Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura)
The Five Solas (“Alones”) of the Reformation
In the week leading up to Oct. 31 (Reformation Day) we will be looking at the 5 Alones (Solas), watchwords of the Reformation: Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone, Christ Alone, and To God’s Glory Alone.
Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura)
2 Timothy 3:16,17
16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
How is it that we know about God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? How is it that we know about God’s grace and the gift of faith? The answer is the Bible, the Word of God, tells us. Through the written word we learn about Jesus, through the written word the Holy Spirit speaks to us calling us to the patterns of life that are consistent with being God’s people.
As these verses say Scripture (the Bible) teaches us – gives us the knowledge we need to be followers of Jesus. Telling us the stories, giving us the patterns and practices of faith. The Bible also calls us to account, confronting us with the ways in which our lives are not in line with Jesus’ call in our lives. But the Bible not only confronts us with our wrong doing, it shows us the right path to follow. Becoming the guide book for our lives, the Bible both correct us and give us the tools to begin life on the path of following Jesus. So that our lives might produce the good that we so desperately want to live in the world. For lives shaped by God’s word will produce good works of self-giving and service that we see in the life of Jesus.
There was another word that the Reformation used in describing Scripture, it was “sufficient”. That is, nothing else was needed in order to know all that was necessary to be saved by the grace of God and to follow God as revealed to us in Jesus Christ and to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. No additional revelation was needed, no other holy writings, no other material – the Bible has all that we need to be the followers of Jesus. In fact, the challenge is not that the Bible does not include everything we need, the challenge is that it takes a lifetime and more to understand the truths of who the Bible says we are, and to allow our lives to be shaped into being the people the Bible calls us to be.
PRAYER:
God of the Word, we rejoice that you have given us the Bible, and that it tells us all that we need to know about the salvation offered to us in Jesus Christ. We rejoice that it tells us all the need to know to live a life of discipleship, In Jesus’ name. Amen.