Timeline:
~33 A.D. - 300 A.D. -The
church was committed to Christ.
~ 300 A.D. -Christianity
becomes the state religion of Rome and gradually devolves into what
we know as Roman Catholicism; full of traditions and rites, elevating
the authority of the church over the authority of God's Holy Word.
~1600 A.D. -The
Reformation begins. The Church moves toward how it began. Institution
of the five Solas.
The Five Solas:
Sola-(Latin) One, alone,
only
1.) Sola Scriptura-
"Scripture alone" or "Only Scripture"
This was to prevent the
Reformed church from again elevating its authority and placing itself
over the Bible, instead of submitting to the authoritative Word of
God.
2.) Sola Fide- "Faith
alone" or "Only faith"
This was to remind the
Church that salvation is only
through faith. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word
of God." ~Romans 10:17. You do not work for your salvation, nor
do you work to prove your faith. Your are saved -by faith- and good
works are a sort of by-product or side-effect of that saving faith.
(See James 2:14-26 for faith vs. works.)
3.) Sola Gratia- "Grace
alone" or "Only grace"
This is a
vital part of Christianity. We can only be saved through faith, but
that is only because
of God's grace. "If we confess our sins, He is Faithful and Just
to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
~1 John 1:9. Faithful
because He will always do it, Just
because His wrath against sin has been satisfied in Christ. Grace
could be defined as "Unmerited favor". People often say
things like "That's not fair" when they don't get their
way, but never have I heard someone say that when receiving grace.
Grace makes life not fair; Hallelujah!
4.) Sola
Christos- "Christ alone" or "Only Christ"
We can
only be saved through Christ. I heard it once said, "You can
take the principal player out of any religion and replace them with
anyone else- Mohammed could have been Joe, Buddha could've been Bob,
etc., but you can't take Christ out of Christian. If you take
"Christ" out of "Christian" you're left with
"Ian" and Ian can't help you.
5.) Sola
Gloria- "Glory alone" or "Only Glory"
God's
Glory is always understated. His glory is so abundant that it is not
within human capacity to fully comprehend it. We may try, but we will
always come short. God does only the things that will glorify Him the
most. We should work to do that also; that means doing what he says
because obedient children bring Him glory. (See 1 Cor. 10:31)
The angels
recognized the significance and presence of God's Glory, their
response was "Holy, holy, holy!" Isaiah recognized the
awesomeness of God's Glory and his unworthiness to be in God's
presence, his response was "Woe is me for I am undone!"
(Isaiah 6:1-8) Solomon blessed God's nation (1 Kings 8). Peter,
James, and John were confused (Mark 9:1-13). In 1 Samuel 4-6 we see
several responses to God's Glory. Eli's sons disregard it and tried
to use God, the Israelites mourn the loss of it, the Philistines
belittle it, then reject it. When the Philistines captured the Ark of
the Covenant, they put it in their temple next to their idol. The
next morning, their idol had fallen over, so they set it aright. The
next morning, their idol had fallen on its face, and its head and
hands were broken off. All that is to say, if we allow God to take
his rightful place in our lives, idols can't stand. Anything we put
in His place will fall. Whether it's money, relationships, people,
activities, things, anything! If you let Him, God will put it in its
place.
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