The Five Solas: Sola Scriptura

The holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

2 Timothy 3:15-17

Ladies, time to connect some of the Sola dots today. There is nothing more certain in my mind than that by grace alone (Sola Gratia), through faith alone (Sola Fide), because of Christ alone (Solus Christus), I have been justified (made righteous) for this life and the next. But on what do I base my certainty? That is not an idle question now, nor was it in the sixteenth century.  

You see, in the 1500s it was becoming more and more obvious to Luther and the Reformers that the Pope and others of the prominent religious often erred in their sermons and edicts; or worse, twisted the words of God to their liking, teaching it to their congregants as Gospel truth. I say, not much has changed today.

So Scripture had to be declared the supreme authority upon which all teachings must be based, all faith must rest. Hence the fourth Sola, Sola Scriptura—Only Scripture. Truth was not up to the whims of man; truth was spelled out word for word in the Holy Bible, for everyone to see. Just read above—it is the holy Scriptures which give you the wisdom you require to base your faith on, for salvation. And it is the same Scriptures which equip you for righteous living.

And how do I know the Scriptures are the prime source for truth? Whew—big question. If I say, “because the Bible tells me so”, I am in much of a circular argument. But that is exactly what it says. More definitively though, the New Testament writers were eyewitnesses to the events they chronicled, to the point of death. Meanwhile Jesus confirmed, in words and by His life, the prophecies of the Old Testament. The reliability of the early manuscripts is accepted, extra-biblical writers like Josephus concur, and archaeology verifies events of the times.

I understand that not all knowledge is found in Scripture; but all that is necessary for salvation and life certainly is. And as scientific facts are made clear, I find them compatible.

  

My aim then is to be like the Berean Christians who: received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11). I intend to measure all circumstances, all teachings, all advice even from godly friends, all promptings of the Holy Spirit, against the yardstick of the Word of God. Sola Scriptura!

Nancy P