Return To The Reformation

Modern evangelicalism has lost its way and strayed from its roots.  As our country has taken a dramatic secular turn the evangelical church is weak when it most needs to be strong.  Evangelicalism has been said to be a mile wide and an inch deep.  A return to our Reformation roots is badly needed.  The Protestant Reformation began in the 1500's and was led by men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli.  The Roman Catholic Church had gone astray and the Reformation was a return to Biblical Christianity.  

The Reformation teaching is generally defined by the "solas".  Sola is a Latin word that means only or alone.  The "solas" were Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and to God alone the glory.  

The foundation is Scripture alone because all of the other "solas" flow from it.  The Bible alone is the ultimate authority.  It is authoritative, inerrant, infallible, and totally sufficient.  It is not Scripture plus the church, not Scripture plus tradition, not Scripture plus reason, not Scripture plus  experience, not Scripture plus our culture, and not Scripture plus our feelings, but Scripture alone is the ultimate authority. 

We must also get the gospel correct.  Salvation is by God's grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone.  Salvation is totally the work of God, it is not God and man working together.  People dead in their sins and trespasses are made alive by God.  People are spiritually dead and unable to respond to God.  He regenerates his people and brings them to himself.  We are justified by faith alone in Christ alone and not by works.  If we could be justified by our own works then Christ died for no purpose.  Christ accomplished salvation for his people and nothing can be added to his work on the cross.  Jesus is the only way to heaven.  

To God alone belongs the glory.  God does not share his glory with anyone else.  We need to stop acting like it is God and us working together and recognize the reality that God is God and we are not.  We must recover our sense of the greatness of God.  God is sovereign, holy, supreme, transcendent, majestic, and awesome.  It is indeed God alone who deserves the glory.