To the glory of God alone. Roman Catholic doctrine always seems to include the individual along with what God has done. When looking at who receives glory, along with God, they include Mary, saints and angels. Calvinism, on the other hand, take it to the opposite extreme. They say that God chose you first, because if you had the ability to believe…
To make all men see….. Ephesians 3:9
To make all men see….. Ephesians 3:9
The Five Solas of the Reformation
Christ Alone. When we look at what the scripture says, it truly is Christ alone who made our salvation possible. Coming out of the Catholic Church, the reformers were very strong on this point. When you begin adding in Mary, the saints, the sacraments and good works, it is just another man-made religion.
Calvinism says that because we are dead in sins and at enmity with God, we are unable to respond to God unless God first makes us alive. After all, a dead person isn’t able to respond to anything. A dead person can’t have faith, and therefore must be regenerated – made alive – before they can exercise faith. This completely misses the…
Grace is the disposition to oblige another. It is the free and unmerited love and favor of God, the spring and source of all the benefits mankind receives of Him. When we work, we accrue debt because we are not accepting God’s grace. But when we accept His grace by faith, that faith is counted to us for righteousness. Grace is unearned,…
When looking at the five solas of the Reformation, what ultimately became known as Calvinism has missed the mark when it comes to understanding Grace alone. They believe that God’s grace is irresistible, and that God must draw persons individually according to His election. Bad doctrine like this always begins when unscriptural words are used to describe scriptural things, such as: Total…
Most Christian tracts that involve the Romans Road to Salvation end up in Romans 10, but Romans 10 has nothing to do with eternal justification before God in the dispensation of grace. The REAL Romans Road to Salvation ends in Romans 5:1.
Many Pastors will tell you that being justified means it’s just like you never sinned. This isn’t really true. If it were just as if you’d never sinned, you would still be of Adam. Being justified is being given the righteousness of Christ in the eyes of God. It is being imputed to you something that doesn’t belong to you – the…
Many Christians will tell you that they believe that personal eternal salvation is obtained by faith alone, but then they will subtly add something. They will tell you to repent of your sins (by which they mean turn from your sins). They will say that if your life is not transformed outwardly, then you probably aren’t saved. Repentance means to change your…
Fides: Faith, trust, loyalty, or confidence. Et cetera (etc.): “And the rest,” “and so on,” or “and other things of the same kind”. The Reformers that were teaching the tenets of the Reformation were teaching ‘sola fides’ – faith alone. Today that teaching has devolved into Fides et Cetera – faith and some other stuff. But the reformers had it correct, and…
The gospel of the Reformation came to the realization that it was attained by faith alone – sola fide. But today, when searching through the myriad of preachers who proclaim the gospel,’ how many of them still hold to that truth? Some say that you have to proclaim it out loud. Some say you have to do it publicly. Some say that…