It was on 31 October 1517 that an Augustinian monk name Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. His intention was to begin debates and discussion on what he regarded as the abuse of power and false doctrines taught by the Roman Catholic Church.
His actions that day set in motion the Protestant Reformation, which eventually gave us five key Reformation doctrines - usually referred to by their Latin names: Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), Sola Gratia (grace alone), Sola Fide (faith alone), Solus Christus (Christ alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone).
These are the five solas of the Reformation. RC Sproul said, “It is no exaggeration to say that the eye of the Reformation tornado was that one little word sola - alone.”
We’ll be looking at each of these solas over the next 5 weeks.
Probably the first question we should be asking is, does something which began more than 500 years ago still have any relevance in our world today?
This is the answer given by the theologian James Montgomery Boice: “Without these five confessional statements – Scripture alone, Grace alone, Faith alone, Christ alone and Glory to God alone – we do not have a true Church, and certainly not one that will survive for very long. For how can any Church be a true and faithful Church if it does not stand for Scripture alone, is not committed to a Biblical Gospel, and does not exist for God’s glory alone? A Church without these convictions has ceased to be a true Church, whatever else it may be.”
This morning we begin our series by looking at Sola Scriptura - Scripture alone.
2 Timothy 3:1–17
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. 10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra - which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The Westminster Confession of Faith, drawn up in the mid 17th century, says of the Scriptures, “The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.” (Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 1 section 4)
One of Martin Luther’s greatest concerns when it came to the Bible was that it should be the sole, ultimate authority for the Church and Christians. The Roman Catholic Church in his day did believe that the Bible was authoritative for faith and life, but they did not believe it to be the sole, ultimate authority. They believed that of equal authority to the Scriptures were the traditions of the Church, the councils of the Church, and the pope.
Luther and the other reformers argued that the Bible, Church traditions, the councils, and the pope did not have equal authority. They believed in the supreme and sole authority of the Bible, and this is why they taught Sola Scriptura - the Scriptures alone were authoritative.
And so for the past 500 years the Reformed Church has agreed that the Bible remains the sole, ultimate authority for the Church. Of course life is very different today compared to the 16th century, but during recent years there has been a subtle but noticeable shift in how the Church regards Scripture. The challenge the Church faces today is not so much proclaiming the authority of Scripture but rather the sufficiency of Scripture.
James Montgomery Boice again wrote, “The Reformers wanted Scripture to stand alone as the Church’s true authority. Today, at least in the evangelical Church, that is not our chief problem. We assert Biblical authority. Rather, our problem is in deciding whether the Bible is sufficient for the Church’s life and work. We confess its authority, but we discount its ability to do what is necessary to draw unbelievers to Christ, enable us to grow in godliness, provide direction for our lives, and transform and revitalise society. In the sixteenth century the battle was against those who wanted to add Church traditions to Scripture, but in our day the battle is against those who would have us use worldly means to do God’s work.”
Basically what Boice was asking is, do we believe that God has given us everything we need for faith and life in the Bible, or should we be supplementing the Bible with programs and gimmicks to make our ministry more effective or attractive? Boice died in 2000, so he saw first-hand the explosion of the so-called “seeker-sensitive Churches” during the past few decades, but this is a fad which has pretty much run its course. Many of them like Mars Hill and Willow Creek have closed down or are dwindling in numbers for the simple reason that both the authority and sufficiency of Scripture is not a priority in those Churches. Many people in the seeker-sensitive movement do not have a good understanding of the Bible, because they’ve never been taught it, so they have either left to join more theologically sound Churches, or sadly, have become so disillusioned that they have left the faith altogether.
The thinking in the seeker-sensitive movement is that they believe there are many people out there who are seeking God and want to know Him, but this is their first mistake. Are non-believers actually seeking God? The Bible teaches the exact opposite. Romans 3:11 says, “No one understands; no one seeks for God.” Ephesians 2:1 teaches that man is dead in his trespasses and sins, which means that the lost are not seeking God because they don’t recognise their need for Him.
Generally speaking, seeker-sensitive Churches avoid the truth that as sinners we are under God’s wrath. That’s not a popular message in a world where so many believe that we’re all basically good people, but in order to come to faith in Jesus Christ, we first need to understand our need for mercy and forgiveness, which is a central theme of Scripture. The Bible teacher Steve Lawson said on Twitter recently, “If you want an easy ministry without controversy, do not preach the Bible.”
We will never appreciate the good news of what God has done for us if we don’t first understand the bad news. Jesus’ message was “repent and believe,” and this was the same message of the apostles in the first century.
The whole message of the Bible not only needs to be proclaimed, but it must be a priority in the Church. In 1 Timothy 3 Paul warned Timothy that in the last days he was going to face times of difficulty. He goes on in verses 2-4 to say, “people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
This is the world that Paul lived in. It is the world that the reformers lived in some 500 years ago, and it is still the world we are living in today. The “last days” that Paul referred to in verse 1 is the time period between Jesus’ first and second coming.
So Paul’s message of encouragement and hope that he gave to Timothy is the same message we need to hear today: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:14-15) There’s the answer - the sacred writings - Scripture.
Paul’s answer in the face of all the godlessness in the world is the Word of God. Sola Scriptura. The Bible contains all we need for faith and life.
Why is the seeker-sensitive movement failing? Because they have a low view of the authority and sufficiency of the Bible. Slick choreography, fancy lighting, talented musicians, moving testimonies and emotionalism will not draw the lost to God.
The only way the Spirit of God works in order to regenerate lost sinners is by the Word of God. 1 Peter 1:23 says, “You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God.”
Look again at Jesus’ earthly ministry. “After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.’” (Mark 1:14-15)
Mark introduced Jesus as a preacher, and the message Jesus preached was the Gospel. As Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Jesus’ message, and the message of the early Church was the Gospel, which is clearly spelled out in the pages of the Bible. The Bible describes our great need, and it tells the story of just what God has done in order to provide for our great need.
The question is, “How do lost sinners enter the Kingdom of God?” The answer is “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
The moral decay we see in our world today is nothing new, and the answer we have to the world remains the same - the Word of God. Do you want to see a better society? Of course you do. Then start with the Bible. Let’s look at the example of John Calvin, and the impact he had in the city of Geneva during the Reformation.
In the early 1500’s, Geneva was a city with serious moral issues. In fact, the words of 2 Timothy 3:2-4 described perfectly what the people in Geneva were like: “Lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
Things were really beginning to spiral out of control as society was falling apart, so the Church in Geneva, which had only a year earlier broken away from the Roman Catholic Church and embraced Protestantism, called John Calvin to be their pastor and teacher as they tried to bring about social change. That was in 1536. For nearly three years Calvin faithfully preached the Bible verse by verse, but his preaching was so unpopular that he was eventually dismissed in 1538, so he moved on to Strasbourg. The social chaos in Geneva continued to decline, so in desperation they begged Calvin to return, which he did in September 1541. John Calvin was a faithful preacher of the Word of God, and in his first sermon back in Geneva, he picked up exactly where he had left off more than three years before. Calvin preached from the Bible every day, and under the power of that preaching the city of Geneva slowly but surely began to be transformed. As the people of Geneva grew in knowledge of the Bible, they were dramatically changed, so much so that from Geneva the Gospel message began to spread to the rest of Europe, and as explorers began travelling further, the Gospel message spread to the New World.
The influence that the Word of God had through John Calvin’s faithful preaching had far-reaching effects. The historian Marcellus Kik wrote of the changes in Geneva in Calvin’s time, “Cleanliness was practically unknown in towns of his generation and epidemics were common and numerous. He moved the council to make permanent regulations for establishing sanitary conditions and supervision of markets. Beggars were prohibited from the streets, but a hospital and poorhouse were provided and well conducted. Calvin laboured zealously for the education of all classes and established the famous Academy, whose influence reached all parts of Europe and even to the British Isles. He urged the council to introduce the cloth and silk industry and thus laid the foundation for the temporal wealth of Geneva. This industry proved especially successful because Calvin, through the Gospel, created within the individual the love of work, honesty, thrift and cooperation. He taught that capital was not an evil thing, but the blessed result of honest labour and that it could be used for the welfare of mankind.
Countries under the influence of Calvinism were invariably connected with growing industry and wealth. It is not mere coincidence that religious and political liberty arose in those countries where Calvinism had penetrated most deeply.”
Society in Calvin’s day was totally transformed, and it was undergirded by his faithful ministry and his methodical preaching of Scripture.
He clearly understood what Paul was saying to Timothy. Paul told Timothy to be faithful in the ministry he was called to because “from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15).
The question we need to ask is, just how and why is Scripture able to have such a transforming effect on the lives of people? The answer is in verses 16 and 17. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
The whole counsel of Scripture must be proclaimed and believed. Our world may be very different to the world that Paul and Timothy lived in, and the world of Luther and Calvin, but our message is the same. Repent and believe the Gospel.
The call of the reformers was that Scripture is the final authority, not the Church or any man or group of men. Luther was a Roman Catholic monk who tried to correct the false doctrine from within, but he ended up being excommunicated from the Church.
He was summoned to the Diet of Worms in 1521 and ordered to recant his writings which opposed much of what the Roman Catholic Church taught.
Luther’s reply was, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me. Amen.”
At the heart of Sola Scriptura is the recognition that we are fallen, and as a result of our sin we have an issue with authority. We don’t want to submit to the authority of God, and this is what happened in the Garden of Eden.
“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” (Genesis 2:16-17)
Satan directly challenged the Word of God when he tempted Adam and Eve. We pick up the narrative in chapter 3. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?” And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” (Genesis 3:1-5)
Adam and Eve believed the false representation of God’s Word, resulting in the entire human race falling into sin.
What happened in Genesis 3 serves as a reminder to us of what happens when the Word of God is twisted and distorted.
And it happens so easily, and it is so dangerous. How often do we hear, even from pulpits, “This is what this Scripture means to me.” John MacArthur’s comment when he hears preachers say that is, “Don’t tell me what you think it says. Tell me what it says.”
Paul continues to exhort Timothy in chapter 4:1-5. “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
We don’t get to decide what the Bible means. We are to listen to what it says, not redefine its meaning in order to suit our own purposes. God is the author of Scripture, and He decides what it means. Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone.
Psalm 19:7–11 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
Homegroup Study Notes
Read 2 Timothy 3:14-17
How do Paul’s instructions to Timothy continue to apply to the Church today?
If as Christians, we believe in the authority of Scripture alone, what role do Bible commentaries or discussion groups (such as your homegroup) play in our understanding of God’s Word?
What is the difference between the authority and sufficiency of Scripture?
Discuss this statement made by James Montgomery Boice: “How can any Church be a true and faithful Church if it does not stand for Scripture alone and is not committed to a Biblical Gospel?”
Read Romans 1:18-25 and 3:10-18
The “bad news” of the true state of the unrepentant heart is avoided by many modern Churches.
Why is this a mistake, and secondly, how do we reach the unsaved and present them with the whole Gospel message?