The Five Solas

Wesley Grubb • Oct 01, 2023

Reformation Month!

October is Reformation Month. This year there are five Sundays in October, one for each of the five solas of classic Protestant theology. I love when it works out like this! Sola is the Latin word for “only” or “alone.” Think of the word “solo” and you get the idea. The five solas refer to the five “alone’s” that summarize the heart of the Reformation. Think of these solas as slogans of protest against significant doctrinal errors taught by the Roman Catholic Church of the late medieval period. The Reformers believed the Catholic Church was compromised by serious false teaching on matters of supreme importance to the Christian faith. There were many other abuses, problems, and points of protest in the 16th century, but these five stand out as the most important. The solas stand for the dividing line between Protestants and Catholics to this day.

Why are you Protestant? Why do you find yourself on that side of the line? Many people have never even thought about the question. I would venture to say that most are Protestant merely out of comfort and convenience, not out of conviction. Reformation Month is a time to remember why we are Protestant and to celebrate our inheritance. During the Reformation, under God’s wonderful providence, the church reclaimed the Bible, the gospel, and purified worship. The five solas summarize this inheritance. We must embrace these solas with firm conviction. We must learn them, understand them, and be able to explain them to others. When your Catholic friends and family members ask you why you are Protestant, or when you are urged and challenged to convert to the Catholic Church, you need to be ready to give a defense of your faith. Many convert to Rome because they were only Protestant out of comfort or convenience, not conviction, and they collapsed under pressure because they didn’t have an answer.

Let me encourage you this Reformation Month to establish firm, Protestant convictions. Memorize these five solas. Look up where they come from, what they mean, and what errors they are intended to correct. Most importantly, find where the solas are taught in Scripture and study those passages carefully. Let the solas carry you back to the word of God. That is where all Reformation teaching should lead. The absolute best way to establish Protestant convictions is to see for yourself where the Bible teaches these convictions. So let Reformation Month be a back-to-the-Bible month! Let us know for sure why we are Protestant, why the Reformation was so important, and why our Protestant inheritance is worth remembering and defending.

A good place to begin studying the five solas is our new church website. Under the “About Us” tab you will find a link called “Our Beliefs.” On that page you will find a detailed summary explanation I have written for each of the five solas. Other essential beliefs of our church are briefly explained there as well for those who are interested. May the Lord strengthen your faith this Reformation Month and give you joy in his truth as we celebrate our Protestant inheritance.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Wesley

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A Time for Feasting

By Wesley Grubb • 01 Apr, 2024

With the coming of Spring, the church enters into the joyous season of Easter. During Lent, we traditionally practice the discipline of self-denial. We give up something for Lent. This is an act of fasting for forty days. Easter is the mirror opposite of Lent. Just as we give up something for Lent, we are encouraged to take up something for Easter. Lent is about fasting, but Easter is about feasting. Easter is a forty-day period of celebration and rejoicing. The church greets the new life of Spring bursting forth in the earth by commemorating the glorious morning when our Lord burst forth from his tomb, bringing us eternal life. Here is how the apostle Paul says it: [God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9-10). Here we have the meaning of Easter encapsulated. These are the things we celebrate, and all of them were accomplished and secured for us by Jesus on that first Easter through his resurrection. Our whole salvation is a sovereign work of God . It is not based on our holiness, our works, our purposes, or our merits. We are saved only by God’s purpose and grace, which he ordained to give us in eternity past. God saves us first, and then he calls us to live a holy life. And the way we obtain these gifts is only in union with Christ Jesus in his death and resurrection. As Paul says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. . . . So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:4, 5, 11). Our ultimate salvation is rescue from death . Being saved means achieving immortality. God’s sovereign purpose and saving grace, which he prepared in eternity and revealed in history, are intended to do for us one day what he did for Jesus on Easter. The symbol of our salvation is not only the cross, but the empty tomb. In his resurrection, Jesus abolished our death and brought us life. Paul says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11). Easter is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection in the past and the anticipation of our own resurrection in the future. This is why we take up something for Lent. We do something joyful for others that promotes flourishing and well-being. We add something to our lives that brings more life to ourselves and others. More life, unending life, abundant life—that is what we celebrate, and we give Jesus all the glory. What will you take up this Easter that is life-giving? Make it your aim this Easter to be the kind of person who brings life and joy to the people around you. He is risen! Grace and peace, Pastor Wesley