Crossway Life

“Sola Fide”

Ahhh, the heart of the Reformation, “Faith alone!”  This was the spark that originated in Martin Luther’s heart that started it all.  It was no small spark, more like a lightening bolt.  This bolt cut through the tattered teaching and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.  The Church had long put forward indulgences, duties and penance as the prescription for attaining righteousness.  Luther, by God’s design, found in Scripture the true meaning of grace and salvation.  Here is a song that aims to tell that story.  Enjoy!

Luther at the Diet of Worms

Growing up, I occasionally watched the show, “The A-team.”  I recall almost nothing from the show, except for the arresting presence of professional-wrestler-turned-actor, Mr. T (pictured at left).  Mr. T was an intimidator, and he had a catch phrase that my brothers and I loved as young boys.  “I pity the fool!”  We would often use it in our own wrestling matches. 

Now, being the astute blog reader that you undoubtedly are, you’re wondering what Mr. T has to do with Reformation solas.  Well…nothing really.  Or maybe something.  I guess we’ll see.  The fourth of our Reformation solas is Sola Gratia, or By Grace Alone.

Sola Gratia attributes our salvation solely to the grace of God, and to no other cause.  It flies smack in the face of our fallen natural instinct to try and earn our salvation, or to think that we have been chosen by God because we somehow deserve it.  Salvation is all of grace.

Though salvation by grace has been Rome’s official position, in actual outworking what they offer was and is a cooperative (synergistic) effort.  A popular medieval slogan was, “God will not withhold his grace from those who do what they can.”  In updated language:

God helps those who help themselves.

This is a distressingly common understanding, and not only in society at-large.  Polls regularly show that a majority of Americans believe that this is a Scriptural quotation.  But it’s sub-biblical.  It’s the enticement of our sinful nature, deceiving us and leading us astray.  The idea that we can merit God’s favor is daily tugging at our hearts, urging us to attempt to earn what can only be obtained as a free gift provided by the powerful working of a sovereign God.

Here’s where Mr. T comes in, in at least two ways: 1)  “I pity the fool!” who tries to earn God’s grace.  It should be obvious that grace earned is no grace.  2)  We can be tempted to think of God like Mr. T, standing over humanity decrying our sinfulness and shouting “I pity the fool!” at every turn.  Though it is true that our sin is personally offensive to God, it’s also true that salvation is God’s initiative.  One oft-overlooked emphasis of John 3:16 is that it was the Father who initiated the gracious intervention of the Son:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Salvation is a gift of God–a free and gracious gift.  An effective gift.  A sanctifying and preserving gift.  It is God who saves us, by grace alone.  It is God who keeps us, by grace alone.  And it is God who will deliver us to That Day when he comes again–sola gratia.

Sola Scriptura: Scripture Alone is the Standard

In 1521, one of the greatest defenders of the faith, Martin Luther, during his interrogation at the Diet of Worms, declared,  “Unless I shall be convinced by the testimonies of the Scriptures or by clear reason … I neither can nor will make any retraction, since it is neither safe nor honorable to act against conscience.”  God was clearly at work preserving His Word and His Church.

The Latin term Sola Scriptura basically means “by Scripture alone.”  This indicates that Christians must view Scripture as being the sufficient final authority of all doctrine and practice.  It speaks of the infallibility of Scripture – it contains no error and is incapable of erring.

During the time of the Reformation and the many years leading up to it, the Catholic Church placed a greater importance on sacred tradition than on Scripture.  The Reformation exposed and corrected the errors of the Catholic Church by appealing that we are under the authority of Scripture, and not the Catholic apostolic tradition. Many of those traditions did not have biblical support or worse, totally contradicted Scripture.

Sola Scriptura, however, does not ignore the rich Christian history that we have. Instead, when we position ourselves as learners, we find that we have much to learn from those who have contended for the faith in our past. Simply stated, the Scriptures are our only final authority in everything we believe and do.

Martin Luther boldly stated, “A simple layman armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest pope without it.”

Is this our approach to Scripture?  Do we draw near with awe and reverence?  Do we view Scripture as God’s revelation to sinful, frail individuals such as ourselves?  I find myself at times viewing Scripture as cold, lifeless words and yet that couldn’t be further from the truth!  God’s Word is alive, active, and penetrating.  Charles Spurgeon says it this way: “Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up into your very soul, till it saturates your heart!  Set your heart upon God’s Word!  Let your whole nature be plunged into it as clothe into a dye!”

By God’s grace let us run to the Word of God with vigor and excitement – knowing that these are the very words of God which are profitable for our souls.

“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 competent, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16

The second of our Reformation solas deals with the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Solus Christus refers to Christ’s unique role in revealing God to man, in serving as our mediator, and in offering salvation for our sins.  Every age faces its own challenges to the person and work of Jesus as the unique God-man, both fully God and fully man, and the only one able to save us from our sins.  The time of the Reformation was no different.

The Catholic Church had invested its priests with a privileged status, as mediators between God and men.  The priests handled the elements of communion, as the bread and wine were transformed (a process known as transsubstantiation) into the very body and blood of Christ.  The priests heard confessions and granted absolution of sin.  And of course, the pope, as Vicar of Christ, was uniquely empowered as mediator to God’s church on earth.

But more than the church hierarchy challenging the unique role of Jesus as our mediator, there were cultural trends present in the Renaissance arguing that all religions pointed to God, and that a new Age of the Spirit was about to dawn.  As human self-opinion was elevated, the need for a mediator diminished.  Much like our own day, Jesus was being reduced to guru, moral teacher, or example.  The God-man sent to earth “for us and for our salvation” (Athanasius) was being obscured.  But as the Reformers read their Bibles, they saw clearly that only Jesus could save.  Only Jesus could mediate between God and man.  Only Jesus could live a perfect life and die an atoning and substitutionary death.  Only Jesus had triumphed over death and hell, rose victorious from the grave, and sits now at God’s right hand as the perfect sacrifice, as the Great High Priest, and as our faithful intercessor.  Solus Christus.

This Friday is a significant day–it’s October 31.  While many will celebrate Halloween at this time, we want to take advantage of this week to acknowledge a far more significant event that took place on the same day, some 491 years ago.  It was October 31, 1517 when a young monk named Martin Luther walked to the Castle Church at Wittenberg, mallet in hand, to nail his famous 95 Theses to the door.  Luther was primarily concerned about the role of indulgences (essentially, buying favor & forgiveness from God) and he wanted to have a public discussion about this heinous abuse of the gospel.

Through the providence of God, Luther’s act–which was merely aimed at reforming some of the more egregious practices of the Roman Catholic Church–became the symbolic spark that soon launched a wildfire of reform throughout Europe.  As scholars turned back to the Scriptures in their original languages, as God’s Word was treasured above tradition, as the corruption of the church was challenged–and most importantly, as the clarity of the gospel call of Justification by Grace Alone through Faith Alone was recovered–the Protestant movement grew and the Reformation had begun.

Though the Reformation had many and far-reaching effects, there have been five key areas, and five corresponding slogans, that are employed to capture the meat of the Reformation.  They are referred to as the 5 solas, from the Latin word for “alone” or “only.”  Each day this week, we will be posting on one of the solas as we see how God led the church to recover what had been lost and/or obscured for many years.  This truly is a week to celebrate God’s kindness in leading us into truth.

Soli Deo Gloria

The first sola we examine is actually a soli.  As you may have already guessed, Soli Deo Gloria translates as “To God alone be the glory.”  As the solas have been explained historically, Soli Deo Gloria has typically been reserved for last, as it represents the culmination of the preceding four.  The Reformers had a grand vision of God and his glory.  As they read the Scriptures and saw their own sinfulness, as they knew that they were mere creatures, and as they saw his mercy and condescension in Christ, the Reformers increasingly saw that God is truly glorious.  That is, he alone deserved all praise and honor and glory.

In many ways, this was in sharp contradistinction to the contemporary Catholic church.  Rome had a carefully enshrined structure that included saints and a Treasury of Merit (extraneous good deeds performed by the saints that could be accessed and utilized by the church), as well as the earthly hierarchy of bishops, cardinals and popes.  It was hard to escape the sense of certain persons being more glorious than others, as relics of saints were prized, as the saints & Mary were prayed to (since it was thought that they would be more effective intercessors), and the clergy paraded in fine clothes and jewelry.

But the Reformers knew that all men were sinners.  Luther’s greatest work speaks to his very topic: The Bondage of the Will.  They knew that our wills are enslaved to sin, and unless God sovereignly breaks in with life-giving grace, that we will remain in our sins and in rebellion against him.  For this sovereign grace, and for so many other reasons, to God alone be the glory.

Stay tuned throughout the week as we examine sola fidei, sola gratia, sola scriptura, and solus Christus.  We’ll even have a world-debut song on Friday from our own Doug Plank!  If you would like to read a short and interesting primer on the Reformation and its effects, check out this book from Lancaster’s own Steve Nichols: The Reformation: How a Monk and Mallet Changed the World.

“In my distress I cried out to the Lord…..”

In my distress……..I’ve learned something about distress….it’s not “distress” unless it’s distressing.  Trouble is not “trouble” unless it’s troubling.  Pain is not “pain” unless it’s painful.  Along with each one comes a sharp, emotional experience.

How does pain feel?  It hurts.  Trouble feels chaotic, disorienting and panicky.  Distress is like a painful pressure that you urgently want to get away from.  Others may describe these differently, but we all agree that these are hard places to be in.

I’m so glad that the LORD doesn’t whitewash our turmoil.  He doesn’t ask us to slap a “Praise the Lord” on our trouble as He tries to move us away from emotion. He actually calls us to pour our hearts out to Him at ALL times Ps. 18:6.  He promises that He cares about us, and that He is with us in trouble Ps. 23:4.  He invites us to be real with Him and honest about our need.  He is the best person to run to in trouble!  Not only does He truly listen and care, but He is a refuge and a comforting Presence Jer. 16:19.

But here’s the rub…….the Evil One is constantly discrediting Him to me.  He is trying to get me to believe lies about who He is.  “He doesn’t care.  If He cared, why would He lead you here?”  “He’s being mean.  With all His power…..why would He put you in this painful place?”  “Look at all your trouble!  WOW! Look at how He’s treating you!”  “He’s angry with you.”  or  “He’s punishing you.”  or  “You have a right to be angry with Him.”  None of this is true.  My enemy will say anything to cut me off from my faithful Father.

Why should I trust the LORD when my experience doesn’t match what I think “being loved by God” should look like?  Because He died for me.  He showed His commitment to my good and the good of those I love the most dearly, by running ahead of our GREATEST pain, misery and trouble and taking the full effect of what we deserved.  I should trust Someone like that.  He fully absorbed the deepest trouble we would ever experience in our place…..so we wouldn’t have to.  If He doesn’t care about us, why would He do that?  He embraced the greatest loneliness in the midst of His greatest trouble, so that we could have the fellowship of God in the midst of all our trouble.

How amazing and wonderful.  It’s so good to recount these things.  And this is why in MY distress, I will cry out to the LORD.

photo by Rocky Mountain Photography

I’m a Lazy Man!

I find laziness being expressed in many areas of my life.  How about you? Sometimes it’s obvious and other times it’s obscure.  One of the biggest ways laziness expresses itself in my life is in the area of communicating with my wife.  Many times I forget to mention important details with her, fail to talk through daily or upcoming plans, or neglect to draw her out about faith and life. But God in His kindness is showing me this area of weakness and by His grace is helping me to cast myself on His mercy for change.

Here’s how it plays out: this past Monday on my day off, my wife and I had a conflict.  This could have been avoided if I simply communicated with Barbara about the details of the day.  Instead I assumed she knew what I was thinking and I didn’t draw her out to find out what her wishes for the day looked like. 

What’s going on in my heart when this happens?  I don’t communicate because it takes time and energy – which can be hard work. Pete has often mentioned to our team that we must be doing the “hard work of planning”.  To apply that to my marriage means communicating and discussing the plans with my wife when they pertain to her and our family. That goes against my selfish laziness.  It also shows a lack of love and consideration for my wife when I don’t communicate my thoughts and plans. 

So how do I grow in this area?  My growth must be spurred on by the love of Christ!  Whose agenda was Christ thinking about when he was faced with crucifixion?  Christ submitted himself to his Heavenly Father and gave up his life, even unto death, to save a sinner like me.  That is the kind of love that should spur me on to love my wife by communicating with her.  Oh, may I treat my wife with a nourishing and cherishing kind of love – the same love that Christ displayed on the Cross.

“In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.”  Ephesians 5:28-30