The Language of Salvation

The nature of salvation, how it is accomplished, and the roles played in it are hotly debated. Scriptures are scoured and finely examined to try and produce a verdict, some conclusion that we can all agree on and that fully explains everything.

Why does it matter? Well, what you believe about salvation effects what you believe about God and His relationship with man, and your conclusions will (or at least, should) determine your entire worldview and the way you live your life. The implications are enormous.

Ultimately, I am of the opinion that we will never fully understand every aspect of salvation and how it works until we reach heaven. How does God change a black and sinful heart of stone into one of flesh? How does God's sovereignty work together with man's will? We don't know how. We just know that it does, and that it works, because we see and feel the effects.

However, there are some basic truths that we can infer about salvation just by looking at the words, examples, metaphors, and analogies that the Bible uses to describe the salvation process. And, not surprisingly, they favor a Reformed view of Salvation. Take a look:

Adopted: Romans 8:15, 8:23; 9:4; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5.
Who does the work in the process of adoption? The adopted, or he adopters? We don't adopt God, He adopts us. God is the one who works salvation, and thus He deserves the glory.

Bought/Purchased: Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23; Revelation 5:9.
What role does an item play in being purchased? Christ purchased us with His blood. What part did we play in that? None.

Inherited: Acts 20:32, 26:18; Ephesians 1:11, 1:14, 1:18, 5:5, Colossians 1:12, 3:24; Hebrews 9:15; 1 Peter 1:4.
The Kingdom of heaven is referred to as our inheritance. An inheritance is something that is given to you whether you want it or not, and is not something you earn. It is bequeathed to you, typically by your parents. In the same way, our heavenly Father who has adopted us, has prepared an inheritance for us.

Made Alive/Raised: 1 Corinthians 15:22; Ephesians 2:1, 2:5-6; Colossians 2:12-13, 3:1.
What can a dead man do to raise himself up? What choice can he make to be raised up? And can He resist being made alive? No, he can do nothing, for He is dead. Who raises Him up? Who does the work? God, of course. Look at the raising of Lazarus or the raising of Jairus' daughter. Jesus says "Come forth" and "Arise" (respectively) and the corpses, made alive, obey. They don't sit and say "You know, it's my choice, I'll make it when I'm good and ready." They come. A dead man cannot choose to be made alive, a dead man cannot make himself alive or play any active part in doing so, and a dead man cannot resist being made alive. It's the same when God goes to make us spiritually alive in Him.

Born: John 1:13, 3:3-8; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:1, 5:18.
A baby does not give birth to itself, nor does his birth hinge upon his decision to be born or not. The same is true of our new birth in Christ.

The list goes on. The scripture is bursting with examples like these. The words used in the Bible to describe the salvation process and man's relationship with God constantly affirm the Five Solas and the Five Points of Calvinism: specifically, that salvation is of God, and not of man.

"The only thing of our very own which we contribute to our salvation is the sin which makes it necessary." --William Temple

Soli Deo Gloria

Finally, we come to the last of the Five Solas: Soli Deo Gloria, "The Glory of God Alone."

The first thing I want to do is get a supposed contradiction out of the way. "Sola" means "Alone," and yet, we have five of them? Five "alones"? How can they be alone if there are five of them? Here's how it works. According to Scripture Alone, we are justified by Grace Alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone, for the Glory of God alone. They are each alone in doing what they do, but together there are five of them.

In a way, Soli Deo Gloria is the single doctrine that sits behind, flows through, and is affirmed by all of the other Solas and the Five Points of Calvinism. Some would say it is the heart of reformed theology. When God's word is the only authority, God gets all the glory. When salvation is by Grace through Faith and not of works (or anything else man does), then God gets all the glory. If saving power belongs to Christ alone, then God gets all the glory when an individual is saved. The five points of Calvinism also follow this theme (but we'll see that some other time).

The Reformers put forth Soli Deo Gloria as the reason why God does what He does. Why did He create the universe? Why did He create humans? Why did He send His Son? The answer is "for His glory." All things that exist (especially humans), exist for the purpose of bringing God glory, and all things that happen (yes, even bad things), happen for the purpose of bringing God glory.

Now, most Christians would agree with Soli Deo Gloria, to some extent. Non-Reformed Christians say it all the time. They don't have a problem with giving God glory. So I'm not going to go into all of the verses throughout the Bible that talk about giving God glory (I couldn't fit the book of Psalms in a single blog post, haha). Despite the agreement most Christians have with this doctrine, there are parts that they (sometimes unconsciously) disagree with. Specifically, in regards to salvation.

I'll give it to you straight: only the Reformed model of salvation ensures that God gets all the glory. All other models, some way or another, steal some of God's glory. This is why I am as passionate about Reformed Theology as I am. It's not because I like to argue, and this isn't just nit-picking or hairsplitting. This is God's Glory we're talking about. Our sole purpose here on earth. This is big. This is worth division.

So how do other models of salvation "steal" God's glory? The main reason is that they are conditional. God saves you based on something you do. Whether your good works (Catholicism), or your future faith (Conditional Election, from Arminianism), They teach that God looks at you and sees that you have done or will do something to earn, merit, or deserve salvation, even if it's faith. And then, based on this thing we do, He saves us. In that way, we get credit. We earned it. It was us. We had to add to Christ's work on the cross in order for us to be saved. God couldn't have done it without us. We get the glory for what God has done. I'm sorry, but I can't help but see that as theft.

The Reformed model is not like this at all (I want to say "the Biblical model" but I think that's laying it on a little thick). God doesn't save us based on anything we do or will do (Unconditional Election). Why does God save people? Not because He's obligated to, or because we deserve it, or because we asked Him to, etc.. God saves people for the sole purpose of His glory, and therefore, God should receive all the glory when somebody is saved.

This idea is affirmed throughout scripture.

Ephesians 1:3-12 says

"just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory."

Here we see over and over that God does what He does according to His will, according to the riches of His Grace, according to His good pleasure, according to His purpose, according to the counsel of His will. Not based on anything we do or will do. It should be clear then who it is that deserves all the glory:

God.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Solus Christus, Part 1

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I've been very busy of late, having gone on a road trip to Montana and back for Christmas, and now absorbed with the challenges of the new year. Excuses aside, it's high time I finished our journey through the Five Solas.

Today we'll be taking a look at Solus Christus (AKA Solo Christo), which means "Christ Alone."

The Reformers denied any form of salvation or absolution of sins that was given or accomplished by any person other than Christ alone. At the time, the Catholics taught the Church could grant you absolution from your sins (via indulgences, for example), and that the Virgin Mary could intercede on our behalf, acting as a mediator between us and God, and other similar ideas. The reformers responded with the doctrine of Solus Christus, Christ Alone: salvation is accomplished through the work of Christ, not by the intercession of the Church, Saints, or the Virgin Mary, and certainly not by our own works.

Catholic ideas are not the only ones challenged by Solus Christus. Some people believe that you're automatically saved if your parents are saved. Some people believe that you can be saved by trusting in other gods. Some people believe that salvation is all up to yourself and your works. The Reformers denied all these beliefs, affirming that Salvation lies in the person and actions of Christ Alone: not in your parentage, not in other gods, not in your actions.

Clearly, this doctrine ruffles a lot of feathers. But we'll deal with ruffled feathers later. The important question to ask is this: is Solus Christus biblical? You already know I'm going to say 'yes,' but don't take my word for it. Look at the verses for yourselves!

John 14:6 says:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Acts 4:12 says:

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

1 Timothy 2:5-6 says:

"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all..."

1 John 5:12 says:

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

These are only 4 passages, but I shouldn't need more. They make things crystal clear. Nobody else can save you, nobody else can intercede between God and man, nobody else can absolve your sins, nobody but Jesus. And if you think about it, that just makes sense, since nobody else took on the sins of the world but Christ, and therefore, nobody can save but Christ alone.

Stay tuned for the next post, which will take on the arguments against the doctrine of Solus Christus.

Sola Gratia, part 1

 Getting back on track, we'll now take a look at Sola Gratia, the third of the Five Solas of the Reformation.

Sola Gratia means simply "Grace Alone," and the doctrine teaches that we are saved by God's Grace (alone), and not by anything we do. Grace, by definition, is unearned.

This is where some confusion might arise, specifically between Sola Gratia and Sola Fide. "Wait a minute" you might say. "I thought we were saved by our faith, and isn't faith something we do?"
The answer is in Ephesians 2:8-9, one of the most popular proof-texts for Sola Gratia:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast"

As we see in the passage, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone. Faith has been described as the pipes or conduits through which God's Grace flows into us. In this way, Sola Fide and Sola Gratia work together, in harmony.

But that still leaves the question: "Isn't faith something we do?" because if it is, then we should get some of the credit for salvation, since faith was on our part. Right? Well, looking back at the previous passage, we see that this saving faith (along with the Grace preceding it)  is "not of ourselves; it is the gift of God." Yes, faith is something we do, but the ability to have that faith is given to us by God as part of the salvation process. So we see that every aspect of our salvation, including faith, is a gift of God's grace.

Why is it this way? Why don't we contribute to our own salvation? Because we couldn't even if we wanted to. Sola Gratia goes hand in hand with Total Depravity: if we are dead in our sins and trespasses, and enslaved to sin, and don't seek God, then clearly we are unable to save ourselves, much less worthy of being saved. Thus, it is not only logical, but necessary that God do all the work of salvation in us.

Now the question is: what does the scripture say? Does scripture support the doctrine of Sola Gratia? The answer is yes.

Ephesians 2:1-10 says:

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

This passage shows clearly how we, before salvation, were unable to save ourselves or to contribute to our salvation in any way, and therefore, that salvation is by Grace. This will be repeated over and over as we look at the following passages.

Acts 15:11 says:

"But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they."

Acts 18:27 says:

"And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace;"

Romans 3:23-24 says:

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,"

  Romans 5 verses 15 & 21 say:

"But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many... so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

 Romans 11:6 says:

"And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work."

Ephesians 1:7 says:

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace"

2 Thessalonians 2:16 says:

"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,"

2 Timothy 1:9 says:

"who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,"

Titus 2:11 says:

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,"

Titus 3:7 says:

"that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

These are just a few of the many verses which tell us that salvation is a gift of God's grace, and of His grace alone. It should be clear by now that Sola Gratia is a doctrine founded firmly in scripture, and one which no Christian could reasonably object to. However, as we will find out in part two of this post, there are objections to Sola Gratia, and we'll see what we can do to deal with them.

Until then, God's Grace be with you!

Sola Fide: Part 2

Sorry this post is a little late. Today we'll be dealing with common arguments against Sola Fide.

Martin Luther said that Sola Fide was the "doctrine by which the church stands or falls." But can it stand up to the opposing arguments? Let's take a look.

James 2:14-26
James 2 seems to be the go-to passage for Catholics who want to promote Salvation by faith+works. Here's what the passage says in full context:

'What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.'

By this passage alone, it may seem like Salvation is by a combination of faith and works. But you have to understand what James is talking about here. The key verses are 17 and 18:

Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

James is not saying that salvation is a combination of faith and works. He's saying that true faith will produce good works, and that faith that does not produce works is no faith at all. Works are a result of salvation, not the other way around.

Abraham
After James 2, those trying to promote justification by works like to point to Abraham. Abraham is mentioned in the above passage, reproduced below:

"Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only."

This passage refers to Genesis 22, where God commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Genesis 22:1 says:

"Some time later God tested Abraham."

What was this a test of? When we read the chapter, it becomes clear that it was a test of Abraham's loyalty, his trust, his faith in God. Abraham's works are not what saved him. He had a covenant with God long before God brought along this test, and was already saved by his faith. Abraham's obedience to God was an outward manifestation of hi faith. His faith produced his works, and his works bore evidence of his faith. In Genesis 22 verse 12, God says to Abraham:

"Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Abraham proved he was faithful to God by his actions. That's what James is talking about when he says "Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?"  

"Now wait a minute" you say. "That sounds like salvation by faith+works." Well, it's not. Do faith and works work together? Absolutely. One without the other, as James tells us, is dead. But do works contribute to our salvation? No. If that were the case, then Christ's death on the cross was not sufficient for salvation, because we must work to earn it. Faith is what saves, works are the natural by-product.

Sola Fide creates false converts who continue in sin
A variation of this argument is also used against Perseverance of the Saints, the doctrine represented by the "P" in TULIP. It basically says that people who believe Sola Fide (or Perseverance of the Saints) take a "once saved, always saved" approach to salvation, thinking that since they're saved by faith, that they don't need to do any good works. They think that they can just say a prayer, maybe get baptized, and then live a sin-filled life doing whatever they want because they're saved by faith. But this is not the case.

As we discussed above, true faith will produce good works. If someone claims to be a Christian but lives a sinful life, then it's clear that they don't have true faith. "You will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:17-20). Sola Fide does not produce false converts who continue in sin. People continue in sin because they do not have true faith. If they had true faith, they would produce good works naturally.

Matthew 21

"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." (emphasis added)

Does this mean that we're saved by works and not faith? Not really. Catholics often overlook or leave out the following verses:

"Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’"

Sounds like good works, doesn't it? But what does Jesus say?

"And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’"

This passage does not advocate salvation by works+faith. These people had good works, didn't they? But Jesus says they practice lawlessness. Their works had no faith behind them, and thus, were dead.

There are other verses like this which seem to indicate that works contribute to salvation. But on closer inspection, we find the same thing: Salvation is by faith, and good works are the result. Not the other way around. Hebrews eleven rams this point home quite nicely.

"By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised."

This passage lists the many good works done by these Bible heroes, but the repeated phrase is always this: "By faith."

Well, that's what I could find. I recommend that you do your own research on the subject, you're bound to learn some really good stuff. As last time, if you think I didn't do justice to a certain objection, or have heard of another argument that you want to see addressed, leave a comment! I'll see what I can do for you. :)

Stay tuned for the next post, which is on Sola Gratia!

Sola Fide, Part One

Our journey through the Five Solas continues, and today we're looking at Sola Fide: Faith alone.

The Catholic Church taught that Salvation is gained by a combination of faith and works, and that you must have both to be able to be saved. The Protestants objected to this teaching with Sola Fide, which said that salvation is by faith alone, not by works or by faith+works.

Some of us don't realize (and others forget) just how important Sola Fide is. The doctrine is what separates not only the Protestants from the Catholics, but it's what separates Christianity from almost all other religions and cults. Most other belief systems emphasize works, and that you can only gain your salvation by completing certain deeds, living a certain way, or by doing certain things. Christianity is the only belief system that recognizes the fact that mankind can never achieve salvation through his own accomplishments, because "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).

But is Sola Fide biblical? Does the Bible really teach that salvation is by faith alone? The answer is yes.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (John 5:14)

"Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.'" (John 6:29)

 "All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." (Acts 10:43)

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law." (Romans 3:28)

These are just a few verses that serve to prove that we are justified by faith, and not by our works. However, I'm going to go a step further and say that if good works were required for salvation, then nobody would get saved, because of our sinful nature.

Isaiah 64:6 says that:

"all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." 

Psalm 53:1-3 says:

"The fool has said in his heart,'There is no God.' They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good. God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one."

Psalm 14 and Romans both echo the same thing. It's clear that man cannot do good works apart from God's grace (and I'll talk more about this when we get back to Total Depravity). If man can't do good works outside of salvation, then he can't save himself by said works.

In summary, Sola Fide s a Biblical doctrine, and the Reformers were right to challenge the Catholic Church's false teaching that works contribute to salvation. We are justified by faith alone!

Stay tuned for the next post, which will deal with common objections to Sola Fide.

Sola Scriptura: Part Two

Now we come to the second part of our two-part series on Sola Scriptura, as we make our way through the Five Solas of the Reformation. In this post, we will be tackling the most common objections, arguments, and scripture verses used to try to debunk Sola Scriptura. Let's get right to it.

Sola Scriptura is not in the Bible!
We already dealt with this in the last Sola Scriptura post, but I thought it would be good to mention it again. Though Sola Scriptura isn't explicitly mentioned in the Bible, it can be logically inferred from what is taught in the scriptures.

Until the invention of the printing press, the Bible was not readily available for most Christians. How could they possibly have applied Sola Scriptura?
This argument is usually brought up by Catholics, in an attempt to justify tradition. If the Bible isn't available, than tradition is necessary, and Sola Scriptura is impractical at best. But here's the problem: the Bible's authority is not based on it's availability. The Bible is the word of God, and thus, its authority is universal, regardless of its whether or not you have access to it.

If it weren't for the Catholic Church, you wouldn't even have the Bible!
This argument basically says that we Protestants are shooting ourselves in the foot when we challenge the Catholic Church with Sola Scriptura, since the Catholics are the ones who decided upon and compiled the canon of scripture. Essentially, they say we have the Catholics to thank for the Bible, because we wouldn't have it without them. But that's not quite how it is. We don't have the Bible because of the Catholic Church. On the contrary, we have the Bible in spite of the Catholic Church! Let me explain. For a long time, the Catholic Church didn't want the common person to have access to the Bible, but instead wanted them to rely on the Church to get their daily dose of Biblical truth. The Bible was stuck in Latin, and was not translated into other languages until around the time of the reformation. In this way, the Catholic Church maintained a "monopoly" of sorts on scripture and it's meaning, forcing everyone to accept their interpretation of the scriptures, since the common people of the Middle Ages couldn't read (much less read Latin). It wasn't until the reformers came along that the Bible began getting translated into common languages, and even then the Catholics did everything they could to stop it, by persecuting and excommunicating people such as William Tyndale, John Wycliff, and Martin Luther. If we have anyone to thank for the Bible, it's not the Catholics. It's the Reformers and the printing press.

There are thousands of Protestant denominations! How's Sola Scriptura workin' out for ya?
Catholics argue that Sola Scriptura is a dangerous doctrine, and creates disunity between Christians. Most Protestants hold to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, but how many Protestants agree on what the Bible means? Not many, as is evidenced by the many different Protestant denominations which exist throughout the world. Thus, Catholics say that interpretation of the Bible should be left to the Catholic Church authority and none else. Otherwise, we get the divided mess that Protestantism is.
But this argument doesn't prove anything. It doesn't prove that Sola Scriptura is wrong or bad, it just proves that mankind is fallible and tainted by sin, as we pointed out in the last post. And for the record, there is division in the Catholic Church as well. This argument only reinforces the fact that there is no human can infallibly interpret the scriptures, and that includes the Pope.

The Bible says we should follow tradition!
Yet another Catholic argument, used in the defense of the traditions that Sola Scriptura attempts to tear down. I Corinthians 11:2 and II Thessalonians 2:15 are some of the verses Catholics cite. However, we must remember, Sola Scriptura is not an argument against all tradition. It is an argument against unbiblical, extra-biblical, and anti-biblical traditions.The traditions Paul was referring to in those passages were not in disagreement with scripture. Traditions that do disagree with scripture should be discarded, which is the whole point of Sola Scriptura.

Protestants are being hypocritical when they preach Sola Scriptura. They claim to follow the Bible only, but in reality, they follow the teachings of men such as Calvin and Luther!
Not exactly an argument against Sola Scriptura, but still an argument that I thought was worthy of mention, seeing as I'm a Calvinist and hear this a lot. Here's my answer: Men like Calvin and Luther didn't add their own separate teaching to the Bible, the way the Catholic Church has done. They simply interpreted what the Bible says to get their teachings. Whether their interpretations were correct or not is up for debate, since, as I've said, all men are fallible (including Luther and Calvin). So yes, a lot of Protestants follow the teaching of Luther and Calvin, but said teachings are derived from scripture, not added to it, and thus we are not being hypocritical when we claim Sola Scriptura while following said teachings.

Well, that's it. Six of the most common arguments I could find against Sola Scriptura, refuted. However, this is by no meas an extensive or exhaustive list. There are many more, but it would take a much larger post to address them all. If you think I didn't do a good job refuting these objections, or you know of a specific objection that you haven't heard a good rebuttal to, let me know in a comment, and I'll see what I can do!

Thus concludes our brief look at Sola Scriptura. Next up is Sola Fide!

Sola Scriptura: Part One

Image courtesy of myself

I've been waaay too lazy about getting back into the five points of Calvinism, and so, I will finally be re-booting the series I started a while back. This time though, I'll be starting with the Five Solas of the Reformation first, and then I'll do the five points of Calvinism after that. This posts will be shorter, hopefully sweeter, and Lord-willing, daily. Let's start out with a little history of the Five Solas.

The Five Solas were essentially a theological outline of were the early Protestants stood; specifically, where they believed the then-dominant Catholic Church had gone wrong.

'Sola' means 'Alone' in Latin.The five Solas are as follows:
Sola Scriptura: Scripture alone
Sola Fide: Faith alone
Sola Gratia: Grace alone
Solus Christus/Solo Christo: Christ Alone
Soli Deo Gloria: For the glory of God alone

Today we'll be looking at Sola Scriptura, or "Scripture alone."

What the Protestants meant by Sola Scriptura was that the Bible is the ultimate and infallible authority for Christian doctrine, and as such, that all Christian teachings and practices should be in line with or derived from the Bible, rather than from Papal decree or from tradition.

It's important to point out that Sola Sciptura isn't necessarily an attack on Popes and traditions, as many Catholics portray it. Sola Scriptura is an attack on unbiblical and anti-biblical traditions, where the teaching of man contradicts the Word of God. Purgatory, Indulgences, Praying to Mary/Saints, and divine papal authority are all examples of unbiblical teachings and traditions, which the Protestants disagreed with.

When the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther was told to recant his beliefs, his reply to the Catholic Church was this: “Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clearest reasoning, unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the Word of God, I cannot and will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me! Amen!”

This was the Protestant stance. The Bible, not Popes or tradition, was the ultimate authority by which Christians should live.

But for all the emphasis on scripture, what does the Bible say about Sola Scriptura? Is it taught in the Bible or not? Because if "scripture alone" is not in scripture, then we have a serious logical problem. Let's take a look.

Catholics will be quick to point out that the Bible does not explicitly teach or command Sola Scriptura. So is Sola Sciptura not scriptural then? Someone should make that last sentence into a tongue-twister.

Though the Bible doesn't explicitly teach Sola Scriptura, it does teach it implicitly.

Here's what the Bible says:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

If scripture is God-breathed, then it is infallible and without error, just as God is. Secondly, all that one needs in order to live a life devoted to Christ can be found in the Bible. With the Bible, we are "Complete, equipped for every good work." 2 Peter 1:3 also supports this fact.

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence"

If we have all things that pertain to life and Godliness, and are equipped for every good work through the Bible, then tacking on extra-biblical teachings and practices and saying that they MUST be observed is wrong.

There are two other facts, things the Bible talks about, which support Sola Scriptura. The first one is Man's sin. We are fallible creatures, and as a result of the fall, none of us are righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:10). We are often wrong, and just as often, we lie. This is true of all mankind, including Popes, Cardinals, Priests, everyone (Romans 3:23).

The second fact is God's Righteousness. I shouldn't need to point out that God is perfect. He cannot make an error or a contradiction, and He cannot tell a lie (Titus 1:2; Numbers 23:19). He is infallible.

What do these two fact tell us? If God is infallible, and Man is fallible, then the situation should be clear. God's Word will always trump man's word. If the two contradict, then God's Word wins all day, every day, and twice on Sunday.

So even though Sola Scriptura is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, it is perfectly in line with what the Bible does say.

In summary, Sola Scriptura is biblical, and the Bible is the only basis for Christian doctrine. As such, all Man-made tradition and teachings should be lined up with and tested by Scripture, and if found to be unbiblical, should be abandoned.

Click here to read the next post on Sola Scriptura, which deals with the objections and arguments against it (which, as we'll see, are quite numerous!)