Hi, and thanks for listening to the latest episode of the Hymn We Proclaim podcast. I'm your host, Joshua Montez, and this week I sat down with Pastor John to talk about this series called the Five Solas. Here's our conversation before we get into the message. And today, John and I are in the studio. Great to meet with you, Josh.
In the studio. Thank you. Yeah, instead of a long distance. We're recording these intros to talk about one of our favorite series, which is called The Five Solas.
So The Five Solas is our go-to series that you preached back in 2017, which was the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Right. And we're going to learn a ton of background about that, but I wanted to dive in with this question. As we look back on the Reformation and consider the lasting impact it's had on the church, what role does Scripture play? As the foundation of all our beliefs and practices?
And why did the Reformers emphasize Scripture alone as our final authority? Yeah.
Sometimes when we think about Scripture, people think just Scripture, but that's not what we're saying either. What the Reformers were teaching is this: it was not Scripture versus tradition. Body was scriptural tradition, biblical tradition, versus. Unbiblical tradition. Because that is what had been creeping in quite a bit.
Right. Exactly. Adding stuff to scripture that was not biblical. But we have to come back to this point of authority because the ultimate authority rests with Scripture. Why?
Because Scripture itself says it's inspired by God. It's God breathed. When Scripture speaks, God Himself is speaking to us, and it is God's self-revelation to us.
Okay, so the reformers are trying to get back to this point. Who has the final ultimate authority in matters of life and salvation? Because Scripture is inspired by God, Scripture is inerrant. Scripture is infallible. It is reliable.
It is trustworthy. It doesn't make mistakes. It doesn't err. Which is Fantastic news for us. Because God has disclosed Himself to us through the scriptures, giving to us the gospel.
Right? And so God speaks to us in Scripture both his law and his gospel. And it is his gospel that perfectly reveals to us. His son who saves us, and because of that, we have to have something that we can trust and is trustworthy. I'm so glad that we can trust scripture that way.
That is a final authority that we can put our trust in Christ, and that is so encouraging to our faith. We need that. And what's also exciting is that is one of the topics of our upcoming conference called the Reformation Conference, and that's coming up in January.
So, we have a lot of information coming up about that, and we hope people can sign up for it. It's very affordable, and there's still some seats available. It's just $40, that's an 86% savings over other national conferences if you look them up. But we have the top speakers, Reformation scholars, that you can get. What an incredible lifetime opportunity to have five Top Reformation scholars, can you imagine?
And what are some of the names that are coming to see us? Yeah, Michael Horden's coming, R. Scott Clark. They both give great articulations of the gospel. They preach the grace of God.
It is comfort. Actually, no. Actually, no. I mean, he is the top Thomas Kramer scholar in the world today. Right.
But I've had the great privilege to work with Ashley for, gosh, I guess the past five or six years now in different contexts, many different contexts. And he has a pastor's heart. He's a counselor. He is a pastor. He just oozes gospel grace.
He's lovely to talk to. He really is. Yeah.
I've really, really appreciated the interactions he and I have had too. Yeah, but we're just blessed to have these people. They're great people and they're filled with scholarship, but they're also filled with the gospel of grace and gratitude. I'm so excited about this conference. We just want to invite everybody to come on out.
If you're hearing this, go to our website, which is conference.paramountainchurch.com. I'll tell you a little bit more about that later on in the show.
So keep listening. Yeah.
Great, Josh. All right. Let's go ahead and get started. Here's the opening message to the five solas.
Sola scriptura, our final authority. We're going to be looking at Sola Scriptura, our final authority. Let me begin just by giving you some historical backdrop to this whole context in this Reformation debate. On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. It was Halloween, or more properly speaking, it was the eve of All Saints' Day.
And now at this time, Luther was not trying to create a public controversy, let alone spark an entire Reformation.
Okay. At this early stage, it was never Luther's intention to actually leave the Roman church. He was just seeking to reform it. In one of his German tracts, Luther writes this. He says, The worse it gets, The faster we should run and cling to it, tearing oneself away or spurning it will not make it better.
So by posting his 95 theses, Luther was simply seeking to be a faithful Roman Catholic monk.
Furthermore, the posting of his 95 theses, the 95 statements, they were nothing out of the ordinary. In Luther's day, the church door served as the town's bulletin board.
So, when someone wanted to debate an issue publicly, they would make it known by nailing a note on the church door.
So, Luther's intention by doing this was simply to raise a discussion among the scholars about the abuses of indulgences, what we call purchased pardons. Um by the Roman Catholic Church.
Now, according to the medieval church, there were, and there still are, there are two types of indulgences. There's a plenary indulgence and there's a partial indulgence. Plenary indulgence is the full forgiveness of sins from the temporal punishments of purgatory. Whereas a partial indulgence Uh means that a portion of the temporal punishment is given.
So indulgences are measured in terms of time. They're measured in terms of hours, days, weeks, months, and years in purgatory. Let me give you an example. Back in Luther's day, veneration of relics was accompanied by the issuing of an indulgence. And this indulgence guaranteed that the buyer would have a reduction of 1,902,202 years and 270 days in purgatory.
In Luther's day, Pope Leo X wanted to build St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, but he had a problem. He needed a lot of money to do that. Uh so uh what he did was was um he ruled Pope Leo X ruled that indulgences could be sold to raise the needed funds. And this was not just any indulgence that Pope Leo X was going to issue to the Faithful.
Pope Leo X issued a special plenary indulgence that I mentioned, and this special plenary indulgence for giving to the building of St. Peter's Cathedral would result in the total forgiveness of all sins. Moreover, one could purchase this special pletinary indulgence for one's loved ones who are already in purgatory. And they did not have to be penitent for the indulgence to be effective, because Rome teaches that for the indulgence to be effective, you must show penance, which is not repentance, it's works-based righteousness. But nevertheless, the Pope said, forget about the penance.
Just purchase this for your loved one and come, and they're coming out of purgatory, guaranteed.
So, chief among the popes, pardon peddlers. was a man named Johann Tetzel. Johan Tessel was a German Roman Catholic Dominican friar. He was a monk. And he was also a preacher, and he was a quite gifted communicator.
Tetzel was the salesman of all salesmen. He would make the TBN. Pardon peddlers look really bad, okay? Tetzel had this dazzling indulgence traveling show that he took throughout the country of Germany. And he wanted to mesmerize the people of Germany because the people of Germany held these indulgences in very high esteem.
And so he was received with this great fanfare in town after town that he would enter, and he would be received as if he was like the mighty monarch himself, the great ruler or king himself. And so when he entered a town, Things like this would happen. The bells would ring throughout the city. Organs in the churches would sound, and a red cross bearing the Pope's coat of arms was put up, and he would march into the city with this great fanfare. And here comes the pardon peddler, right?
So once he would enter the town square or a big church, Tetzel would preach about the miraculous power of indulgences. He proclaimed and the people believed That whoever bought an indulgence Not only would they receive forgiveness of sins, but they would also escape punishment in purgatory. And so what he did is he laid heavy guilt trips on people. Listen to one of his sermons. Quote: Listen to the voices of your dead relatives and friends beseeching you and saying, pity us.
Pity us. We are in dire torment from which you can redeem us for a pittance. Will you let us lie here in flames? Will you delay our promised glory? The exact sermon that he preached.
And then he added at the end of that sermon this catchy little rhyme wherever he went, and he told the people: as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, The soul from purgatory springs. Then he sticks out the bucket and the money comes pouring in.
So Tetzel claimed that he could have saved more souls with his indulgences than Peter with his sermons. In contrast to the teaching of Scripture, this new innovative tradition seemed to imply. That sinners no longer needed to repent. In place of God's gift of faith and repentance, sinners could just take God's salvation and place it into their own hands. With the appropriate amount of money, repentance was now for sale, and any sin could be covered.
And so the selling of indulgences was, as one author writes, a great capital program, but it was terrible theology.
So, if a person could purchase salvation for himself or a loved one through the Pope's indulgence, then it followed that he or she no longer needed to trust in the perfect and sufficient life and death of Jesus Christ for their salvation. Luther was angered by these abuses. And so, angered by these abuses, Luther posted his 95 theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg. And in his 95 theses, Luther was seeking, as I said, to be a faithful Roman Catholic monk, and he wanted to expose the abuses of these indulgences. But he also, in these 95 theses, he He also criticized more than indulgences.
Let me tell you what else he denied and criticized. Luther in the 95 Theses denied the power and authority of the Pope over purgatory. And he also tested whether the Pope truly had the welfare of a sinner in mind.
Now, you have to remember, he was not an evangelical Protestant when he did this. He was simply being a faithful medieval Roman Catholic monk trying to bring reform to the abuses in the church. He also raised questions about the treasury of merits and its link to the sacrament of penance.
So, let me just stop here and help you with this. To understand Luther's concerns in the 95 Theses, you've got to understand how indulgences worked, and they still work today, because nothing's changed. According to the Roman church, indulgences draw from what they call the treasury of merit. The treasury of merit consists of this: it consists of the merits of Jesus Christ. plus the merits of the Virgin Mary Plus, the merits of all the super saints who did super works and who had leftover good merit, so now it's stored for other people who are not saints.
So according to Roman doctrine, Mary was sinless. During her sinless life, she increased far more merit than what was needed to get to heaven.
So consequently, Mary's merits and all the super saints' extra merit was added to the treasury of merit along with Jesus' merit, and it's stored in kind of like a heavenly treasure chest in heaven. And all of this excess merit Is dispensed and is placed, this treasury of merit is placed under the control of the Pope. Who alone possesses the keys and authority to dispense this merit at his discretion through, guess what, indulgences? And so despite Luther's declaration of loyalty to the Roman Church, the pressure on Luther began to grow because, unbeknownst to him, somebody took his 95 theses down and put them in the German language. And it was all over at that point.
Because remember, he was going to debate scholars in Latin. She didn't even write this in the German language.
So, despite his declaration of loyalty to the Roman Church, the pressure began to grow and mound on this. This Roman Catholic monk. And the more Luther awakened to the gospel, the more he began to realize how these unbiblical traditions, such as indulgences and purgatory, were being imposed on the church and on believers' consciences. and written into the scriptures. And so, these the addition of these unbiblical traditions, he began to see.
undermine the authority of Scripture. And by undermining the authority of Scripture, they posed a serious threat to the gospel and to a sinner's relationship with God. Let me give you an example of what he was beginning to see as a Roman Catholic, not as an evangelical Protestant. In Thesis 37, he says, Every true Christian participates in the treasures of the church, even without letters of indulgence. Uh-oh.
We've got a big problem here. The treasury of merit doesn't need the pope, and the indulgences to get that merit. Thesis 62. In Thesis 62, Luther contrasts the gospel to indulgences. The gospel to the treasury of merit.
And he says, quote, the true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of Christ. And so in contrast to the Roman church's teaching about the treasury of merit, Luther was beginning to understand at this point that Christ alone is the believer's sole treasury of merit. Tragically, rather than trusting in the sole merits of Christ alone, Solus Christus, the people of Germany were being led astray by pardon peddlers. Who were calling the people to put their trust and their purchase of indulgences for the forgiveness of their sins. And by purchasing indulgences, the masses were falsely assured that they could receive merit from the treasury of merit, which would result in the complete eradication, forgiveness of their sins, and their escape from purgatory.
But Martin Luther And later, with other Protestant reformers, Ulwich Zwingli, John Calvin, who was younger than Luther. They all rightly discerned that the medieval church's innovative, novel, unbiblical traditions of men, the selling and buying of indulgences, Purgatory, invoking saints, priestly absolution, acts of penance, making holy pilgrimages, all of these unbiblical, innovative ideas, traditions of men. Undermined the authority of the scriptures and corrupted the heart of the gospel.
So as we noted at the time of Luther's posting of his 95 theses, remember you have to keep this in mind, he was just trying to be a faithful Roman Catholic monk and bring reform to the church. He wasn't seeking to position the authority of Scripture over the Pope. But nevertheless, the seeds of debate concerning the authority of the Pope had been sown by this monk, and at that point, the cat was out of the bag and it wasn't coming back. And so Luther, what he was doing in these theses was challenging the Pope's authority to dispense the treasury of merit at his discretion over purgatory for the forgiveness of sins or for the forgiveness of the penalty of purgatory. But Luther's Roman Catholic opponents rightly understood that, listen, authority.
Was the issue at stake in all of Luther's arguments? It was authority. Let me give you an example of one of Luther's Roman critics. He said to Luther: He who does not accept the doctrine of the Church of Rome and Pontiff of Rome as an infallible rule of faith. From which the Holy Scriptures too draw their strength and authority, is a heretic.
According to the Roman Church, quote, the Pope was and is infallible and inerrant whenever he spoke ex cathedra from the seat as the vicar or substitute of Christ on earth. It was also asserted that the Roman church stood above the scriptures. And they even authorized the scriptures. Cardinal Cagetin, who was perhaps the most impressive theologian of the Roman church in Luther's day, he responded to Luther's writings and he said this: quote, Scripture must be interpreted by the Pope, who is above not only counsels, but Scripture itself, end quote.
So on July the 15th, or excuse me, on July 15, 19, almost two years after Luther had posted his 95 Theses, Luther was called to debate Johannes von Eck at Leipzig. And the act brought to this debate the central issue that was at stake. Who has final authority? God's word or the Pope. Ek, arguing for the Roman Church, said Scripture receives its authority from the Pope.
Luther responded by arguing that Scripture has authority not only over the Pope, but also over church councils and church fathers who have all in the past erred. Luther's debate with Eck at Leipzig is one of the most pivotal events of the Reformation. Because the debate clarified the issue at hand, which was namely one of authority. Does the Pope's word stand over God's word, or does God's word stand over the Pope's word and the councils of the church, the tradition of the church? Ek argued for the authority of the Pope over church councils.
Luther appealed to Scripture alone as the church's final authority. The Roman church's view resulted in the corruption of the truth of the gospel. Luther's view of authority and the final authority of Scripture brought about the restoration of the truth of the gospel. And so the Reformation had two chief causes. What caused the Reformation?
It had a formal cause and it had a material cause. I don't think you're too technical, but just listen carefully, this is very important. What caused the Reformation? It had two causes. The formal cause was summarized by the Latin phrase sola scriptura.
Sola Scriptura revolved around this question. Is the scripture the sole or the final or the ultimate authority for the church in all matters of faith and practice? Does Scripture alone, as the supreme authority, bind the believer's conscience, which is what Luther would later state at the Diet of Worms?
So of the five solas, sola scriptura is the formal cause of the Reformation, and sola scriptura serves as the foundational pillar. The material cause of the Reformation was inseparably related to the formal cause. The formal cause, sola scriptura, the material cause came from sola scriptura, which was summarized by the Latin phrase sola fide.
Solo Fidei revolved around this question. Is justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone on the basis of Scripture alone? Or is justification by grace through faith Plus, your cooperation with God in doing good works. Luther understood that the Roman Church is an innovative. Unbiblical, novel traditions of men, such as the selling and buying of indulgences in purgatory, undermined the ultimate authority and supremacy of Scripture and thus corrupted the heart of the gospel.
So when Luther left his debate with Eck and Leipzig, He became further convinced that Scripture, rather than the Pope and the Church Council's Church tradition, possessed the final ultimate authority for the Church in all matters of faith and practice.
So what Luther ultimately began to realize is this, is that if the Pope had final authority over the scriptures, genuine reform that he wanted to bring to the medieval church was impossible. And so Luther faithfully and courageously took his stand upon Sola Scriptura.
So that's the historical context about the Reformation and what caused it.
So here's the question for us: what does sola scriptura affirm? Because we, as evangelical reformed Protestant believers, Say, we believe this.
Well, what is it that we believe? What do we affirm? What were the reformers affirming? And what do we say? We affirm that they affirmed, right?
So there are four vital truths that Sola Scriptura affirms. Let me just give a treat in a nutshell and then we'll discuss it briefly. Because we could take each one of these and talk forever about it, because there's libraries of stuff written on this. But there are four vital truths that Sola Scriptura affirms.
Sola Scriptura affirms that because God's word, scripture alone is inspired. By the Holy Spirit. Then the scriptures are the church's final, inerrant, infallible, and sufficient authority for faith and practice.
So, we're just going to go through that. I'm going to explain it to you. First, when you, as a believer, say you believe in sola scriptura, this is what you're saying you believe. Scripture is our final authority. for faith and practice.
It is our final authority. It is our supreme authority. For many evangelicals, the term solo scriptura actually means solo scriptura. Only scripture. This is reflected in a commonly repeated motto: no creed but the Bible.
For many, solar scriptura means this from the Reformation. Rome had and has tradition, Protestantism has scripture. But the heart of the Reformation was not a struggle of scripture versus tradition. That was not what Luther and the Reformers were arguing for and against. Listen to Carl Trubman, a great reformed scholar, historical theologian at Westminster Seminary.
He says this: he says, tradition is not the issue. It is how one defines that tradition and how one understands the way it connects to scripture. which are really the points at issue. Indeed, this was the crux, the heart of the Reformation, which was not so much a struggle between Scripture and tradition as between different types of tradition. The heart of the Reformation was a struggle of scriptural tradition versus unscriptural tradition.
What was the scriptural tradition? Justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone, on the basis of the final authority of scripture alone. What was the unbiblical tradition that had come into the Reformation? The unbiblical tradition was the selling and buying of indulgences for the forgiveness of sins. Purgatory.
the invocation of saints. Justification by grace through faith plus cooperation. These were unbiblical traditions. These were innovative, novel ideas imposed on the church, imposed on the scriptures. But the tradition of the church, the truth of the gospel, the church had always believed, taught, and confessed, the reformers argued accurately.
That justification is always been since Jesus, since before Jesus, all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The church didn't start in the 16th century, they said it started way back, and the gospel predates all of that. And so, Luther and the Reformers did not rule out other important authorities for the Christian. They recognize the subordinate authority and role that church councils and church fathers play in the Christian faith and life. Let me give you an example.
In his famous exchange with Cardinal Satoletto, John Calvin, he was debating this cardinal. And the Roman Catholic Cardinal said that the Protestants had abandoned the church tradition. And so what you heard always during the Reformation, and you still hear to this day, is that Protestants are actually the ones who have come up with novel ideas about the Bible. It has been said that the first generation proclaims the gospel, the next assumes it, and the third denies it. To ensure every generation rediscovers the core truths of the gospel, you're invited to the Reformation Conference hosted by Paramount Church in Jacksonville, Florida, from January 17 to 19, 2025.
Presented by the Wittenberg Center for Reformation Studies, this conference will explore the five solas: scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone. Christ alone, and Glory to God Alone: truths rediscovered during the 16th century Reformation. These teachings are just as vital for the church today as they were back then. Renowned scholars Dr. Ashley Null, Jonathan Leinbaugh, R.
Scott Clark, Michael Horton, and Dorothea Wendeborg will lead us in a spiritually enriching exploration of these foundations of the faith. Visit conference.paramountchurch.com to secure your spot today. In response to that argument, John Calvin replied to Cardinal Satoletto, it is the contrary. Protestants have the true tradition, and it is the Roman church that has moved away from this tradition, this truth. This is why Luther and the other 16th century reformers distinguished between two different types of authority in the church.
There is magisterial authority, which is ruling authority, and there is ministerial or serving authority. Reason, tradition, creeds, confessions, church councils have a ministerial role in the church. But scripture alone serves a magisterial role in the church. The final role, the ultimate role, the supreme role.
So, while we do not rule out other important authorities for the Christian, we do affirm that Scripture alone is our final authority. Scripture alone rules over and governs all other authorities, all tradition, all reason, all creeds, all counsels, all come back to Scripture alone. The Westminster Confession of Faith. Clearly expresses this truth in chapter 1, paragraph 10. Listen carefully to what it says.
This is our church's confession of faith.
So we take it very seriously. The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers as church fathers, doctrines of men and private spirits are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest. Can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in Scripture.
So, even our own confession says, yes, confessions are important, but they're all subordinate to the final supreme authority of the one. Authority in the church, which is scripture alone. And this was Martin Luther's argument to the medieval church. This brings us to the second truth that Sola Scriptura affirms. Scripture alone is our inerrant and infallible authority.
Luther argued that Scripture alone is fully authoritative because it is the only authority that is divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. Paul in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, says, All scripture is inspired by God. Since Scripture alone is divinely inspired, Luther and the Reformers argued that Scripture alone is inerrant. It does not err, and it is infallible. It cannot err.
This was in contrast to popes and councils who are not inerrant and do err. And who are not infallible, and they can and do err often.
So Luther believed inerrancy, does not err, was a necessary corollary to sola scriptura, and it was a key component of biblical authority and sufficiency. And this is what he argued for. He argued that tradition and reason cannot serve as the church's final and sufficient authority because neither tradition nor man's reason is divinely inspired. Popes. Councils are not divinely inspired.
And he pointed out in all of his arguments with the medieval church that popes and councils have and do err, therefore, they are not inerrant and they are not infallible. This was the fundamental difference between Luther and Rome. This was it. In 1521, he wrote a treatise called The Misuse of the Mass. And in the misuse of the mass, he says this: quote, since the fathers have often erred, the church fathers have often erred, as you yourself confess.
Who will make us certain as to where they have not erred? The word of men you make equal to the word of God. The saints could err in their writings, and they could err with the sin in their lives. but the scriptures cannot err. Again, Luther argued about the church fathers.
He says, quote, they have erred as men will. Therefore, I am ready to trust them. I don't disregard tradition, but I'm only ready to trust them only when they give me evidence for their opinions from Scripture, which has never erred. Before the Diet of Warrants, he proclaimed this. He says, quote, I can believe neither Pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves.
I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis. My conscience is captive to the word of God. And so for Luther, reason and tradition and counsels, they're all subject to Scripture. They are subordinate to Scripture because Scripture alone is inspired. Therefore, Scripture alone is inerrant.
It does not err. It is infallible. It cannot err. And it cannot do that for all matters of faith and practice. Again, we confess this in the Westminster Confession of Faith.
In chapter 31, paragraph 3, the confession says this: quote: All synods or councils since the apostles' times, whether general or particular, may err. And many have erred. Therefore, they are not to be made the rule of faith or practice, but to be used as a help in both. ⁇ You see, Luther and the Reformers understood in the Reformation that tradition, reason, creeds, confessions, counsels were tools meant to assist the believer in understanding the meaning of Scripture, but they stood subordinate to the scripture. Tradition, Luther said, quote, was the handmaiden to scriptures rather than an authoritative voice governing scripture.
And so, while the Roman church believed and still believes that scripture and tradition are inerrant, infallible authorities. Luther and the other reformers in the Reformation argued that Scripture alone is the Church's inerrant and infallible authority in all matters of faith and practice.
So this brings us To the last part of what does it mean by a sola scriptura.
Sola scriptura alone, scripture alone is our sufficient authority. For faith and practice, it is our final authority, it is our inerrant authority, it is our infallible authority, and fourth and finally, it is our sufficient authority. Because the Scripture is our final, ultimate, inerrant, and infallible authority, the corollary and the result of that is that the scriptures are sufficient to provide everything that we need to know about salvation and how to live the Christian life. Paul in 2 Timothy 3 verses 15 and 16 connects in verse 15 the sufficiency of Scripture to the inspiration of Scripture in verse 16. Listen to how he does it.
He says to Timothy, Timothy, from childhood, you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation. through faith which is in Christ. That's the sufficiency of Scripture. Why is it able and sufficient to do this? Verse 16: Because all scripture is inspired by God.
In Acts chapter 20, verse 32, as Paul gives his final parting words to the Ephesian elders, he says to them, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, the gospel. Which is able, it is sufficient, it has the power necessary to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. In Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, the author of Hebrews writes this. He says, For 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, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is able to do that because it is sufficient to do that because it is inspired.
And so the truth and sufficiency of Scripture is clearly articulated in all the Reformed confessions of the Christian faith. Let me give you an example, again, the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 1, paragraph 6. Quote, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, all things necessary for man's salvation and faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture, unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of men. End quote. The Belgic Confession, Article 7.
It says, we believe that this Holy Scripture fully contains the will of God and that all men must believe in order to be saved, is sufficiently taught therein.
So, in summary, scripture alone is enough. For faith and practice. That's the point.
So, what did Luther reject? Luther rejected papal infallibility. Papal inerrancy. Papal authority over the scriptures and over the church. He maintained that the Pope must answer to Scripture, which alone stands as the Church's final, inerrant, infallible, and sufficient authority for faith and practice.
Based on the authority of Scripture, Luther argued that God's gift of righteousness is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. And therefore, the Pope and the Roman Church are in error. When they teach that grace and righteousness come through the priest's distribution of the sacraments and the believer's cooperation with that distribution. Luther maintained that the believer's sin is imputed to Christ, while Christ's righteousness is imputed to God. to the believer.
Luther made it clear that good works do not merit salvation. He made it clear that good works are never instrumental in salvation. He taught that good works are only evidential, not instrumental. They are fruit, evidence that you have been declared righteous by God. And for these truths, Pope Leo X on June 15th, 1520, condemned Martin Luther as a heretic, calling him a poisonous virus to the church.
In his papal bull ex serge dominae. Pope Leo X refers to Luther as, quote, a wild boar who seeks to destroy the church. Listen to how his papal bull begins against Luther. Arise, O Lord, and judge your own cause, and listen to our prayers, for foxes have arisen seeking to destroy the vineyard whose winepress you alone have trod. The wild boar from the forest seeks to destroy it, and every wild beast.
feeds upon it. Sixty days later. On December the 10th, after receiving this papal bull, Luther publicly burned it.
Okay. Only Luther could do these things, right? And he said, quote, Because you have confounded the truth of God, today the Lord confounds you into the fire with you, end quote. In response, on January the 3rd, 1521, Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther from the church. On April 17th, 1521, Luther was sermon to the German city of Worms for an imperial diet.
Now, a lot of people ask you: what does this word diet mean? It doesn't mean a great weight loss plan, okay? It means a formal general assembly to appear before a king. In this case, he had to appear before the Holy Roman Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, who was a committed Roman Catholic. I mean, could you imagine that?
No amount of antiperspirant would work at that point.
So a great crowd gathered for this event. Luther was escorted by a security detail to keep him safe. And all of his works at the diet of worms were put on a table, and he was asked at this diet whether he would stand by them or recant.
So, for fear of speaking foolishly and not wanting to do harm to God's word, and not wanting to harm his own soul to make sure he got the gospel correct. He stood before this diet and he says, Could you give me some time to think about it? I think I'll be saying the same thing. Let me. Think about that for a minute.
And so he thought and he prayed overnight, and he returned to the diet the next day. And so he stood before the diet, and he told the diet that his books fell into three categories. The first category was his books on piety. Christian living. He said, I cannot recant these books because even my enemies acknowledge their usefulness.
Second were his books against the Pope. He said, I cannot recant these books because they speak against the Pope's laws that are contrary to the true gospel. A house. Third were his books against specific persons who defended the Pope and the Pope's tyranny. Wouldn't you love to read those books?
There is a little app, I just got to tell you, called Luther Insulter. Google it and just have a good time this afternoon, okay? Luther Insulter, you're going to laugh all day.
Okay. So these books against specific persons who defended the Pope and his tyranny, he said, I cannot recant of these books for the same reason I cannot recant against the books against the Pope. And then he said, if any of my books could be shown of any error from Scripture, I would not only recant, but be the first in line to burn these books. But by the end of his reply, he was sweating profusely due to the hot, overcrowded room. Displeased with his answer, a man called Johann von der Eck.
The official responsible for responding to Luther. Demanded that Luther give a very clear answer. Do you recant or not? In response, Luther speaks these famous words: unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures. Or by evident reason, for I can believe neither Pope nor councils alone.
As it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves. I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis. My conscience is captive to the word of God. Thus, I cannot And will not recant because acting against one's conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me.
Amen. And so you see, Luther rightly came to understand that popes and councils are not infallible. They err. They contradict each other. But in contrast, the scriptures alone Are divinely inspired, therefore, they do not err, they're inerrant.
They cannot err. They are infallible. And so the divinely inspired scriptures alone are the church's final. Inerrant, infallible, sufficient authority for all matters of faith, salvation, and practice. Little did Luther realize the far-reaching impact that his controversial posting of his 95 Theses on the Catholic Church in Vedenburg would have.
His posting of his 95 theses sparked a reformation that, by the grace of God in this church, continues 500 years later. This is what we believe teaching confess. And so let's listen to the word of God and listen to what it says about itself. The Apostle Peter says, For you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable. That is, through the living and enduring Word of God.
For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word. which was preached as good news. To you.
Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you for your perfect word given to us through the testimony of your apostles and your eyewitnesses. And we thank you for the divine work of your Holy Spirit that has inspired this word given to us to ensure that it is infallible and inerrant and sufficient for our salvation and for our living the Christian life.
Keep us faithfully standing on this pillar of sola scriptura and never divert from its final and ultimate supreme authority in our life and in our church. And thank you that we have a church that in our confession we confess sola scriptura. This is a divine grace, and help us to never take it for granted that we have a church founded on the truth and authority, ultimate, final authority of your perfect word. Keep us faithful. Protect us from the enemy and help us, Lord, to proclaim the good news.
That sinners are justified freely by the free favor of God in Christ. We pray this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thanks, John. It's so encouraging and comforting to know that Scripture is our final authority.
We'll have the next of the five solas coming up in a few days, so make sure you're subscribed for that. Heming Proclaim is heard daily on several radio stations, and if you're not near one of those stations and want to hear it live, there's a couple of ways. Go to ilovethetruth.com or I'll put a link in the description for an app you can use as well. Two more things. Don't forget about our Reformation Conference.
I'll put a link to that as well. And if you like audiobooks, John has a great audiobook that came from his series called Do You Not Know? All the links are in our description. On behalf of Pastor John, thanks so much for listening. See you next time.
