The word deceit is interesting. It is like a fish hook, in that what a fish gets is not what it expects. What you see is not what you get in that circumstance. … The word guile is dolos in the Greek, it’s the word used for fish hook which is very deceptive if you’re a fish, obviously.
– John MacArthur
All of the “sola’s” so far discussed have led to one inevitable conclusion: Soli Deo Gloria (or To God Alone be the Glory). When the reformers declared Sola Scriptura, they declared that all doctrine must align with what is taught in Scripture, alone—than no teaching of Rome or any other church is to be considered mandatory or “God-breathed.” Since it was God who inspired the Bible’s writers, through the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of Sola Scriptura pointed directly to God, giving Him the honor.
When the reformers declared Solus Christus, they said there is only one Way to Heaven, and that’s through Jesus Christ alone. There is no other mediator than Christ—not Mary and not the so-called saints. Because Christ is the only way to be reconciled to God, and since God was the One who sent Christ, God alone gets the glory in this doctrine as well.
The doctrine of Grace Alone established God’s initiative in redeeming man. Since man was corrupt by nature (every desire of his heart was to reject God), he already warranted eternal damnation. There is no righteousness in man, in and of himself. It was strictly out of grace alone that God thought of redeeming man. It was out of grace—not obligation—that God sent His Son to die for the sins of His elect. The doctrine of Sola Gratia clearly gave glory to God alone.
The reformers’ flag ship doctrine, Sola Fide (or Faith Alone) declared that man in no way warranted salvation due to his “good works.” There, in fact, is nothing a man can do to even contribute to his salvation. Justification is gained by faith in Christ’s death alone. And as Paul states in Ephesians 2:8-9, even the faith is something God gives us—not something we come up with on our own: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that [faith] not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” All the glory is clearly given to God in this doctrine.
So, the culmination of Reformed Theology is the honoring of God alone in the process of redemption. It is He who reveals Himself to His elect, and it is He who provides His elect the necessary qualifications to bring them to Heaven.
Though the believer, with his limited point-of-view, sees faith in Christ as a decision he makes on his own, the reformers of the 16th Century searched the Scriptures and found redemption to be a sovereign plan initiated by God before the foundation of the world. They realized that even their apparent choosing of God was really God choosing them. It was to this revelation that they declared so boldly, “Soli Deo Gloria!”
The debate over justification by faith alone was the benchmark of the Reformation. The doctrine itself was said by Martin Luther to be “the article with and by which the church stands, without which it falls” (articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae). No single declaration was more prominent and more central to the Protestant movement than the declaration “sola fide!” (or faith alone). The validity of such a doctrine had major implications for the Roman Catholic Church, which stood to lose much in the way of funds and reputation.
When the reformers declared “sola fide,” they were directly opposing the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings on venial & mortal sins, priestly absolution, penance, and indulgences. While the reformers said that justification was gain by faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, alone, and that the works of a man had no bearing on his justification, Rome taught that justification was gained when one possessed a faith “made perfect in love,” or a faith that was accompanied by “works.” Rome also believed that a person could lose his justification when he committed “mortal sins.” To regain justification, he had to confess to a priest, receive absolution, then commit acts of penance to regain favor with God.
In efforts to raise funds, Rome also sold indulgences (or stored-up merit from overly-righteous saints and leaders in the church) to those who felt they needed more righteousness to gain justification. Rome eventually marketed the indulgences as righteousness the people could buy for dead loved ones—in case they needed some extra righteousness to get out of purgatory. Johann Tetzel (a peddler of indulgences) claimed, “Every time a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs!” All of these acts (indulgences, penance, absolution, confession) were seen by the reformers as “works,” and were rejected as adding anything to justification. As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Though the reformers declared that works did not contribute to justification, they believed that true faith always resulted in good works. In other words, works did not help justify a man, rather they were necessary results of his justification and faith. As James 2:17 states, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” The equation would thus look like this for the reformer:
And the Roman Catholic view would be diagrammed like this:
The placement of “Works” in these equations meant the difference between two entirely different systems of Theology. It was on this issue in the 16th century that the church was split and hundreds of Christians lost their lives, standing up for what they believed to be the true, biblical doctrine of justification.
The doctrine of Sola Gratia (or Grace Alone) requires one to think in legal terms. Grace is, by definition, unmerited favor. In this case, it is unmerited favor given to a trespasser of God’s Law. Mankind is the trespasser and God gives a part of mankind salvation, freely as a gift of grace, rather than the punishment due them, namely death.
The number one ingredient in the reformer’s declaration of Sola Gratia! is this fact that no one deserves God’s salvation—that all men have sinned, and have thus warranted eternal damnation. The most frequent objection to Reformation Theology (or Calvinism) is, “That’s not fair!” People believe that, if God shows mercy to some individuals and saves them, He should show that same mercy (or grace) to everyone—that it would be unfair of Him not to.
Here’s where the definition of grace is so important. Grace is unmerited favor. That means God is not required to bestow grace on anyone. When objections are made, such as “God should bestow grace on everyone, if anyone,” we’re no longer talking about grace. God doesn’t treat everyone equally, but that doesn’t mean He treats anyone unfairly. To some, He bestows grace, and to others, He bestows justice. In all cases, He is never unjust. Even the sins of those He gives grace to are paid by Jesus Christ’s death. So there is absolutely no room to ever call God unjust. All sin is punished with death. It is grace, however, that God has His Son pay for the sins of some.
Another ingredient to Sola Gratia is the declaration that it is only by grace that someone can come to the Father. There is no righteousness or goodness inherent in anyone that leads them to the Father. Without grace, everyone would hate God and shun Him. This doctrine humbles a man, and leaves no room for pride or self-satisfaction in one’s own salvation. John Calvin puts it this way in his Institutes of Christian Religion: “God’s grace is illustrated by the fact that he does not give away salvation indiscriminately, but gives to some what he denies to others. Ignorance of this great truth detracts from God’s glory and prevents true humility (XII.1).”
It is this emphatic declaration of Sola Gratia! that reiterates what Paul says in the book of Ephesians and Romans: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (2:8,9). So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace (11:5,6).”
The doctrine of Solus Christus (a.k.a. Christ Alone) touched on several debates the reformers had with the Roman Catholic Church. During the Reformation, the Church’s homage to the Virgin Mary and to the Saints was condemned by the reformers, as was the Church’s apparent “works” righteousness.
As the supreme High Priest of His people, Jesus, the reformers argued, was the only Mediator between God and man. To pray to Mary or the saints was not only disrespectful to Christ and His sacrifice, but was flat-out idolatry as well.
As Christ, alone, is the Mediator between God and man, it necessarily followed that any religion that proposed another way to God, apart from Christ, was completely invalid. Christ alone, declared the reformers, is the Mediator—He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life—not Mary, the saints, or any other religious figure. To attempt to get to God by any other way was unbiblical and futile.
But the debate between the reformers and the Church on this matter did not stop with matters dealing with traditional customs of worship and prayer. The doctrine of Solus Christus also had much to do with essential matters of faith.
The over-all banner of the Reformation was “Justification by faith in Christ alone.” With such emphasis on penance, indulgences, and faith-plus-works doctrines, the Roman Catholic Church was accused by the reformers as adhering to a doctrine that did not place faith in Christ’s sacrifice alone. A faith-plus-works gospel was “another gospel” to the reformers, or rather no gospel at all. The Church was thus deemed anathema, or accursed, and the reformers felt justified to leave the Roman church to worship with the true, Christ-centered Church.
