We will begin this Sunday to examine (each Sunday following) the Five Sola's of the Great Continental and English Reformation. Today is the Introduction:

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIVE SOLAS

The Five Solas are five Latin phrases that arose out of the Reformation to summarize the Reformers’ theological convictions about the essentials of Christianity as opposed to the Roman doctrines of works oriented salvation. These doctrinal points are presented in the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion and the Westminster Confession as well as other leading Reformation confessions.

 

The Five Solas are:

 

1.     Sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”): The Bible alone is our highest authority.

2.     Sola Fide (“faith alone”): We are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ.

3.     Sola Gratia (“grace alone”): We are saved by the grace of God alone.

4.     Solus Christus (“Christ alone”): Jesus Christ alone is our Lord, Savior, and King.

5.     Soli Deo Gloria (“to the glory of God alone”): We live for the glory of God alone.

 

In a certain sense, there is only ONE Sola – and that is Christ. If you have Christ, you have all of the other four Solas. “Christ is all, and in all.” Col 3:11 (KJV) His Person is the fullness of all our need – “the Way, the Truth and the Life!” The Five Solas are merely a compilation of the completeness we enjoy in Christ our Savior, Redeemer, Lord, and King. 

The Scriptures, or Word, is a complete manifestation of the Person and Will of our Lord. (John 1:1-4) We are saved by Grace through Faith in Him, and we become part of Him as members of His Body, the Church. Being in Christ, we are also One with the Father as He is One with the Father. Our lives in Christ should glorify God the Father in all that we do, say, or think. 

It is our hope in the Anglican Orthodox Church that you will come to know our Lord and Savior more personally in understanding the Reformation Faith and the Five Solas which this booklet tries to reveal.

 

(Done at St. Andrews Anglican Church, 2 August 2018 Anno Domini)

 INVOCATION PRAYER: 

O LORD, our God, author and giver of all good things, who hast ordained the earth to bring forth grass for cattle, and herbs and food for the service of man, look down in thy compassion upon us, and bless, we beseech thee, the labors of thy servants who till and sow the fields. Vouchsafe to us seasonable weather; cause thy face to shine, and let thy rain and dew refresh the ground, that the fruits of the earth may be matured, our garners may be filled with corn and all good fruits, and that there may be abundance of food for both man and beast. So we thy people and the sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will show forth thy praise to all generations. Amen.

 ONLY A CRIPPLE?

NEEDED BY CHRIST

“Nobody seems to want me,” said the youngest girl of a large family,

“I’m a cripple and in everybody’s way.” As she spoke she was passing a bookseller’s shop, and her eyes fell on the words, “The Lord hath need of him.” She carefully remembered the reference and searched it out at home. “Jesus once needed a donkey,” she said, “so perhaps he wants me— a cripple—I’ll ask him.” Forty years afterwards a lame Bible woman died, beloved by hundreds, and blessed by God in her work. That Bible woman was once the crippled girl. Perhaps you, too, feel helpless and in the way - but the Lord needs you in His WAY.