Sola Series: Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)
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.– 2 Timothy 2:16-17
So far, we have seen three of our five solas address the topic of salvation. The Reformers have taught us that salvation comes by grace (Sola Gratia) through faith (Sola Fide) in Christ (Solus Christus). Up to now, we have learned that this is the sole means of being saved from the justified wrath of God against sin. These solas, while written by men, are not simply their invention, but rather they came through the interpretation of holy Scripture. This is what brings us to our fourth sola, Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). Now, there are a few parts that go into this sola in particular, which I will address in this article.
Scripture Reveals Salvation
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” The whole gospel is here in just a few verses, a gospel that, were it not for the word of God, we would not even know existed. The Bible, as the complete revelation of God, tells us two very important things about salvation: we need it and only Christ can obtain it for us. The human condition is such that we are so lost in sin that we are not aware we are lost. It stands to reason then, that someone who knows the truth has to communicate it to us or we will never know it. Consider for a moment that you need to be educated before you can get a job. No one knows how to be a doctor, for example, naturally. Someone who wishes to be one has to be shown how. They need to go to med school, learn anatomy, learn how to make diagnoses based on minimal information, etc. No person is born with that ability, it must be taught (or you could say revealed) by someone who knows it.
In a similar fashion, no person knows the plight of their condition by nature. Romans 3:10-12, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” I want to point out what we sometimes overlook in this text, no one understands. We simply do not know that we are lost, and if we don’t know we’re lost, we won’t look for a way out. This text is the meat and potatoes of the doctrines of election and predestination, but we’ll cover that another time. For now, we need to know that if Christ did not come and proclaim the gospel and if the Scriptures did not teach us the gospel, we would simply have no clue as to the plight of our condition. For this reason, the Reformers taught that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone. Sola Scriptura means we know of sin and salvation because it has been communicated to us by God in His word.
Scripture is God’s
We have more to consider as we discuss Sola Scriptura, namely its authority over us. Note that in the above verse from 2 Timothy 3, Paul explains that Scripture is, “Breathed out by God and is profitable for teach, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” A few points here. First, Scripture is breathed out by God, meaning that it is His and He has communicated it. Arguments are made against the authority of the Bible because it was written by men who are flawed; therefore, Scripture cannot be inerrant as Christians claim because flawed people cannot write flawless Scripture, so no one has to follow it if they don’t want to since it has no authority. It is true that people are flawed and are not at all infallible. However, people can be inerrant.
For example, I was good at spelling in school (It was one of the few subjects I excelled at). I took many spelling tests and spelled 100% of the words correctly. I was inerrant in this case. But if you were to examine my math grades, you would find out in short order that I was quite fallible. So, let’s ask, were the men who wrote Scripture capable of mistakes? Of course. Were they also inerrant as they wrote Scripture? Yes. Why? Because God guided them in the writing of it, and He is not only inerrant, but He is infallible. Men were simply the instrument through which He revealed Scripture to us.
As such, all are held accountable to it whether they choose to acknowledge it or not, and those who choose to adhere to it will become more like Christ. A final response to this argument based on fallibility, if our litmus test for accepting the truth of a piece of writing is the infallibility of the writer, we have to throw out every textbook ever written because every writer was fallible. Sola Scriptura means God has spoken, He is right, and we should listen.
Scripture is Final
We live in a world that is filled with self-proclaimed prophets who have “messages from God.” Ironically, those messages always seem to benefit said prophets the most. I covered this in a previous article, but I’ll repeat it here: There are no prophets today. The role of a prophet was to communicate to the people the message God had for them. This was because the full word of God had not been revealed yet, so this was a needed office. According to Hebrews 1:1-2, however, it is no longer needed: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” We don’t need new revelation any longer. Scripture, and Christ as the Word made Flesh, are the final and full revelation from God. If someone says they are a prophet, or they claim that God has given them a message and it’s not Scripture, that person is not a prophet, God has not spoken to them, and you should not listen to a word they say. Sola Scriptura means Scripture is final, it is full, and it needs no further edits (Revelation 22:18-19).
Scripture is Profitable
Scripture is not only breathed out by God, but it is profitable to us. Not in a materialistic, name-it-and-claim-it way, but profitable for making us more like Jesus. By studying and obeying it, we are sanctified. We become more like Jesus and less like us. I would also add here that Paul says all Scripture. Not just the words of Jesus, but all Scripture. Arguments against the authority of the Bible sometimes seek to only focus on the words of Jesus to the exclusion of everything else. Jesus learned, obeyed, and taught all of the Scriptures, which were only the Old Testament at the time. If they mattered to Him, they matter to us. Further, Christ is the Word made Flesh and the fulfillment of those Scriptures. We cannot claim to worship the Word made Flesh while denying the Scriptures He fulfilled and taught. The whole of Scripture matters for you, Christian. It is profitable for you, it reveals Christ to you, and you need all of it. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The more you know and adhere to it, the better you’ll be. As the psalmist says, “Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments” (Psalm 119:5-6). Sola Scriptura means Scripture is both sufficient and spiritually profitable for us.
Scripture is Authoritative
This leads us to the truth that God’s word is authoritative. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, you are called to submit yourself to the revealed, inerrant, true word of God. It is your standard. It is how God has shown you what is right and what is not. The whole of your life must be under its authority. So, you need to be taught it by biblically qualified men and you need to study it for yourself. All decisions are to be run through the grid of Scripture. All teaching is to be run through the grid of Scripture, and if ever there is a conflict between you and Scripture, you are wrong, and it is right. If Scripture offends you, you are the one who needs to change, not Scripture. Psalm 119:24, “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.” Those who would seek counsel do so because they need guidance. It would be a foolish thing to receive good counsel and reject it in favor of bad counsel. Scripture is the best counsel there is. We’d do well to heed it.
I challenge you on this to take a lesson from the Bereans in Acts 17:10-11, “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” No matter what they heard or who they heard it from, they checked the Scriptures. Be like them. Sola Scriptura means there is no higher standard of authority than that of God’s word.
Summary
Scripture reveals our need for salvation, something we would not know were it not for God speaking to us through His word on the matter. Further, it teaches us that we need Christ for salvation because He alone can obtain it for us. No one else will suffice for the atonement of sin. Scripture is also our lone authority. Everything in our lives is to be subjected to it because it is from God Himself. Whatever we hear, whatever we have to decide, anything at all, must go through the grid of what the Bible says. Finally, it is the final revelation. No more prophets, no more “God told me…….” Scripture is it. No one speaks for God except God Himself. He has spoken, will you listen?
Soli Deo Gloria
