Rock Valley Bible Church (www.rvbc.cc) # 2015-023 June 7, 2015 by Steve Brandon Sola Scriptura (Various) In 1521 the German Reformer, Martin Luther, was summoned to appear in Worms before the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V to defend what he had taught and written. Soon after he arrived, it was clear that he wasn't brought there to defend his views; he was brought there to recant his views. Laid out on the table were 25 books or articles that Martin Luther had written. The titles were read. Then, Luther was asked if these, indeed were written by him, and if so, to recant their contents. Luther requested more time to respond. So, he was given until 4pm the next day to respond. When 4pm arrived, and Luther stood before the counsel, he said, "The works are mine, but ... Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason--I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other--my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen." For Luther, it was all about the Bible. It was all about the teaching of the Scripture. He didn't trust the pope. He didn't trust the councils. He had seen how they contradicted the Bible and each other. He had seen their corruption, and he couldn't trust them. Martin Luther trusted in the Scriptures alone. And we should as well. My message this morning is entitled, "Sola Scriptura." It's the first of five topical messages that I want to bring to you over the next five weeks. And in these next five weeks, we will be looking at what are often referred to as "The Solas." These "Solas" are the core of what those in the Protestant Reformation believed. In case you don't know, the "Protestant Reformation" took place in the 1500's, when men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli and others "protested" against the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church. And eventually split the church into the "Protestants," those who "protested" against the church, and the "Catholics," those who remained in the mother church. Our theological heritage can be traced back to the Reformers of this day. And I thought that it would be good for us to take a look at our history. My messages in this series will be entirely topical. We aren't going to take a passage and dig into it, as is our normal custom. We will do this again with 1 John in a month or two. Instead, for now, we will bounce here and there in the Bible, looking to various passages that support our belief in these "Solas." Furthermore, I want to interlace my messages with a good dose of historical illustrations to help bring you back to the days of the Reformation. You say, "What are these 'Solas'?" I'm glad you asked. The first is called, "Sola Scriptura," Scripture alone. That is, we look to the Scripture "alone" for our authority and guidance in spiritual matters. As John Hus once said to His opponents who were calling him to denounce his beliefs, "Show me from Scripture and I will repent and recant!" Next week, we will take up, "Sola Fide," Faith alone. That is, salvation comes by faith alone in Jesus. You don't combine your works with your faith to obtain salvation. It comes through simple trust in Jesus, the Messiah. The next week, we will look at "Sola Gratia," Grace alone. That is, salvation is entirely a gift of God. Our salvation isn't based on or merited by anything that we do. There is nothing we do to merit God's grace. It is only by the grace of God that we are saved. Fourth, we will look at "Solus Christus," Christ alone. That is, our salvation comes only through Christ. It does not come through the sacraments or traditions of the church, but only through Jesus. Finally, we will look at "Soli Deo Gloria," Glory to God alone. We take no glory for ourselves. All the glory for our salvation goes to God, both now and for all eternity. Our lives are to be lived for the glory of God. Now, a comment on these words. In case you haven't noticed, they are all in Latin. They all begin with this word, "Sola" or "Solus" or "Soli." The exact form of the word depends upon the case of the noun it modifies. But, the meaning of the word is clear, "alone," or "only," like our word, "solo." It's a big deal when a budding airplane pilot takes a flight without an instructor. It's called a "solo flight." In the same way, all of these terms describe an aspect of salvation that doesn't need to be accompanied by anything else. We look to the Scriptures "alone." We are justified by faith "alone." We are saved by grace "alone." It is on the merit of Christ "alone." And we are to live to the glory of God "alone." All of the reformers believed in the "Solas." They didn't know them by that name. The formal arrangement of these "Solas" didn't come about until the 1900's. They have come about in an effort to define what exactly it was that drove the reformers of the Reformation. And if men like Luther and Calvin and Zwingli and Hus and Wycliffe and Tyndale had heard these five solas grouped together like this, they would have gladly affirmed their belief in these things. There is no doubt about that, for each of them said things that justified all five of these statements. They simply didn't say it this exact way. Indeed, the Soals well represent the cries of the reformation. They well represent the cause of the Protestant church. These five messages will do us well to ground us all in our theological heritage. First and fundamental to all of their/our beliefs was the sufficiency of Scripture. Or, as it is often called, "Sola Scriptura." Scripture alone is sufficient to accomplish God's work in the soul. In other words, to understand the ways of God, you don't need human counsels or popes. You don't need others to tell you what to believe. You simply need the Scriptures, over which you read and pray and meditate. And if you seek the Lord with all your heart, He will make His ways known to you. And that's why we will look this week at "Sola Scriptura." It was the foundational fight that the Reformers had in the reformation. Will you put the Bible in the hands of the people, so that they can read it for themselves? Or, will the priests and popes dispense the Bible at their whim. See, in the days of the Protestant Reformation (1500's), the Roman Catholic Church had a hold on the church. And it wasn't about the Bible. It was about the priests and the popes and the counsels. What the popes and counsels said ruled the day. They were the keepers of the truth. They were the interpreters of Scripture. In their day, knowledge of the Bible was scant. And the church was doing little by way of education to change that. By and large, the people were kept in the dark about the Bible. This is, by the way, still the case with many in the Catholic church. The laity in the church is not generally reading the Bible for themselves. They are still largely in the dark. But, this all changed in the days of the Reformation. The Reformers challenged the Roman Catholic Church, and fought hard for the Scriptures to be in the hands of the laity; in the hands of the everyday worker. William Tyndale is famous for his argument with some Roman Catholic clergy. When they argued in favor of the church and the popes and the counsels, Tyndale retorted, "I defy the Pope, and all his laws, and if God spares my life, ere many years, I will cause the boy that drives the plow to know more of the Scriptures than you do." And Tyndale made it his life's work to get the Scriptures into the hands of the laity. He translated the Bible into English and spent his life spreading copies of the Bible throughout all of Europe. He was eventually betrayed and charged with heresy. He was tied to a stake and strangled, shortly afterwards, his body was burned. His famous last words were, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." This prayer, by the way, was answered, when James I commissioned a standard English translation, which was completed in 1611, some 75 years after Tyndale died at the stake. Tyndale wasn't the only one to die getting the Scripture into the hands of the people. History is filled with those who were put to death because they worked toward getting the Bible translated into the hands of the people. [1]A hundred and fifty years before Tyndale was martyred, John Wycliffe experienced the same fate for the same crime. He, too, was passionate about getting the Bible into the hands of the ordinary person, that they might read if for themselves. Now, to be clear, John Wycliffe and William Tyndale were not martyred because they distributed the Bible. They were martyred because of their beliefs, which were contrary to the Roman Catholic Church.