The
Bible is God’s revelation of Himself and His plan of redemption.
As such, it is complete in every regard. Every subject of the Bible
is treated with sufficient fullness and thoroughness. That means God
has not left us in the position of having to add anything to it, whether
regarding theology, worship, faith, salvation or any other thing whatsoever.
Therefore, any practices and beliefs of the church that do not adhere
and conform to Scripture cannot be true or valid, however well meaning.
2.
Solus Christus (Christ Alone)
Christ alone means that salvation is only to be had through the atoning
sacrifice of Christ. This, in turn, means that good works, moral rectitude,
virtue and the like are—in themselves—worthless to save.
This sola refers to the absolute importance of both the life and death
of Christ. It was through His perfectly obedient life as well as His
penal substitution for us on the Cross of Calvary that has enabled
His Father’s chosen ones—or the elect—to be saved
from justly deserved damnation.
The
cross was the instrument by which God worked out the redemption of
His people, and Christ the only one actually able to obtain this redemption.
This was accomplished by making satisfaction for God’s righteous
and perfectly just wrath at the offence of sin. Since it was God's
holy and perfect character that was offended by the enormity of sin,
only God could satisfy the demand for restitution or payment for the
offence. He did so in the person and work of His Son Jesus Christ,
who is the second person of the triune God.
And
too, Christ was a sacrificial atonement or propitiation. It was God's
anger for sin that had to be appeased or assuaged and to be accomplished
by a sacrifice of infinite worth by God Himself in the person of Christ.
But something further was required by God. There had to be a balancing
of the scales of God's justice in order for the atonement to be complete
and effective. In order for sin to be completely forgiven, there must
be a substitution. But since God is an infinite God and His indignation
and justice are also infinite, the repetitive sacrifices of bulls
and rams and the like were insufficient substitutes. So God provided
the necessary substitute in His very own Son. In a similar manner,
He provided the ram as a substitute for Isaac, which pre-figured the
substitution of Christ for sinners. But as a perfect substitute, able
to stand-in for sin once and forever, Christ has also become a mediator
(the one and only mediator, we should add) and to impute His own righteousness
to those for whom He was the substitute. It is important to understand
that Christ’s atoning sacrifice was sufficient for the sin of
all people but that, in God’s omnipotent wisdom and compassion,
Christ actually and in fact atoned only for His own people, those
whom it was God’s good pleasure to give Him (citation here).
None of this would have been possible if Christ was anything less
than perfect in both His obedient life and His sacrificial death.
3.
Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)
Grace alone means that sinners have no claim to any favour whatsoever
from God, but that God is nevertheless delighted to choose some out
from the others in order to save them from the just punishment their
sin deserves. Those God does not choose He passes over, in His justice
towards them.
The
pleasure of God to save and redeem some is an act of pure sovereign
grace and in no way depends upon the relative merits or choices of
people (we do not choose to be saved, we are chosen to be saved, i.e.
John 6:44 ; Rom. 8:29;Eph. 1:5, 11). God has chosen in eternity past
and before the foundation of the world a multitude for Himself—those
He has foreknown and foreloved. These He saves through faith in Jesus
Christ by the application of Christ's sacrifice and merit by the Holy
Spirit, the third person of the triune Godhead. God’s choice
is unconditional, that is to say unconditioned by anything in those
He has decided to save, unconditioned by anything outside of His sovereign
will and good pleasure (Exo. 33:19). Salvation therefore is unmerited
and undeserved and is a gift of God. There is no one who can earn
salvation. We are all, without exception, born in sin and disfigured
by it (citation here). We are extensively depraved, corrupted by sin
in every respect of our being and are completely unwilling, being
in rebellion against God, to choose salvation. It is solely because
of God’s grace, His willingness and pleasure to choose some
for Himself, that we are able to repent and accept Christ in faith.
4.
Sola Fide (Faith Alone)
These words refer to our justification in the eyes of God. We are
justified—that is judged not guilty of our rebellion and sin—because
of our faith in Christ. We are justified because of righteousness,
but this is not our own righteousness, it is Christ’s, which
He imputes (or reckons or credits) to those given to Him for salvation
by the Father. Christ’s righteousness cannot be ours, however,
without our first having faith in His desire and power to accomplish
all He has told us he would. And this faith is not a work that we
perform, we cannot decide one day to “have faith.” It,
like grace, is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8). Justification is strictly
according to God's mercy and based on Christ’s righteousness
and redemption through His blood. This redemption is applied to the
elect by the supernatural working and activity of the Holy Spirit
in the heart, soul and mind of the elect. Through His ministrations,
we receive the gift of faith.
Three aspects make up the totality of true faith: knowledge, assent
and trust or intellect, emotions and actions. Knowledge (notitia)
is the content of our faith. We must know the object of our faith.
We must apprehend it cognitively. It is not enough to simply “have
faith and everything will work out.” We must know and understand
God’s intentions and purposes as well as His character. This
comes to us partly by studying His creation, but mainly and effectively
by studying His Word, because here He clearly tells us about Himself
and His purposes. The second aspect is assent (assensus).
This is often called belief. We must believe what we know. Knowledge,
by itself, is not sufficient for salvation. One must open the heart
to the knowledge gained by the mind. The third aspect is trust
or commitment (fiducia). This is an active yielding to Christ,
a whole-hearted obedience to Him as our Lord as well as a trusting
acceptance that He is who He says He is and will do what He says He
will do. It is the application of our knowledge and belief to our
lives as Christians. It is walking the walk and not just talking the
talk.
5.
Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)
These words place God at the very heart and centre of all things—of
all His creation. To offer all glory to God is to worship Him rightfully
and properly. If God is not the centre of our universe, then can we
truthfully call ourselves His children, stamped with His image?
The Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms both ask the same question,
“What is the chief and highest end of Man?” and both answer,
“The chief and highest end of Man is to glorify God and enjoy
Him forever.”
Do
we take this as mere rhetoric? The Reformers certainly did not. But
this glorification of God is not often understood as being the sole
and ultimately fundamental reason why God should save any people for
Himself at all. God is complete in Himself, as Scripture plainly teaches
(citation here). He needs nothing. (Perhaps it could be said the only
thing that He does not have is complete glory. This is the result
of the fall of Man. Yet, in another sense, this he already has because
His plan of redemption has already been accomplished “in eternity.”)
Added to this is our misunderstanding of how this sola relates to
the other four. We should understand that this one is the result of
the other four while simultaneously being their cause. There is a
cyclical relationship existing among all the five solas. If the other
solas are operative in our lives, then the natural, logical and inevitable
outcome will be our right and proper glorification of God for who
He is in and of Himself. This will then enable us to enjoy God in
all His majesty, praising Him incessantly, praying unceasingly in
our hearts to Him. At the same time, the other four solas will lose
their seriousness and consequence if we begin to forget to give God
the glory that is His due. God’s glory is the foundation of
the other solas, informing them and giving them ultimate meaning.
And when we are faithful to the other four solas, we begin to appreciate
the glory and majesty that rightfully and truly belong to God.
Especially key in this regard is sola Scriptura. This is so because
of the intimate connection between God and His self-revelation that
is our precious Bible. It is the Bible, as God’s Word, that
tells us how, when, why, under what circumstances and conditions that
we are to glorify Him. This means of course that when we are not obedient
to God’s Word, when we do not heed it, then we are certainly
not giving Him the glory He demands. And then we are in open rebellion
against Him. So the circle is closed, complete. We begin with Scripture
alone and in the end come back to it again.
The
divines of the Reformation bequeathed the five solas to us. The solas
were one of the two great summaries of the true, apostolic, Christian
faith. The other summary being the Canons of Dort, otherwise known
as Five Point Calvinism (TULIP, see next).
TULIP
Total
Depravity
Your belief about salvation is to a large degree determined by your
belief about sin. For this reason, the first of the five Canons of
Reformed Protestantism, also known as Calvinism, has to do with the
reality of sin in every person’s life.
Because
of Adam’s role as the federal head of the human race and our
legal representative before God, his fall was not just his own but
ours as well. As Adam’s children, we are born in sin and are
not merely wounded by sin and its effects, but radically depraved
and spiritually dead (Citation here). We are slaves to sin and hostile
to God, having the freedom, ability and desire to repent and turn
to Him rendered inoperative (citation here).
Theologians
also term this canon “Total Inability” to indicate that
the person who has not been regenerated or reborn by God is in no
way able to save himself. The adjective total refers to the extent
of corruption, not the degree. It means that every part of a person
is depraved, but not that he is as bad as he could be. This canon
runs completely contrary to our normal view of ourselves, which is
essentially the “I’m OK, you’re OK” of humanism.
Tragically, according to Reformed Christianity, such an attitude could
not be more untrue. The bible says, “If thou, LORD, shouldest
mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” In other words, compared
to the God of Creation, who is perfect in every way, no matter how
good we might think ourselves to be, we will never be truly good.
God is holy and unable to abide sin whatsoever. Compared with Him,
in our natural state we are not good and cannot rescue ourselves from
God’s hatred for sin or the just damnation it deserves.
Unconditional
Election
It would have been perfectly just for God to leave all mankind in
this condition, instead of just some as God owed nothing to mankind
(citation here). However, instead of leaving all humanity in sin and
perdition He decided to choose and predestine for Himself—to
elect, that is—certain individuals to be His people, those whom
He had foreknown and fore-loved before the foundation of the created
order and so before Adam’s fall through disobedience. Nor did
God choose His elect for any foreseen merit on their part but entirely
because of His own sovereign will. Therefore, His choice is unconditional
because it is not dependant on or conditioned by anything whatsoever
outside of Himself.
The
promise of salvation is not based on merit or goodness, as we are
all totally depraved and have no goodness in us (citation here). There
is nothing anyone can do to earn Gods grace; we are all dead in sin
and unable to save ourselves through effort. Yet because mercy and
loving-kindness are inherent qualities of God, God Himself must therefore
regenerate the hearts of His people. The Holy Spirit—who is
God the third person— applies this regeneration or rebirth for
the elect, won by Christ’s perfect righteousness and atoning
sacrifice, by bringing people, in willing, joyful obedience to a saving
faith in Jesus Christ (citation here). As well, because of His perfect
and sovereign justice, God withholds His regenerating grace from all
who refuse the free offer of the gospel and chooses to pass them over,
leaving them to His sovereign justice. He chooses to leave them in
sin who are, as the Bible affirms, condemned already because of their
love of the world and their refusal to accept the Gospel, which leads
to saving faith in Christ.
Limited
Atonement (Particular Redemption)
Christ suffered and died because it was necessary to pay the price
for sin; to appease the just wrath of God against sin and to conform
to God’s perfect justice. Either sinners must die for their
sin, or else a substitute must die in their place. However, such a
sacrifice had to be perfect in order to fulfill God’s requirement
for perfect justice. This only Christ could accomplish. As noted,
while the penal sacrifice wrought on the cross of Calvary could have
saved every sinner in all generations to the end of time, it was never
God’s purpose to do so, in order to manifest the glory of His
own mercy toward those undeserving sinners who were the objects of
His love. It was therefore the will of God the Father to punish His
only begotten Son for the sins of His chosen people. Yet for that
to happen, it was necessary that Christ come into the world and take
human nature upon Himself so that He might become His people’s
representative, and undo the harm wrought by and through Adam’s
fall.
Because
of Christ’s atoning death and through the ministry of the Holy
Spirit, God’s chosen ones come to believe in and accept Christ
as their Lord and Saviour. While election or predestination itself
saves no one, God the Father has given the elect to Christ to secure
their salvation by their faith in Him. This is possible because Christ’s
atoning death was sufficient to secure everything needed for salvation,
including faith. It is their faith in Him that unites believers to
Christ and makes the benefits of His redemption available to them
and to them alone.
Irresistible
Grace
God is sovereign and makes sovereign decrees that cannot be thwarted
or resisted (citations here). Moreover, since God has sovereignly
decreed and purposed to save some sinners, even though they do not
deserve and have not earned such salvation, the grace He extends to
them is irresistible. Through the Holy Spirit, God extends an inward
call to His chosen people, which call is both effectual and irresistible
and brings them inevitably to faith in Christ. The Spirit is not limited
in His work nor is He dependant on the cooperation of sinners. Neither
does the Spirit force sinners against their wills to accept Christ.
However, because sinners are spiritually dead in their sin, they lack
the desire and ability to come to Christ on their own. Yet the will
as well as the mercy of God for those He loves cannot be resisted.
Therefore, stony hearts must be softened and intransigent wills must
be converted so that God’s sovereign will may be accomplished.
Therefore, by His power and because of this call, the Spirit irresistibly
draws spiritually dead sinners to Christ and creates in each one a
new heart and nature. Ultimately, this supernatural call cannot be
thwarted or resisted by elected sinners who, because of it, freely,
willingly and lovingly turn to Christ.
As
part of their salvation, God also justifies those who come to believe
through faith, reckoning them not guilty of their sin. He also gives
them the righteousness of Christ, freeing them from all condemnation.
However, the non-elect cannot receive the benefits of Christ’s
atoning sacrifice and so reap the fruit of their own abiding sinfulness.
Perseverance
(or Preservation) of the Saints
All those who have truly answered God’s call and have been regenerated
by the Holy Spirit will remain so for the rest of their lives. Those
who do not so remain were never effectually called to begin with.
God sovereignly preserves His own chosen ones. He does not permit
even one to ultimately fall from grace. Thus, the regenerated and
justified Christian can have confidence and assurance, knowing the
sovereign power and faithfulness of God is keeping him safe. However,
this preservation does not mean that the Christian cannot backslide
for periods of time. However, such backsliding is not permanent. Nor
is it a result of God revoking the salvation won for him by Christ,
causing the believer to revert to a lost and unrepentant state. If
this were true, it would mean that either God is incapable of carrying
out His own will or that He is untrustworthy and capricious. Both
propositions are logical absurdities. The fact of God’s sovereign
preservation of His saints gives the forgiven sinner the assurance
that he will be able to persevere even in the face of persecution
and tribulation. This assurance is a great stimulus to sanctification
or the growth in holiness and godly living of the Christian. Nevertheless,
here the sinner also has a responsibility. Because it is the purpose
of sanctification to enable us to grow in Christ as the branch grows
from the nutrients it receives from the vine, it becomes the believer’s
responsibility, as well as a duty of thankfulness, to cooperate with
the Holy Spirit in the work of bringing about spiritual growth or
sanctification.