Sermon 30th October 2022 – Reformation Sunday
The 5 Solas
Today we celebrate the
Reformation of the church. An event that began just over 500 years ago with an
Augustinian Monk by the name of Martin Luther nailing his infamous 95 Thesis to
the Wittenberg Castle Door. The objective of those thesis was not to change the
church but to bring the church back to the pure teaching of Christ which had
been mingled with so much human error that salvation to eternal life was no
longer experienced by the people. Instead, the grace of God was replaced by
human efforts be that through paying with money or paying by good deeds – neither
of which gave any comfort at all.
The hallmark of the
Reformation is summed up in what are known as the 5 solas –
Sola being Latin for “alone” The 5 solas being: That Christians are saved
by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, by Scripture alone, to
the glory of God alone. For my sermon today I want to explain why these were of
vital importance for the Reformation:
SOLA GRATIA by "Grace
Alone"
First of all we should explain
– salvation from what? Salvation from the judgment and condemnation of God that
every human being deserves (because we are sinners). As Paul reveals in his
letter to the Romans: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one
who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have
together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Salvation is being saved from what we deserve
because of our sin and receiving what we do not deserve. Again, as Paul says in
Romans: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Grace alone means that eternal life in heaven is
a gift of grace from God.
It has nothing to do with
human merit. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can
boast.
Luther discovered it in his
days as a monk when he tried to buy comfort through his good deeds. Luther came
to the place where he admitted that he hated God for his holy requirement of
perfection from us. “This word is too high and too hard that anyone should
fulfill it,” he wrote. But that’s how Luther’s life began.
Fearing for his life in a
thunderstorm he prayed to St Anne to save him and he would become a monk He
bargained with God. Isn’t that how many people feel about God today? If God
will do this for me, I will do that for God. Or vice versa – If I do this for
God then I expect God to do this for me. And that’s how we then try to get
comfort from God – like the Pharisee: God, I thank you that I am not like other
people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast
twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income. And still he went home NOT right
with God.
As Luther discovered –
assurance of salvation cannot come from ourselves no matter how much we have
done for God – salvation is by “Grace 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. Which leads us into our next “sola”
- through faith alone.
It’s important to understand
that we are saved “through” faith – and not by faith.
It is not by the believer's
works or efforts but by Christ's work on the cross that a person is saved. Paul
reminds us in Romans 5:8-9 that God shows His love for us in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us. God
did all the work for our salvation BEFORE we could do anything. Faith is not
how we are saved but how we receive God’s grace. As the writer in Hebrews 11
says, faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do
not see. We simply believe that God has done all the work for us. As Paul says
in 2 Corinthians – God made him who had no sin to become our sin so that we
could BECOME the righteousness of God.
Remember last week’s Gospel –
the tax collector went home “made right with God”. He did not believe he was
worthy of being saved but by that unbelief he was saved by God’s grace through
faith.
in Christ alone - SOLUS
CHRISTUS
John 14:6 Jesus said to him,
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me." Salvation is found in Christ alone. No human being can
forgive sins. It is Christ alone who saves. Even the crowd acknowledged that
when the friends of the paralytic lowered him down through the roof of a house
to have Jesus heal him. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man,
“Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The teachers of the Law and the proud
religious law-keepers thought to themselves, “Who is this Man Who speaks as if
He is God? Who can forgive sins but God only?”
Likewise in Acts 4:12 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. This is a difficult thing to proclaim
in a world where Christianity is mocked and rejected. In a world where the one
who called himself the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the
Father except through him – when truth is your own personal truth. But as Jesus
said in today’s Gospel that through him we shall know the truth and the truth
shall set us free.
By Scripture alone - SOLA
SCRIPTURA
As much as many would like a
more modern reference book - the 66-books of the Bible – the Old and the New
Testament is the sole authority for Christians in faith, doctrine, and
practice. Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone - acknowledges the facts that the
Bible is the Word of God, without error, all sufficient and the source of all
truth. As much as it is debated that it is merely a book written by human
beings, Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, declares that all Scripture is breathed out
by God for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, so that the people of God may be complete and equipped for every
good work.
The word of God is then
enacted in our lives as Luther points out when explaining God’s grace: How can
eating and drinking in Holy Communion do such great things – it is not in the
eating and drinking but in hearing and believing God’s word – given and shed
for you for the forgiveness of sins. In Baptism, how can water do such great
things? It is not in water alone but
water used together with God’s word. And in our forgiveness of sins – Jesus
breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive
anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven.
God’s word of authority is not
found anywhere else other than in the Scriptures we call the Holy Bible. In
fact John declares that in his Holy Gospel: Jesus performed many other signs in
the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these
are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have life in his name.
And finally – all this is to
the glory of God alone. SOLI DEO GLORIA
Salvation is wholly a work of
God for His glory. We contribute nothing
to our salvation. As Paul says in 1
Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to
the glory of God. As Luther says in explaining the Article of God’s Creation:
I believe that God has made me
and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all
my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also
gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, family, land,
animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need
to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and
protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness
and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this I surely ought
to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.
As we pray when praying the
Lord’s Prayer. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours – forever and
ever. Amen. Like our Baptism, the
Reformation was not an historical event but a call for the church to constantly
check itself against the 5 Solas. Is our teaching and practice on salvation by
grace alone – is it through faith in Christ alone, is it through God’s Word in
Scripture alone and is everything that we do and say to the glory of God alone.
For there is no other name by which we are saved.
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