All Hallows’ Day or All Saints’ Day (November 1) was first celebrated on May 13, 609, when Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to the Virgin Mary. The date was later changed to November 1 by Pope Gregory III, who dedicated a chapel in honor of all saints in the Vatican Basilica. In 837, Pope Gregory IV (827-844) ordered its church-wide observance. Its origin lies earlier in the common commemorations of Christian martyrs. Over time these celebrations came to include not only the martyrs, but all saints. During the Reformation the Protestant churches came to understand “saints” in its New Testament usage as including all believers and reinterpreted the feast of All Saints as a celebration of the unity of the entire Church. (http://www.christianity.com/christian-life/art-and-culture/the-connection-between-halloween-reformation-day.html)
Quote:John D. Hannahdescribed the situation this way: "The Reformation was a call for authentic Christianity, an attempt to escape the medieval corruption of the faith through renewal and reform. Its teaching, which swirled around a fivefold repetition of the word sola (“alone” which) was a radical message for that day (and should be for ours) because it called for a commitment to an entirely God-centered view of faith and life". (John D. Hannah, To God be the Glory (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2000), 6.)
The greatest need of the Church has always been reformation around the Word of God. Thus, undergirding these five solas is the phrase: ecclesia semper reformanda est, which means "the church (is) always to be reformed.” The Word of God stands over us—individually and collectively. As Michael Horton said: “When we invoke the whole phrase — “the church Reformed and always being reformed according to the Word of God” — we confess that we belong to the church and not simply to ourselves and that this church is always created and renewed by the Word of God rather than by the spirit of the age.”( Michael Horton “Semper Reformanda”, October 1st, 2009, Table Talk Magazine, accessed 4 November 2014. )
In response to the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestants coined five slogans or battle cries: 1) Scripture alone (sola Scriptura), 2) Grace alone (sola gratia), 3) Faith alone (sola fide), 4) Christ alone (solus Christus), and 4) The glory of God alone (soli Deo gloria).
1) Scripture alone (sola Scriptura)
As far back as the late medieval period, men such as John Wycliffe and John Hus called people to return to Scripture. When challenged by hostile church officials, Hus repeatedly answered his opponents, “Show me from Scripture and I will repent and recant!” The Reformers developed Hus’s emphasis on Scripture in a number of significant ways. They stressed the scriptures authority, infallibility, self-authentication and power.
Please turn to 2 Timothy 3 (p.996)
The Reformers contended that all things must be tested “by Scripture alone” (sola Scriptura). They believed Scripture is to rule in the church, for it is the Word of God and the voice of God (verbum Dei). Therefore, its authority is absolute, not derivative, they said. John Calvin said that Scripture is as authoritative as if God Himself “had been giving utterance.” A Christian should rely on and be governed by its promises, (Inst., 3.2.6–7.) and the church should be wholly subject to its authority. (Inst.,4.8) In fact, all other kinds of authority—papal, creedal, and civil—must be subordinate to Scripture. (Inst. Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (Battles’ edition)1.7.1.)
They honored 2 Timothy 3 where Paul addresses Timothy directly on how he must resist the opponents and remain faithful to the gospel.
2 Timothy 3:10-17 [10]You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, [11]my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. [12]Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, [13]while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. [14]But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it [15]and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. [16]All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17]that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (ESV)
•The false teachers live and teach one way (vv. 1–9), but Paul provides a totally different model for Timothy (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2341). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
•That scripture is Breathed out by God ...stresses the divine origin and thus the authority of Scripture. Paul does not point to the human authors of Scripture as inspired people but says that the writings themselves (“Scripture,” Gk. graphç, “writing,” which in the NT always refers to biblical writings) are the words spoken (“breathed out”). That we are equipped for every good work in a broad sense this includes everything that God calls a believer to do. But, in a specific sense, this also supports the doctrine of the “sufficiency of Scripture,” that is, the idea that the truth contained in Scripture is sufficient in all matters pertaining to doctrine and moral behavior (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2342). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
In applying the doctrine of Sola scriptura we have to consider out lives. Has sola Scriptura become our personal watchword, causing us, like Luther and Calvin, to become captive in our consciences to the very words of God? Do we search, love, live, and pray over the Holy Scriptures? Is the Bible the compass that leads us through the storms and over the waves that we encounter in life? Is Scripture the mirror by which we dress ourselves (James 1:22–27), the rule by which we work (Gal. 6:16), the water with which we wash (Ps. 119:9), the fire that warms us (Luke 24:32), the food that nourishes us (Job 23:12), the sword with which we fight (Eph. 6:17), the counselor who resolves our doubts and fears (Ps. 119:24), and the heritage that enriches us (Ps. 119:111–112)? Are we learning from Scripture, as John Flavel said, “The best way of living, the noblest way of suffering, and the most profitable way of dying”? (Quoted in John Blanchard, Gathered Gold (Welwyn, England: Evangelical Press, 1984), 17.)
Illustration: The actual issue under debate in the Reformation was the sufficiency, not the infallibility, of Scripture. From the beginning of the Reformation, Catholics and Protestants have agreed on the questions of biblical inspiration and infallibility. Even in Luther’s day, church officials “were in perfect agreement with him” on biblical infallibility. What the papists objected to was Luther’s doctrine of sola Scriptura. In Luther’s own words, sola Scriptura means that “what is asserted without the Scriptures or proven revelation may be held as an opinion, but need not be believed.” (The Master’s Journal. (1998). (electronic edition.). Sun Valley, CA: Master’s Seminary.)
2) Grace alone (sola gratia),
The issue here is if humanity initiates and participates in forgiveness and salvation, or does God initiate and complete the salvation of sinners so that the whole work is attributed to sovereign grace alone (sola gratia)? In response to Desiderius Erasmus’ Diatribe, Luther’s The Bondage of the Will unequivocally sides with sovereign grace. Luther insisted that a sinner is unable to provide or even take hold of a saving remedy. In saying this, Luther attacked the Roman Catholic system of indulgences, pilgrimages, penances, fastings, purgatory, and Mariolatry. He saw that the only way to defeat Rome’s works-based system was to strike at the root of the controversy: free grace versus free will...The nineteenth-century Calvinistic Baptist William Newman once put it like this: grace is “the free favour of God … conferred … upon the unworthy.” (William Newman, “Biblical and Theological Terms Defined,” The Baptist Magazine, 24 (1832): 388.)
Please turn to Ephesians 2(p.976)
Those who receive grace are not merely helpless sinners who are undeserving, but are hostile rebels against God with bad hearts and bad records. God is not obligated to be kind or gracious to them. They are sinners, deserving only hell. But in accord with His nature, God showers an entirely undeserved love upon them—and as He does so, their lives are changed forever.
As Ephesians 2 starts with the universal position of humanity before Salvation:
Ephesians 2:1-9 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]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-- [3]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. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (ESV)
•Everyone enters the world spiritually dead, with no inclination or responsiveness toward God and no ability to please God, essentially as children of wrath. To escape this hopeless imprisonment requires nothing short of a new birth or a new creation (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2264). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
•In order for this to happen God saves (perfect tense) which communicates that the Christian’s salvation is fully secured. This happens through faith. Faith is a confident trust and reliance upon Christ Jesus and is the only means by which one can obtain salvation (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2265). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
Grace calls us (Gal. 1:15), regenerates us (Titus 3:5), justifies us (Rom. 3:24), sanctifies us (Heb. 13:20–21), and preserves us (1 Peter 1:3–5). We need grace to forgive us, to return us to God, to heal our broken hearts, and to strengthen us in times of trouble and spiritual warfare. Only by God’s free, sovereign grace can we have a saving relationship with Him. Only through grace can we be called to conversion (Eph. 2:8–10), holiness (2 Peter 3:18), service (Phil. 2:12–13), or suffering (2 Cor. 1:12).
Hymn: Are we sons and daughters of the Reformation who sing “Amazing Grace!” from the heart? Many pay lip service to sovereign grace, but it scarcely touches their lives. How much richer are we who truly experience the words of the hymn: Oh! to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be; Let that grace now, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee! Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love—Take my heart, oh, take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above! (From the hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” by Robert Robinson, 1758.)
3) Faith alone (sola fide)
Please turn to Romans 1(p.939)
The Reformation’s emphasis on faith alone was the result of Luther’s tortured struggles to resolve the issue of how a fallen sinner may be saved. He said: “My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and had no confidence that my character would satisfy Him. Night and day I pondered". The breakthrough came when Luther was given insight into Romans 1
Romans 1:16-20 [16]For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. [17]For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." [18]For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19]For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20]For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (ESV)
•Reflecting on verse 17, Luther later wrote: “Then I grasped that the justice of God is the righteousness by which, through grace and sheer mercy, He justifies us through faith. Immediately I felt myself to have gone through open doors into paradise.” (D. Martin Luthers Werke, ed. J. C. F. Knaake et al. (Weimar: Herman Bohlaus, 1883), 40I, 33, 7–9.)
Faith and grace are not competitors. Salvation is through faith because only in faith is divine grace honored. Sola gratia is confirmed by sola fide. Gracious faith wholeheartedly assents to the truth of the gospel. It flees in poverty to Christ’s riches, in guilt to Christ’s reconciliation, and in bondage to Christ’s liberation. It lays hold of Christ and His righteousness, uniting the sinner with his Savior. It embraces Christ in belief, clinging to His Word and relying on His promises. As Luther wrote, “Faith lays hold of Christ and grasps Him as a present possession, just as the ring holds the jewel.” Faith wraps the soul in Christ’s righteousness, enabling the soul to live out of Christ. It commits the total person to the total Christ (A few of these paragraphs are condensed from Joel R. Beeke, “The Relation of Faith to Justification,” in Justification by Faith Alone, ed. Don Kistler (Morgan, Pa.: Soli Deo Gloria, 2003), 53–105.).
Sola fideversus faith and works: to which do we adhere? Is our faith Christ-centered? Do we live only by that faith? Can we say with Luther, “Faith gives Christ to me; love flowing from faith gives me to my neighbor”?
Poem: As Horatius Bonar poetically wrote: "Not what these hands have done Can save this guilty soul; Not what this toiling flesh has borne Can make my spirit whole. Not what I feel or do Can give me peace with God, Not all my prayers and sighs and tears Can bear my awful load. Thy work alone O Christ, Can ease this weight of sin; Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, Can give me peace within. Thy grace alone, O God, To me can pardon speak, Thy power alone, O Son of God, Can this sore bondage break. I bless the Christ of God; I rest on love divine; And, with unfalt’ring lip and heart, I call this Savior mine. (Horatius Bonar, 1861, as recorded in Hughes, R. K. (1991). Romans: righteousness from heaven (p. 95). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. )
4) Christ alone(Solus Christus)
Today, postmodernism sees truth as wholly pluralistic and relativistic. There is no universal or absolute truth in any area of knowledge, not even in religion. Postmodernists, therefore, are skeptics who fully reject any classical concept of truth. The exclusive claims of Christ and Christianity are anathema to them. They see no beauty in Christ or in His stupendous work, that they should desire Him.
Scripture, grace, and faith all emphasize that salvation is “by Christ alone”—that is, Christ is the only Savior (cf. Acts 4:12). B. B. Warfield writes: "It is from its object [Jesus Christ] that faith derives its value.… The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the Almighty Savior on whom it rests.… It is not faith [itself] that saves, but faith in Jesus Christ.… It is not strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith (B. B. Warfield, Biblical and Theological Studies (Philadelphia: P&R, 1968), 423–425.).
Please turn to John 15(p.901)
Only in Christ is life, and outside of Him is death. God’s justice can be satisfied only through Christ’s obedience. Outside of Christ, God is an everlasting, all-consuming fire; in Christ, He is a gracious Father. Without Christ, we can do nothing; in Him, we can do all things (cf.John 15:5; Phil. 4:13).
John 15:1-11 [15:1]"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. [2]Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. [3]Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. [4]Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. [5]I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. [6]If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. [7]If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. [8]By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. [9]As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. [10]If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. [11]These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (ESV)
•We urgently need to hear solus Christus in our day of pluralistic theology...where “There is currently underway a strong trend in both Protestant and Roman Catholic theology to call into question the classical Christian confession that Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior of the world.” (Carl E. Braaten, “Salvation Through Christ Alone,” Lutheran Forum (Nov. 1988): 8, 10–11.)
•The end result is that today many—as H. R. Niebuhr has famously said of old theological liberalism—proclaim and worship “a god without wrath who brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.” (H. Richard Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in America (Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String Press, 1956), 193.)
Illustration: Beethoven is Everything!
After a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the audience gave conductor Arturo Toscanini and the Orchestra a prolonged ovation. Toscanini, filled with emotion, turned to his musicians and whispered, “Gentlemen, gentlemen!” The orchestra members strained to understand. Had someone missed their cue? What was wrong with the conductor? The conductor spoke. “Gentlemen, I am nothing,” he said. “You are nothing. But Beethoven is everything!” ("Beethoven is Everything!" as found in Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.)
As you walk across the stage of life amid the praise of others, have you been overwhelmed with the true Composer of your life, the Lord Jesus Christ? He is both divine Composer and divine Musician, who, by His Spirit, brings to life His eternally decreed composition. Have you seen in your joys and sorrows that Christ is directing your life with such love and compassion that you have cried out with astonishment to others, “I am nothing and you are nothing, but Jesus Christ is everything”? Can you say with Paul, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21)? Have you experienced something of the depth of this confession: “your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3)?
Have you learned to know Christ personally and experientially as your Savior and Lord? Have you learned that He is more than an example whom we should emulate, more than a martyr who is heroic, more than a psychotherapist who can heal your inner psychological wounds, and more than a “Santa Christ” who gives you health and wealth? (Sinclair B. Ferguson, In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel-Centered Life (Orlando: Reformation Trust, 2007), 15–19.)
•Have you learned that, in terms of salvation, Jesus Christ is everything to you, a sinner?
5) The glory of God alone (soli Deo gloria).
In both testaments of the Bible, the word glory means the display of excellence and praiseworthiness (glory shown), as well as the response of honor and adoration to this display (glory given). God’s glory is the beauty of His manifold perfections, as well as the awesome radiance that breaks forth from those perfections. His moral excellence of character shines forth in greatness and worth in His acts of creation, providence, and redemption (Isa. 44:23; John 12:28; 13:31–32). Seeing this excellence, God’s worshipers give Him glory by praising, thanking, and obeying Him (John 17:4; 21:19; Rom. 4:20; 15:6, 9; 1 Peter 4:12–16).
Please turn to Romans 11(p.947)
As he concludes his setting forth of God’s great plan in the history of salvation (chs. 1–11), Paul breaks forth into praise. Since all things are from God, and through God, and for God, it follows that he deserves all the glory forever. His doxological paradigm in Romans 11:36 sets the standard for living to God’s glory alone (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2178). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.):
Romans 11:33-36 [33]Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! [34]"For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" [35]"Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" [36]For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (ESV)
•These three prepositions—of, through, and to—say it all. “Of him” indicates that God is the source of all things. Everything has its origin or cause in God (John 1:3). “Through him” indicates that God is the sustainer of all He created; He alone holds it all together (Col. 1:17).“To him” indicates God is the goal; all things exist for Him.
Using this paradigm, how can we glorify God? By confessing his sins to God and fleeing to Christ for forgiveness and for having God’s nature restored to him. By praising, worshiping, and delighting in the triune God as Creator, Provider, and Redeemer. By trusting God and surrendering all things into His hands. By being fervently zealous for the triune God’s glory. By walking humbly, thankfully, and cheerfully before God and becoming increasingly conformed to the image of His Son. By knowing, loving, and living the commands of God’s Word. By being heavenly minded and cherishing the desire to be with God forever.
(Format note: Some base commentary Beeke, J. R. (2008). Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism (pp. 132–148). Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing..)
