it’s an undeserved miracle of God’s grace that He has offered us any way to heaven at all.

What do you say?

Next week: “Sola Gratia,” only by grace.

The Truth About the Bible: “Sola Scriptura”

Today we continue our look at “The Five Solas,” the five truths taught since the early church that constitute the unique claims of Christianity regarding the nature and purpose of salvation. One of these five basic truths is Sola Scriptura, which in Latin literally means, “by Scripture alone,” meaning that the special revelation of God by which humanity can know all that is necessary for life and salvation comes to us only by the Scriptures. In other words, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and only all-sufficient revelation of the purposes of God, and in them are found all the revealed truths of God necessary for salvation and eternal life.

The obvious implication of this truth is that the Scriptures are authoritative in the life of every Christian as well as in the church. John Wesley stated it this way: “In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church.”

The point of this doctrine is that God gave us the Scriptures not merely as a compendium of vague spiritual advice. He meant the Bible to define our faith, direct our decisions and determine our lives. Indeed, that is precisely the role Bible claims for itself: “All Scripture is breathed out by God. It is profitable for teaching us, reproving us, correcting us and training us in right living, so that God’s people may be complete, lacking no good thing” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Sadly, some who claim to believe that the Bible is God’s revealed truth deny its practical authority in their lives. They habitually make decisions without reference to Scripture and instead allow themselves to be guided by the culture. That in itself is why we need to recover from the early church the important truth of Sola Scriptura.

During the first few centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection, the church found itself confronted by numerous heresies, usually involving false teachings about the way of salvation and the person and work of Christ. In every case, Scripture served as the sole source of truth by which these heresies were refuted.

The early church fathers, those second- through the fourth-century leaders who helped define the basic doctrines of Christianity, developed their teachings entirely and exclusively from the Scriptures. From the teachings of second century Polycarp of Smyrna and his student Irenaeus of Lyons, to those of fourth century Gregory of Nyssa and Cyril of Jerusalem, the defining doctrines of the early church are straightforward expositions of the Bible. Indeed, for the first four centuries of the church, it was universally taken for granted that for any doctrine to be accepted by the church, that doctrine had to be founded and built entirely and exclusively upon Scripture.

Clearly, the early church practiced the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. What about the church today? More to the point, what about you? Do you seek to live as a follower of Christ Sola Scriptura, “by the Scriptures alone”? I hope you do. Only God’s Word is the word of life.

Next week: “Solus Christus,” through Christ alone

Five Truths Every Christian Should Know

Four-hundred and ninety years ago yesterday, All Hallows’ Eve, Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, ninety-five propositions for debate about the nature of the church and the way of salvation. He could not have imagined what would follow, as what became known as the Protestant Reformation began shortly thereafter and eventually revolutionized western Christianity.

Out of this astonishing move of God there developed a set of five biblical doctrines that the Reformers believed were a needed clarification about the central truths of how God intends humanity to be in relationship with Him. These five doctrines were stated in Latin (as was most church doctrine in the sixteenth century), and have come to be known as “The Five Solas,” using the Latin term for “only” or “exclusively” in each doctrine. Stated briefly, these five truths are as follows:

“Sola Scriptura” – the truth is found “only in scripture;”

“Solus Christus” – salvation is mediated “only by Christ;”

“Sola Gratia” – God grants salvation “only by grace;”

“Sola Fide” – we receive salvation “only by faith;” and

“Soli Deo Gloria” – in all things, “to God alone be glory.”

Over the course of the next several weeks I want to share with readers of this column how we can live by these five defining teachings of biblical salvation. For today, let’s look at why these five doctrines are important as the defining “boundaries” of salvation as taught in Scripture. By placing these truths into one sentence, we can integrate them as follows:

Salvation is revealed only in Scripture, available only in Christ, extended to humanity only by God’s grace, received only by faith, and accomplished exclusively for God’s glory.

When we combine these truths this way, we can see that they summarize not only the way of salvation, but also the very purpose of creation: that everything centers on God. It’s not about us. Humanity is not the center of all things. God is. He is both the founder and the focus of all that exists. Therefore, we can not rightly understand the nature of our existence unless we take ourselves out of the center of our thinking, and direct our attention to God. Thus, “The Five Solas” are an unshakable foundation for God-centered living, which is the only way for us to be delivered from the undeniably horrifying fruit of our own sin-stained natures.

Another way of putting it is that “The Five Solas” show us Who God really is; and because they show us who God is, they also show us who we are. He is the Benefactor; we are the beneficiaries. He is the Fountain; we are the vessels. He is the Giver; we are the recipients. He is the Holy One; we are sinners. He is the Savior; we are the saved. Or, as Romans 11:36 puts it, “For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Time to Settle a Basic Issue

Many Christians, maybe most of us, struggle with a form of doubt. This kind of doubt is not so much an academic skepticism as it is a sort of veiled rebellion, a subtle self-assertion that hides an unsubmitted heart and a willful spirit.

In my own life, I wrestled with this kind of doubt in my early days as a Christian. I would never have said I actually doubted God’s Word. However, I searched for loopholes in It that would allow me to maintain my willful ways. Then, God forced me to face a basic issue about life.

The issue was ownership.

Let me explain.

As a pastor’s son, I had grown up with a clear knowledge of the Gospel from an early age. Before I was ten, I trusted Christ and committed my life to Him – at least, insofar as I knew what that meant at that age. For eight years thereafter, I increasingly viewed my relationship with Him more or less as a way to get God to guarantee the kind of life I wanted for myself. I wanted God to make me what I wanted to be.

During these eight years, God was arranging a confrontation between Him and me. In one crystallized moment in October, 1971 (can it really be thirty-six years ago this month?), God forced me to realize that most of my dreams were nothing more than the expression of my selfish desire to be in charge of my own life.

In other words, He made me understand that I am not my own. God, as Creator, has the right of absolute ownership of everything that exists. Moreover, as Redeemer, He has purchased me back from my own rebellion against Him. Thus, His ownership of me is two-fold: He owns me because He created me, and He owns me because He redeemed me.

In a moment of time, God made this truth exceptionally, life-changingly clear. Nothing else mattered until this was settled: He made me; He saved me; and He owns me. Everything I am and everything I have; my past, present and future; my talents and abilities; my assets and liabilities: they all belong to Him. What I had previously considered mine was really all His.

Settling that issue didn’t solve every problem or answer every doubt. But it did clarify a lot of other issues. All of a sudden, the daily details of my life mattered, because my life was, in point of fact, not my life at all. Everything became important because it was an expression of His ownership.

Have you settled the issue of who owns you? A great joy comes when you realize that you are owned by God, and your sense of ownership passes out of your feeble hands into His almighty grip. After all, it’s much more blessed to live in God’s house than your own; to drive God’s car than yours; and to follow God’s plans than those you make.