Sola: How the Five Solas Are Still Reforming the Church

© by JASON K. ALLEN

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With profound appreciation and deep affection, this book is dedicated to my father-and mother-in-law, Clayton and Betty Brunson, who through their steadfast support, helping hands, constant encouragement, and faithful parenting of my then-future wife are one of God’s greatest blessings in my life.

CONTENTS 

Foreword

Introduction: Why the Reformation Solas?

1. Scripture Alone

2. Grace Alone

3. Faith Alone

4. Christ Alone

5. Glory to God Alone

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes

Contributors

More from the Author

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FOREWORD

I’ve had the pleasure of visiting the historic town of Wittenberg, Germany, each of the last two years. Being there on the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation was particularly thrilling. In this little town, Martin Luther (and others) changed the world.

The motto of the Reformation was the Latin phrase post tenebras lux—that is, After darkness, light. It was a fitting slogan. The Reformation took place during a spiritually dark time when people were lost in the darkness of corrupt religion, superstition, and idolatry. However, as people heard and read the gospel of grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, many were called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). God’s Word shone in dark places and new believers were called to live all of life in the light of God’s truth and grace with Scripture alone as their authority and the glory of God alone as their aim.

While Luther was a flawed saint, and certainly not the only person responsible for Reformation, I have always been drawn to him for a number of reasons. I have always been moved and challenged by his humble roots, his colorful personality, his disciplined study habits, his radical conversion, his sincere love for his wife, his devotion to the church, his regular practice of hospitality, his deep appreciation of music, his love for children, and his powerful writing and preaching ministry.

I appreciate how Luther utilized the printing press, and his writings remind us of the power of the pen. Luther published a number of small booklets in the common language of the people, and his pamphlets spread across Germany. He also had some artistic help from Lucas Cranach, as noted in Andrew Pettegree’s fascinating book, Brand Luther. You might think of Cranach as the artist of the Reformation. Cranach not only made portraits of the day’s famous Reformers but also made these little gospel pamphlets artistically attractive.

Regarding Luther’s preaching, if you ever visit Wittenberg, you will not want to miss St. Mary’s Church. St. Mary’s is not the church where Luther famously nailed his Ninety-Five Theses. It is the other church in town, considered the mother church of the Reformation. At St. Mary’s, Luther preached from 1514 onward, and there you can still see several paintings from Cranach. At the center of the sanctuary, you can see the Reformation Altarpieces, which are paintings of communion, confession, and other ministries. My favorite is a picture of Luther preaching. It shows Luther with one finger on the text, and the other finger pointing to Christ. And all the people are gazing at the Savior, not their world-famous preacher.

If we are going to see people being led out of darkness into the light today, it will take the same kind of devotion to Christ and His Word. We need millions of faithful ministers that are committed to exalting Jesus from the Scriptures. In a culture that prefers to live according to the rapper Tupac’s dark song All Eyez on Me, we need leaders who will redirect everyone’s attention to the light and say, All eyes on Jesus. The work of evangelism, discipleship, preaching, missions, and church planting all involve centering everything on our all-sufficient Prophet, Priest, and King, Jesus Christ.

I pray that this little book will not only be informative, but also inspiring, as you consider how God used ordinary people during the Reformation to bring about a glorious Christ-centered transformation in churches and in the broader culture. Who’s to say the Sovereign Lord will not do something like it again in our dark day? You have some wonderful guides—men who are deeply devoted to the gospel and the church—walking you through the five solas to give you such instruction and inspiration.

The historic leaders of the Reformation are gone. They will not preach any more sermons, but living ministers today can preach and teach the five solas to a world that remains in darkness. As we face the darkness, let us not shirk back in fear, but let us minster with an unshakable confidence in the gospel of grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, as testified in Scripture alone to the glory of God alone.

TONY MERIDA, PHD

Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Imago Dei Church, Raleigh North Carolina

Author, The Christ-Centered Expositor

INTRODUCTION

WHY THE REFORMATION SOLAS? 

Jason K. Allen 

The Protestant Reformation was one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the Christian church. Reflecting on it reminds us that all of life—and especially our spiritual and theological lives—is situated within a historical context. For those who are in Christ, that context is directly influenced by the narrative of the church, what we know as church history.

For evangelicals, remembering and applying the lessons of the Protestant Reformation is of utmost importance. The Reformers are our theological forebears. They fought the good fight; they finished their course; they rediscovered and proclaimed the faith. As evangelicals, we are sons and daughters of the Reformers. And the faith we hold today is summarized beautifully in the five solas defended by the Reformers.

WHY FIVE SOLAS? 

Why five solas and from where did they originate?

The five solas are the theological distinctives that separated, and do separate, Protestants from the Roman Catholic Church. They are, in a sense, both the cause and the effect, or the precipitating and the resulting convictions, of the Reformation. Though not packaged together in a clear summation of Reformation theology until the twentieth century, each doctrine rose as a theological distinctive worthy of conflict in the sixteenth century.

You might ask, How can a few Latin clauses be the foundation of a movement the scope of the Protestant Reformation? Well, in the history of church, short phrases and small words have often caused big divisions necessary for the continued health of the church.

SMALL WORDS, BIG DIVISIONS 

Over the past millennia, three major fractures in the church have resulted over three very small words or phrases.

In the eleventh century, the great East and West Schism occurred, separating the Orthodox Church of the East from the Roman Catholic Church of the West. While multiple factors—including competing claims to the papacy—contributed to this divide, the core factor was one Latin word, filioque, which describes the Holy Spirit as proceeding from both the Father and the Son.

Post 1517, Protestantism began to fracture into what would become known as denominations. One of the many reasons for this was four Latin words: hoc est corpus meum, This is my body (see Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19). Disagreement over what Jesus meant when He instituted the Lord’s Supper sent Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and other Reformers in different directions.

The major inflection point, however, the one that we celebrated in 1517 and that continues to separate Protestantism from Roman Catholicism today, is but one word in Latin. The single word that was the driving force of it all was not fide (faith) or gratia (grace), but first and foremost the word sola. Simply meaning alone, this single word animated Reformers,