Salvation is based on…

• the Scripture alone
• by grace alone
• through faith alone
• in Christ alone
• to the glory of God alone

Or, put another way, the core theology of the Reformation advocated for the…

• sufficiency of Scripture to lead us to understand the
• sufficiency of grace for salvation through the
• sufficiency of faith in the all
• sufficient Christ
• resulting in glory to God alone.

Grace alone by faith alone does not mean that good works are not important or necessary—only that they are not meritorious. Good works (Titus 2:7; 14; 3:1, 6, 13) are the response of a grateful heart that understands the freedom from performing for acceptance by God.

Therefore, grace alone by faith alone is the entrance into a life lived to the glory of God alone, a…

• Grace-enabled
  • Spirit-empowered
    • Christ-imitating
      • Scripture-obeying
        • Love-manifesting life!¹

What would Christianity be without the 5 Solas?

• Without Sola Fide (faith alone)—we have a religion of self-effort or of works
• Without Solas Gracia (grace alone)—we not only have to earn salvation, we bear the burden of guilt and the uncertainty of acceptance
• Without Solus Christus (Christ alone)—we have no salvation, we have no object of salvation
• Without Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone)—we are left to the opinions of men or the whims of society
• Without Sola Dio Gloria (To the glory of God alone)—we are prone to create our own version of God, in our own image and take credit for saving ourselves

Praise the Lord that we have, through God’s gracious gift, in the perfect substitute Jesus Christ, revealed in Scripture for us to understand that God receives glory when we respond in faith alone to His offer of a restored relationship with Him.

1. This last sequence is adapted and expanded based on a sermon by Michael J. Svigel, Dallas Theological Seminary