Old Testament Survey
Sola Scriptura

Most of you know that our trip centered around the Reformation – aiming to visit many historical sites.  My own heart was stirred to visit such places – to be reminded of those who not only stood for biblical principles, but who willingly gave their lives for the purification of the Gospel and the Church.  Phillip Schaff, arguably Christianity’s greatest historian, calls …

‘The Reformation of the sixteenth century … the greatest event in history … next to the introduction of Christianity.…

He says that it …

[It] bears a strong resemblance to the first century.  Both are rich beyond any other period … they are the turning points in the history of mankind.… The Reformation was negative and destructive towards error, positive and constructive towards truth, it built up new institutions in the place of those which it pulled down …’ (VI., I, p.1)

Well, so I was thrilled to be able to see where so much of that took place.  So, I figured that a few weeks of pondering this dynamic event should do us all some good.  Before we even left, I began to set my sights on capturing and communicating the highlights of our Reformation tour.  I wanted to find a way to pass along some of the excitement of this life-long dream.  I wanted to preach a message, or a series of messages connected to the earth-shaking event known as the Reformation.  I decided that the surest vehicle to accomplish that would be to preach through what are called the Solas of the Reformation.  The Solas of the Reformation, for those of you who are less acquainted with them, are these – five superlative Latin phrases …

Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone – the one source of Divine Revelation

Solus Christus – Christ alone – the One source of Redemption and forgiveness of sin

Sola Gratia – Grace alone – the one means of spiritual restoration

Sola Fide – Faith alone – the one means of possessing Christ’s righteousness, being justified before a Holy God

Soli Deo Gloria – God’s glory alone – the one great aim of every true child of God – that God would receive all Glory and Honor

Well, those are the five Solas.  And Lord willing, we will consider each one over the next several weeks.

Now, many of you know that the most recent expression of these five Solas is captured in a document called The Cambridge Declaration.  As a Church, we have affirmed that document since the earliest days of our Church.  It is one of our foundational documents.

Years ago I began to do some digging.  I wanted to know more about the history of this document and the history of the five Solas.  I did learn about the history of The Cambridge Declaration itself.  In April of 1996, only two years before we founded our Church, a group of 113 conservative pastors and leaders held a four-day Conference at Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Though these men were from a great variety of denominational backgrounds, their concern was singular – they were drawn together in response to the theological drift of the modern Church on many particulars.  We know and highly esteem many of the original signers of that document – Alistair Begg, James Boice, Robert Godfrey, John Hannah, Michael Horton, Al Mohler, RC Sproul, David Wells, and many others.  The Cambridge Declaration was the result of that Conference.

But then I wanted to find out where these men in this day found these foundational truths – where did they find the original five Solas.  Surely, I thought, if these truths were at the heart of the Protestant Reformation, they would be easily discoverable.  The Cambridge Declaration presents the five major tenets of the Reformation as a re–assertion of those five tenets.  So, I thought it, if this document is a re-assertion, there must be an original source for these phrases.

And I figured that in this Google-search, information age it would be relatively easy and straightforward.  I half-expected to find an easily traceable link to some prominent reformer – who styled these five Latin phrases – Calvin, Luther, Knox?  Perhaps a committee of pastors and scholars had gathered to map out the principles that would guide them through the Reformation.  Perhaps these truths were preached by some reformer as a five-part series.  But my most earnest research proved fruitless.  The original source of the five Solas was undiscoverable.

One source pointed out that Lutherans had long maintained three Solas – Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, and Sola Gratia.  There is a Lutheran symbol, which dates back to Luther’s day, called ‘Luther’s Rose.’  The image is of a white rose, against a blue background; in the center of the rose there is a heart; in the center of the heart, a black cross.  This symbol articulates three solas.  Three solas – but not five.

So, as far as I was able to determine, there is no historical document that sets for the five Solas – not until The Cambridge Declaration in 1996.  But there seemed to be an even greater question about the history of these statements – whether or not these five statements are historical; whether there was a traceable lineage back to the Reformation.  The greater question is – do we find these truths in Scripture?  Are these concepts or principles supported by Scripture?  I believe that I can say, with all confidence, we do.  And I hope to show this over these next several weeks.  There is yet another question that I hope to answer along the way – the second pressing question is do we indeed find these convictions active in the Reformation?  After all, if these are the Solas of the Reformation, we ought to be able to observe that.  Right?

So, as I set my sights on this study of the five Solas, I quickly transitioned to a consideration of Sola #1 – Sola Scriptura.  And I wondered, where might I turn for a passage that articulates this truth – that I might preach it?  I don’t mean to alarm you, but as soon as I began to look for a text that single-handedly articulates the principle of Sola Scriptura, in all honesty, I came up rather empty handed.  Please don’t panic.  Let me explain.

If we were to go looking for a singular New Testament passage that articulates Sola Scriptura, we would have to begin by considering those passages that speak of either the Word of God, or those passages that mention Scripture.  The word Bible isn’t used in Scripture.  In the case of the phrase, the Word of God, I discovered that most of those passages seem to speak more generally of a Divine Revelation for Salvation than they do specifically about the New Testament.  Listen to just a few examples …

2 Corinthians 4:2  but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

We hear that and instinctively think of refraining from adding anything to the Scriptures.  But Paul is speaking much more generally there – adulterating the Gospel.  Here is another one, Ephesians 6:17 …

Ephesians 6:17  And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

We hear that and we immediately think of our Bible – Old and New Testament.  But at the moment of his writing of this verse and this epistle, there was no New Testament at all.  The word of God in Ephesians 6:17, then, would seem to point to something different – the revelation of the Gospel, God’s plan of redemption by faith in Christ.

Let me give you yet another example – 1^st Thessalonians 2:13.

1 Thessalonians 2:13  For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

What Paul is referring to there is the reception the Thessalonians gave to the preaching of the Gospel – the word of God in that sense.  Paul is praising the Thessalonian believers for their initial reception of the Gospel message – not that they eagerly welcomed the gift of a copy of the New Testament.

In each of those uses, Paul is speaking of divine revelation for salvation.  And at the moment of each of those writings, there was again no New Testament … yet.  All of those passages appear – on their face – to be speaking not of ‘the New Testament’, but of Divine Revelation for Salvation – to saving revelation.  

Well, it seemed that the phrase, the word of God, was not going to yield a passage to preach about the concept of Sola Scriptura.  What about the word Scripture itself?  Is there a passage that utilizes the word Scripture that could be used to support the idea of Sola Scriptura?  Here too, I came up empty handed.  That is because the word Scripture seems to be used primarily as an immediate reference to the Old Testament Scriptures.  Listen to but a few examples.

Romans 15:4  For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

1 Timothy 4:13  Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching …

2 Timothy 3:16  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

The problem with each of these is that at the time of their writing there was no New Testament.  So, each one of these – like all other mentions of scripture – had to necessarily be a reference to the Old Testament Scriptures.

So, we’re going to have to defer – for a moment – our desire for a passage of Scripture that articulates the concept of Sola Scriptura.  Well, the question remained, how did the Reformers land upon such an idea?  To answer that, we need to understand the context – the status of the Church in the 14^th and 15^th centuries.  And in short, before there could be the principle of sola Scriptura, there must first be the rediscovery of Scriptura itself.  In simpler terms, before we can begin to talk about Scripture only, we have to first establish that there are Scriptures.  You see, for nearly ten centuries, the Word of God had become an austere, much forgotten, and greatly overshadowed vehicle of truth.  For most people, practically speaking, the Scriptures simply did not exist.

Jerome, known in some circles as St. Jerome, was a priest, theologian, and writer.  Because of his scholarly capabilities, near the end of the 4^th century, he was commissioned to translate the entire Bible into Latin.  Latin, you see, was the language of the people of the day.  Jerome, a capable scholar, used the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts from which to work.  The entire process took more than twenty years – and was completed in 406 A.D.  His work is referred to as the Latin Vulgate.  This was the first time ever that the entire Bible — Old and New Testament — was translated into another language.  And this is the Bible that would hold prominence in the church for nearly one thousand years!!  The problem was – for the people and the Church – Latin slowly died out as the common language of the people, and the Word of God grew more and more distant from the people of God.

The Roman Catholic Church grew to favor this arrangement.  The Bible slowly came under the exclusive stewardship of the Catholic priesthood and theologians.  They determined the meaning and the message of the text of the Scriptures.  Naturally, since the Scriptures were no longer in the hands of the people, the thousand-year reign of the Latin Vulgate led to many errors, heretical teachings, and abuses in the Church.

By the 14^th century, corruption in the Church was rampant.  The hierarchy of the Catholic Church – including and especially her popes – was embroiled in many and great sins – bribery, the abuse of power, gross and wide-spread immorality, political maneuvering, nepotism – family favors, and tyranny, the sale of indulgences – forgiveness of sin for money, their worship of images, statues and relics; prayer and even worship itself given to so-called saints; to name but a few.  Even the monasteries, which were supposed to be places dedicated to study and prayer, had become centers of hedonistic pleasure.  And even in the celebration of Communion, where the priest was supposed to be nearest the great drama of redemption, there was error.  The Catholic Church had invented the heresy of Transubstantiation – in which the bread and the cup of communion became the literal body and blood of Christ.  Communion therefore became a re-sacrificing of the Savior during each Mass.  And worst of all, Christianity itself had largely become a system of merit, to be met with either punishment or reward.

This was all enabled by the fact that education was limited to nobles and priests alone.  The masses of the people could not read or write.  The people were made to be ignorant – especially with regard to the Spiritual truths of God’s Word.  They had virtually no access to Scripture – only what the priest communicated to them – in Latin, a language they no longer understood.  And the Church hierarchy all the while was enjoying this arrangement – as they had for a thousand years.

To make matters worse, Rome held to the position that there were two sources of spiritual authority – Scripture and tradition.  They maintained that the additional books of the Apocrypha were just as trustworthy and valid as Scripture itself.  In addition to that, decisions of Church Councils and decrees from countless Popes all added to vast amounts of materials that were also equal to Scripture in value and authority.  Further, the Church was itself the judge of Scripture – so only the Church could determine the proper interpretation and establish doctrinal position.

Corruption in the Church was rampant.  The need of Reform was great.  But suddenly, and clearly by God’s sovereign providence, the light of Reformation began to dawn on the Church.  And it did so almost simultaneously in various locations throughout the modern world – Germany, England, France, Switzerland.  And the one’s most zealous for reform were almost exclusively Roman Catholic priests or scholars.  John Fox, writer of Foxes Book of Martyrs, notes of these men, that

they stepped forward, regardless of the bigoted power which opposed all reformation, to stem the time of papal corruption, and to seal the pure doctrines of the Gospel with their blood. (p.135)

If there was one overarching question that prompted Reform, it was the question that every sinner must ask – ‘What must I do to be saved?’  This is the question that stirred these would be reformer’s hearts.  Because of that, they were naturally drawn to the Scriptures, which in turn enflamed their hearts with a passion for the Gospel.  And it was this that led to a desire to get the Bible into the hands of the people that every person might read and know these truths for themselves.  But it was that desire that put them most at odds with the Roman Catholic Church.  The last thing that the existing Church needed was an educated and informed people.  The Church hierarchy therefore pulled out all the stops to prevent the printing and distribution of vernacular Bibles.  And those who violated their edicts were threatened with excommunication or even death.

Now, one of the most prominent early reformers was a man named John Wycliffe.  Because he was one of the first to call attention to the corruption rampant in the Church, he has been called ‘the Morning Star of the Reformation.’  But Wycliffe did not begin with an attitude contrary to the Church.  His experience was much more personal.  While studying at Oxford, Wycliffe was captured by the study of God’s Word.  He began to relish and enjoy the Bible as a source of Spiritual life and vitality.  This book, which for a thousand years had been the exclusive property of the clergy, he began to see was a treasure for all of God’s people.  Scripture’s truths were for every believer!  But the treasure of God’s Word was being mercilessly withheld from them.

And the more Wycliffe read the Scriptures, the more clearly he could see the errors and abuses of the Catholic Church.  He didn’t set out to be a troublemaker or critic of the Church, but soon that is what he was.  The more he studied, the more alarmed and incensed he became.  He eventually grew determined to expose the errors, vices, and heresies of the Catholic Church.  In fact, he is likely the first one who identified the pope as antichrist.  Perhaps his most severe concern was that the Church was keeping the Bible from her people by keeping it in Latin only.  Before embarking on the translation of the Bible into English, he wrote a paper on the matter, called, the Truth of Holy Scripture.  He argued that God’s Word belonged to the people and that no earthy body should be able to withhold it from them.

And so, he soon took up the translation of the Bible into English as a God-ordained assignment.  Wycliffe argued that the Bible was the Church’s ‘one ground of faith’ (sola Scriptura), and that every believer ought to be able to study the Scriptures on his or her own.  And his translation would reflect that – in a simple, down-home style.

Predictably, the Catholic Church responded quite negatively to Wycliffe’s endeavor.  They saw his efforts as an irreverent desecration of the Bible.  Wycliffe was eventually excommunicated.  He died of natural causes several years later.  But, so great was the hatred of the Roman Catholic Church for Wycliffe and his work, that even 41 years after his death, his bones were dug up, burned, and thrown to the river.

So, there was this initial rediscovery of Scripture, but still – the Church’s tradition, interpretations, and doctrinal positions of the Pope stood in the way of access to truth.  And try as he might, Wycliffe’s efforts to put the Bible into the hands of God’s people, were only minimally successful.  The greater majority of the people had no Bible.

But there was yet a second event in the life of the English-speaking Church.  About a hundred years after Wycliffe’s death, God raised up another man to continue the reformation of the church – William Tyndale.  He was uniquely gifted by God for a specific task – a scholar who was equipped with a knowledge of both Hebrew and Greek – and a great command of his native English language.

He had come to a growing love for God’s Word and an equal disdain for the falseness of the Roman Catholic church.  John Fox records a famous interaction.  While conversing with a theologian, Tyndale was shocked to hear the man place the pope above Scripture saying, “We were better to be without God’s laws than the Pope’s.”  Fox recounts Tyndale’s famous response,

Master Tyndale, hearing this, full of godly zeal, and not bearing this blasphemous saying, replied, “I defy the pope, and all his laws;” and added, “and if God spare me I will one day make the boy that drives the plough in England to know more of Scripture than the pope himself!” [1]

It soon became Tyndale’s deepest desire to reform the church.  The great mischief and abuses prevalent in the Church, he saw, was only due to the inaccessibility of God’s people to God’s Word.  The surest way to achieve the necessary change would be, as he clearly saw, to place the Scriptures in the hands of the people!  Only if God’s people could read God’s Word in their own language could truth be seen, understood, and restored in the Church.

In God’s providence, one recent invention would be of immeasurable help to Tyndale – it was the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg.  This would greatly improve Tyndale’s chances for getting the Scriptures to the people.

He used the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts from which to translate.  And in time, he had an excellent translation for public consumption.  So strong was the Pope’s reaction to his work that Tyndale’s English New Testament had to be smuggled into England!  Nevertheless, his toil and sacrifice bore much fruit.  His translation soon began to spread far and wide and fanned the flames of reform – not only in England, but beyond.  The Reformation that the Scriptures initiated would ultimately sweep through the land and change the church forever.

The pope’s reaction to Tyndale’s work was venomous.  He labeled Tyndale a heretic.  He would now pay the ultimate price in his service to Christ’s Church.  He was arrested and led forth to be burned on Friday, October 6^th, 1536 in Vilvoorde, Belgium.  His plea as the fire began to consume him was, ‘Lord, Open the King of England’s eyes.’ [2]

And so, even if reform had not yet risen to Sola Scriptura, the Word of God had indeed been rediscovered.  The reformation of the Church was in full swing.  And now that the Scriptures had been uncovered again, Sola Scriptura was inevitable.  And not more than 100 years later, another major step in the Reformation of Christ’s Church would be seen.

Yet another 100 years following Tyndale’s death, a body of reformers sought to capture the teachings of the Scriptures – so long hidden from the Church.  The body of reformers were known as the Westminster Divines, godly men of England who sought to advance the teachings of the recovered Gospel.  After some six years of labor, they produced what they called the Westminster Confession.  Baptist’s may be more familiar with the Baptist edition of the document – the London Baptist Confession.  Regardless, listen to the very first chapter, which they titled – Of the Holy Scriptures.  Listen to this … first sentence …

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. 

There is just no other way to take that than as Sola Scriptura – 

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. 

The Scriptures are the only words that are sufficient to speak to man’s great need of redemption.  This is what the sentence means by saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.  Only the Bible is truly capable to speaking to this issue.  And these words are certain in the sense that they are the only words that are sure and trustworthy – they tell the truth about mankind and his predicament.  Further, only the Words of Scripture are infallible – they cannot fail to provide the accurate report about all things spiritual.  Sola Scriptura!

But these reformers wanted to drive the point home, listen as they continue …

Although 

 the light of nature,

 and the works of creation and providence

do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, 

 as to leave men inexcusable,

yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will, 

 which is necessary for salvation.

Do you understand what they were referring to there – the light of nature … creation and providence – that’s Romans 1 – God’s invisible attributes … eternal power … divine nature, it’s Psalm 19, it’s General Revelation, that we can look out at the stars, or the Grand Canyon, or hear a baby’s cry, and we can be assured that there is a God.  Those things all declare the existence of a Being we know as God.  But as powerful a testimony as they are, General Revelation is not enough to save us.  We can look and observe and acknowledge all that we see, but we cannot be led to an understanding of the Savior by those things alone.  That leads us to the third portion of the opening statement …

Therefore it pleased the Lord 

 ‘in many portions and in many ways’ 

to reveal Himself, 

and to declare that His will to His Church; 

You see, God is a God of Revelation.  God is a God who wants to be known and loved.  He wants to commune with His creation.  And so, He revealed Himself – and no longer in some vague and distant manner – stars and creation and such, the writer of Hebrews says that in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son.  In Christ’s own words, He who has seen Me has seen the Father. (Jn 14:9)  And God saw to it that the Revelation of His Son included the final written Revelation of Scripture, which we know as the New Testament.

What the Westminster Divines recognized, what they were declaring to the World was that in Christ, the Scriptures are now complete.  God’s testimony to the World is finished.  And all that we could ever need as fallen humanity is captured and preserved in the Scriptures.

Listen to the last clause of the opening statement of the Confession.  Why did God provide His Word …

for the better preserving, and propagating of the Truth, 

and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against 

 the corruption of the flesh,

 and the malice of Satan,

 and of the world,

Well, this was the very kind of nonsense and folly that the Church had fallen into once the Bible was obscured and forgotten – corruption of the flesh, malice of Satan … and the world.  The Bible was given to protect us from these things!  There are no more special revelations – voices from heaven, pillars of fire, and such.  There is God’s Word – and it is enough – even if it stands alone.  We need no other divine revelation – Sola Scriptura.

Listen to this, there in that opening paragraph of the Confession, it proclaims Sola Scriptura.  It says that it pleased the Lord, it made God happy to do these three things

1.      to reveal Himself
2.      to declare His will to His Church
3.      and thirdly, to commit the same wholly to writing. 

to commit the same wholly to writing; 

 which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary

Do we hear what they are telling us there?  If God gave the Bible to us, it is because He saw how greatly we needed it.  God gave us everything we need and only what we need in the Holy Scriptures!  Scripture alone – that’s all we need!

Would you listen to one more brief paragraph from that initial chapter of the Confession – it is the sixth paragraph.  And it reads like this …

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary 

 for His own Glory,

 man’s salvation, faith and life,

is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture; 

 to which nothing at any time is to be added,

whether by new revelation of the Spirit, 

or traditions of men. 

Do you know what that is?  That’s Sola Scriptura – 

Sola Scriptura – the whole counsel of God

Sola Scriptura – all things necessary for God’s glory

Sola Scriptura – all things necessary for … man’s salvation, faith, and life

Sola Scriptura – to which nothing at any time is to be added

You see, these reformers knew the richness and nature of God’s Word – Old and New Testament.  That is because, by the time that they gathered and studied and wrote, the body of the New Testament was complete.  They knew that like the Thessalonians of old, they too had received the word of God, which performs its work in those who believe.  They knew to do as Paul directed Timothy – to give attention to the public reading of Scripture – Old and New.  They knew the fullness of Romans 15:4 – that whatever was written in earlier times – ancient or 1^st century – was written for our instruction, so that through the perseverance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.  They could very easily look at passages like Ephesians 6:17 and understand that the sword of the Spirit was the Word of God in its entirety – the Old and New Testaments.  They could emulate Paul’s courage in speaking the word of God – the Holy Scriptures – without fear.  They sought to live as did the early Church – speaking the word of God with boldness.  Sola Scriptura

Likewise with regard to the use of the word Scripture.  In that opening chapter of the Confession, titled, ‘Of the Holy Scriptures, four times they make reference to an important passage of New Testament Scripture – 2^nd Timothy 3:16-17.  Would God’s people please turn there now – 2^nd Timothy 3:16.  It is important to note that these Reformers had come to grasp the truth of Sola Scriptura – that only the Bible was able to render the kind of aid that people really needed.

1^st Timothy 3

:16 All Scripture is inspired by God 

 and profitable 

  for teaching, 

  for reproof, 

  for correction, 

  for training in righteousness; 

:17   that the man of God may be 

    adequate, 

    equipped for every good work.

When Paul calls Timothy’s attention to All Scripture, he points not only to every line of the Old Testament – but now, as the Bible was complete, these reformers knew that gathered into this declaration the New Testament as well – All Scripture.  And Paul asserts two significant truths here about the nature of God’s Word – first, that it is inspired, and secondly, that it is profitable.  When Paul says that scripture is inspired, he tells us that it is literally God breathed – fully infused by God’s Spirit.  No other writing can make such a claim.  As 2^nd Peter 1:21 says it, men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.  Scripture is God breathed.  So that the Bible is literally God’s Word.

When Paul tells us that Scripture is … profitable, he speaks of the Bible’s beneficial element.  No other writing can make this claim either.  As the writer of Hebrews put it,

the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit … able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (4:12)

Paul goes on to speak of some of the practical ways in which Scripture may be employed in the transformation of individuals – teaching, reproof, correction, training in righteousness. 

Teaching – it provides that necessary spiritual instruction – right doctrine – to each individual reader – the ignorant

Reproof – refuting error, rebuking sin, confronting the wayward

Correction – restoration from a fall, putting one back into a morally upright position – the fallen

Training in righteousness – a word used of teaching the little babies – such as we are before God – in need of daily training in the direction of righteous living

And all of this provided for a single purpose – that the man – or woman – of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work – fully equipped and serviceable to God.  The Christian holds in his or her hands the one instrument by which lasting change can be effected – the Holy Bible.  Only God’s Word can do that – Sola Scriptura.

The Bible, God’s Word, Scripture – is the only document in the world that can have such a life-changing effect on its reader.  Scripture stands authoritatively alongside no manmade document.  Men’s writings – no matter how technically correct, or scientifically accurate, no matter how well-reasoned, or colorfully  erudite, no writing that mankind could ever produce can begin to address our greatest need – redemption from sin.  Only the Scriptures can do that.  Thus, the echo of the first superlative of the Reformation – Sola Scriptura!  

[1] BOM, p.178; CMW, p.351

[2] BOM, p.184