One Word Makes All the Difference...
Celebrating the Sola on Reformation Day
A Day To Remember
October 31st is a day of mystery, darkness, and many bright lights. You know what I’m referring to? Reformation Day! Over 500 years ago (1517), this day sparked the Protestant Reformation, a crucial moment in the history of Christ’s Church. Our faith hinges on what was recovered during that time.
It comes down to one word: Sola.
Everyone knows precision is essential. In the 1500s, Roman Catholic theology dominated, and the selling of indulgences to secure one's right status before God bred terror in the souls of men and women. The Church became deformed, and the gospel was at stake. Reformers like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and many other “bright lights” worked to reform the Church according to Scripture. They protested against Rome’s errors and were removed, giving us the name Protestants.
The Reformation corrected Rome's teaching: salvation by grace plus merit, faith plus works, Christ plus other mediators, for the glory of God plus Mary and all the other saints. Instead, the Reformers affirmed salvation by grace alone (Sola Gratia), through faith alone (Sola Fide), in Christ alone (Solus Christus), according to Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura), for God's glory alone (Soli Deo Gloria). This one Latin word, Sola (meaning “Only”), made all the difference (One word or letter usually changes the game in theological debate; just ask Arius).
In our day, we’ve (sadly) retained the name “protestant” while jettisoning “reformation.” The American church is a boat adrift from the dock of orthodoxy, its slow departure obscured by the thick fog of ecumenicism. Doctrinal minimalism, cloaked in the name of “unity,” has become the norm. By contrast, Reformation Theology is concerned with the glory of Christ shining forth in all its lustrous splendor through retrieving and preserving the true gospel. The Apostle Paul had the same concern (Galatians 2:4–5).
The next four weeks of Theology Thursday will explore Justification by Faith (Sola Fide) from four angles because this reality remains for us as disciples: we’re not done protesting, and we’re always reforming (Semper Reformanda!).
Justification:
“Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.” (Westminster Assembly, The Westminster Confession of Faith)
“…Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified”
Galatians 2:16.
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