The Reformers of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century gave the Christian community “Five Solas” that are most essential to Christianity in the “Church age.” The word “sola” is the Latin for our english word “alone.” These five solas are as follows:
- Sola Scriptura meaning “Scripture alone”
- Sola Fide meaning “faith alone”
- Sola Gratia meaning “grace alone”
- Solus Christus meaning “Christ alone”
- Soli Deo Gloria meaning “to Glory of God alone”
“Scripture alone” refers to the Holy Scripture or Holy Bible of sixty-six books that is divided into Old Testament and New Testament. All Scripture is “God-breathed” and chosen by God to communicate with mankind. God alone appointed some forty human authors to write His Word. We read, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16,17). Here, God sets forth the purposes of Scripture. The Bible provides everything we need to know and apply to our lives in order to please God.
God has also given us the “indwelling” Holy Spirit to produce holiness in us, and to teach, direct, lead, and guide us to live godly lives. Scripture is not isolated from what the Scripture states elsewhere. “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20,21). Therefore, “Scripture alone” means it is the Word of God and not the word of man.
“Sola Fide” means that a person is saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone, who came into the world for the sole purpose of saving mankind from sin. When a person receives Christ as Savior, God grants pardon to him on the basis of his faith alone. This means that God completely removes the “guilt and penalty” of sin because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross. The believer is “justified” by God because of his faith alone. Justification was preached by the apostle Paul who stated “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38:39). “Everyone who believes is freed from everything” is a direct reference to justification. In other words, “all who believes in Jesus Christ is justified from all things,” and declared righteous by God.
“Sola Gratia” means that a person is saved by the free grace of God alone. “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 ” (Ephesians 2:8,9). Grace is “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior” (Titus 3:4). Grace does not depend on works done by us in righteousness. Under grace God gives righteousness to man. In its fullness, grace required the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, bearing tin mind He came to die for sinners. “For from his fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:16,17). Through grace alone, God grants to sinful man that which he does not deserve. Therefore the believer stands in grace before God.
“Solus Christus” means Jesus Christ alone is the Christian’s Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ is God’s revelation of Himself to us. The Scripture states that “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). It is through Christ alone why are we able to have any knowledge of God. It is only through Christ that sinful man be reconciled to God. Only through Christ can sins be forgiven and salvation is received. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
“Soli Deo Gloria” means to the glory of God alone. God has declared: “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” (Isaiah 42:8). This profound statement made by our Sovereign God means that glory belongs to Him. John, in his vision of the heavenly scene, captures the angels exalting the Lamb said “I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels . . . saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”(Revelation 5:11,12). Heaven is referred to as glory in the Bible and by believers as well. Paul writes, “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16). “Taken up in glory” refers to Christ’s ascension after His death, burial, and resurrection.
The following hymn is a reminder that God alone created all things. It also brings out the majesty and glory of the “incomparable” God. “God and God alone / Created all things we call our own / From the mighty to the small / The glory in them all / Is God’s and God’s alone.” (Steve Green, 8.1.1956).
Had it not been for Scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and to the glory of God alone, there would be no separation or distinction between the Christian and the world. Thank God for Martin Luther and others who fully realized that salvation is secured by faith in Christ alone and by God’s grace alone.