Quiet Moments: Sola gratia, sola fide, sola scriptura
Remembering the things most dear to our faith
“Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” -Ephesians 2:8–9 (EHV).
“So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ.” -Romans 10:17 (EHV).
Before we walk alongside Christ's suffering in the season of Lent, the Christian church observes a sort of “buffer season” that prefaces the trials of our Savior and brings our focus back to the most important pillars of the Christian faith. We refer to this season as “Pre-Lent” which consists of three Sundays commonly referred to by their Latin names, Septuagesima,” “Sexagesima” and “Quinquagesima” (which mean seventy, sixty and fifty days before Easter respectively).
During these Sundays, we especially focus on the “solas” which are “sola gratia” (grace alone), “sola fide” (faith alone) and ”sola scriptura” (scripture alone). These are three of the pillars that the foundation of the Church stands upon and firmly clings to.
The passages from Ephesians and Romans show how important and integral grace, faith and Scripture are for us as Christians. Paul tells us that we are saved by grace through faith, and this saving faith comes through Scripture - the Word of God.
What Christ did on the cross for humankind paid for the sins of the world (objective justification), but in order for each of us to personally be saved (subjective justification), these three things are so important and show us how God has reconciled Himself to us through our Savior. Nothing that you or I could ever do would be enough. Yet, God was gracious to give us the gift of faith to rescue us from the depths of sin. Thanks be to God. Amen.