Five Solas: Sola Scriptura (Part 1)

We’re doing a five-week study on the Gospel using the Five Solas of the Reformation as the framework:

The Five Solas are five Latin phrases (or slogans) that emerged during the Protestant Reformation and summarize the Reformers’ basic theological beliefs in contradistinction to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church of the day. The Latin word sola means “alone” in English. The five solas were what the Reformers believed to be the only things needed in their respective functions in Christian salvation. Listing them as such was also done with a view to excluding other things that hindered salvation. This formulation was intended to distinguish between what were viewed as deviations in the Christian church, and the essentials of Christian life and practice.

• 1 Sola Gratia (“by grace alone”)
• 2 Sola fide (“by faith alone”)
• 3 Sola Scriptura (“by Scripture alone”)
• 4 Solus Christus (“In Christ alone”)
• 5 Soli Deo Gloria (“Glory to God alone”)

For the purposes of our study, I thought it would be good to start with Scripture. God’s Word is most often the starting point for faith, and understanding concepts like biblical inerrancy, the historicity behind the Bible’s makeup, and the various translations of the Bible is important. But beyond theology, for our faith to be authentic, real and attractive to the world around us, we have to seek the knowledge that undergirds the truth of the Gospel.  Knowledge is not the end zone, but it is an integral aspect of our faith foundation, as is leads to wisdom and sanctification. One of my favorite pastors put it his way, “Your Theology leads to your Doxology, which results in your Biography,“ which means this: what you believe (theology) enables you to worship (doxology), and through worshipping, you become like that which you worship (biography). You get to know who God is, you worship Him, then you’re transformed/conformed to Christlikeness. So that’s where we’re headed.

If you want to check out the sermon we watched on Scripture, here is the link:

Scripture – Part 1 (Mark Driscoll)

If you’ve never heard of Mark Driscoll or Mars Hill Church up in Seattle… repent. Just Kidding… But not really. He’s a solid Bible teacher, and this sermon on Scripture addresses the concept of Sola Scriptura really well. If you want the notes that accompany it, here is the link (Pages 9-19):

Scripture – Notes – Pages 9-19

We finished Part 1 of his sermon yesterday, and in two weeks (Saturday Sept. 22) will finish up Part 2, and then get into the second installment of our study, Solo Gratia (“by Grace Alone”).