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There are many Christians today who hunger for a new Reformation in our time. Those who, to quote James Montgomery Boice "...have become nauseated with the tawdry entertainment that passes for the true worship of God...and [who] are longing for more of the deep truths of the inerrant Word of God." Among the deep truths that Boice was referring to were five underlying ideas that gave the church of the Reformation much of its depth as well as its breadth. These five theses are known as the five Solas or Singularities. They are sola Scriptura, solus Christus, sola gratia, sola fide and solo Deo gloria. What follows is my own attempt to summarize, according to my ability and understanding, these foundational Reformation ideas. For a much fuller treatment, as well as an eye-opening read, I refer you to What Ever Happened to the Gospel of Grace; Rediscovering the Doctrines that Shook the World, by James Montgomery Boice, Crossway Books, 2001.

1. Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)
This term refers to the underlying, foundational importance of the Bible. By this term is meant that Scripture is correct in all that it says since it is God's Word and God, being God, cannot be mistaken, nor lie or mislead about anything. Scripture must be inerrant—without error—or else it could not be God's word. Everything found in the Bible must therefore be true and correct. There is no, and could never be, any lies or untruth. The Bible testifies of itself that it is the ultimate authority for all those who claim to believe in God, so it cannot mislead.

As well as being correct in everything it says, it is also sufficient for every need. Sufficiency means that the Bible lacks nothing and is, in itself, sufficient for anyone to trust and follow. 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. The sufficiency of the Bible is of central importance since we are exhorted by the Bible itself to accept it as the authoritative rule for the Christian life, without exception. It should therefore be obvious that practices and beliefs of the church which do not adhere and conform to Scripture cannot be true or valid, however well-meaning.

Finally, scripture has the quality of perspicuity. It is plain to the understanding, especially because of clarity and precision. The Bible by and large is clear. It is easily understood. That is not to say there are no difficulties with some parts. Indeed, the Bible testifies of itself that there are passages which are hard to understand. Yet the whole counsel of God partakes of clarity. The reading of it should not lead to confusion as this is contrary to the nature as well as the purposes of God. After the apostolic age, with the creation of Christianity as the state religion by the emperor Constantine, the perspicuity of the Bible was rediscovered as a result of the efforts of such men as Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale and John Calvin. They wrested the Word from the hands of corrupt and self-interested priests in order to give back to the very people it was intended for, the common man or woman. Today we must guard against a similar situation. We must not let the meaning of the Bible be determined for us by a small cadre of biblical intellectuals whose great and deep scholarship only confuses rather than illuminates. The role of the scholar must always be as a kind of spiritual midwife, assisting in the birth of true spiritual understanding of God's Word by men and women of average intelligence.

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—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 personal anger 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 yet 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. Yet God was an infinite God and His indignation and justice were also infinite, consequently 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 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. 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 pleased to choose some out from the others in order to save them from the just punishment their sin deserves.

The pleasure of God to save and redeem some is an act of pure sovereignty 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). God has chosen in eternity past and before the foundation of the world a multitude for Himself—those He has foreknown and foreloved. These are saved 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. Salvation therefore is unmerited and undeserved and is a free gift of God. There is no one who can earn salvation. We are all, without exception, born in sin and disfigured by it. 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 to those given to Him for salvation by the Father. Christ's righteousness cannot be ours, however, without first having faith in His desire and power to accomplish all He has told us he would. And this faith is not a work which we perform, we cannot decide one day to "have faith." It, like grace is a gift from God. 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 God's elect. Through His ministrations we receive the gift of faith.

Three aspects make up the totality of true faith: knowledge, assent and trust. 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 a 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 rightfully and properly worship Him. 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 Chatechisms 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. 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 actually 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 which 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 five solas were bequethed to us by the divines of the Reformation. They were, taken together as they must always be, 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.