thegospeloutpost@gmail.com

Tag: Theology

Sola Fide | Justified and Righteous By Faith

Sola Fide | The Source of Faith

Within the context of faith, two important topics quickly surface as we explore the idea that we receive salvation by faith alone. First, that our legal right standing does not come from our own actions, but instead comes from the actions of God. Second, that our righteousness comes by faith rather than our faith coming from our righteousness. All salvation comes by grace alone (Sola Gratia) so that no one would be able to boast. This applies also to our faith. The very fabric of our faith comes by the grace of God that justifies our right standing before the judgment of God and sets us our feet on the foundation of righteousness.

Sola Fide | Justified and Righteous By Faith

Sola Fide | Justified and Righteous By Faith

Within the context of faith, two important topics quickly surface as we explore the idea that we receive salvation by faith alone. First, that our legal right standing does not come from our own actions, but instead comes from the actions of God. Second, that our righteousness comes by faith rather than our faith coming from our righteousness. All salvation comes by grace alone (Sola Gratia) so that no one would be able to boast. This applies also to our faith. The very fabric of our faith comes by the grace of God that justifies our right standing before the judgment of God and sets us our feet on the foundation of righteousness.

Sola Fide | The Substance of Faith

Sola Fide | The Substance of Faith

Make no mistake. We are dead in our sins. There is nothing we can do to merit our salvation and our justification as these are acts of Grace Alone (Sola Gratia). Yet, every day, we see people move from death to life by the grace of God to live in eternity in Heaven. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:8-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬) We produce nothing from our good works and every step of our salvation comes from God.

Sola Gratia | Justification and Adoption

Sola Gratia | Justification and Adoption

Grace is perhaps, the simplest of all Christian doctrines and yet the one we have the most trouble believing. Grace, being the unmerited favor of God given to mankind for their salvation, remains the crux of doctrine. We contribute nothing to our salvation nor can we. Yet, we desperately want to be responsible in some manner for our salvation. Deep down, we carry a long to know we are good enough and attempt to prove it through the only way we know how to prove things; our actions. Yet, our actions produced only death within us and nothing more. On our own, our actions produce spiritual death which even goes so far to take a physical and emotional toil on our bodies. Yet Jesus Christ, by grace, as a random for our sin, died in our place in a manner only He could, so that we might obtain life.

Sola Gratia | Predestination As An Act of Grace

Sola Gratia | Predestination As An Act of Grace

Grace is perhaps, the simplest of all Christian doctrines and yet the one we have the most trouble believing. Grace, being the unmerited favor of God given to mankind for their salvation, remains the crux of doctrine. We contribute nothing to our salvation nor can we. Yet, we desperately want to be responsible in some manner for our salvation. Deep down, we carry a long to know we are good enough and attempt to prove it through the only way we know how to prove things; our actions. Yet, our actions produced only death within us and nothing more. On our own, our actions produce spiritual death which even goes so far to take a physical and emotional toil on our bodies. Yet Jesus Christ, by grace, as a random for our sin, died in our place in a manner only He could, so that we might obtain life.

Sola Gratia | Created and Alive By Grace

Sola Gratia | Created And Alive By Grace

Grace is perhaps, the simplest of all Christian doctrines and yet the one we have the most trouble believing. Grace, being the unmerited favor of God given to mankind for their salvation, remains the crux of doctrine. We contribute nothing to our salvation nor can we. Yet, we desperately want to be responsible in some manner for our salvation. Deep down, we carry a long to know we are good enough and attempt to prove it through the only way we know how to prove things; our actions. Yet, our actions produced only death within us and nothing more. On our own, our actions produce spiritual death which even goes so far to take a physical and emotional toil on our bodies. Yet Jesus Christ, by grace, as a random for our sin, died in our place in a manner only He could, so that we might obtain life.

Sola Gratia | Grace Not From Ourselves

Sola Gratia | Grace Not From Ourselves

The idea of Sola Gratia depicts the notion that we are saved by grace, with grace being the unmerited favor of God. The history of the church, while giving verbal service to grace, heaped on the requirements for salvation and forgiveness of sins. Confessions booths turned into prescriptive actions in which people must do in order to be saved. Furthermore, this act echoed the actions of the Pharisees, who understood salvation through God alone would heap the requirements of holiness beyond what God had Himself directed, on the people. Even today, most Christians would openly say they hold to this belief but still struggle with the notion of grace and how our salvation is given. the idea of grace tends to be pervasive to the every day Christian attempting to either earn the favor of God or define ourselves by our own egotistical standards of holiness. Sola Gratia means we are saved by grace alone, not by our actions or anything we do. Salvation does not mean that man attempts to approach God but instead that God elected and returned mankind to Himself.

Sola Scriptura | The Sufficient Word of God

Sola Scriptura | The Sufficient Word of God

Scripture and the canonical 66 books of the Bible are the authoritative word of God. Throughout history, multiple sources of ruling have set themselves up as authoritative in the church, some legitimate and some not. At some points, the creeds sought to define and become the authoritative word of God. At another point, the papacy set itself up as on par with scripture. Now, as individualism and humanistic tendencies are on the rise, emotion has become the North Star of faith for Christians believing that the yearning of their heart produces the word of God within us. We hold to an optimistic and idealistic view of ourselves and mankind’s ability while ignoring the fact that “now we see in a mirror dimly… now [we] know in part.” (‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:12‬, ESV)

Sola Scriptura | The Inerrant Word of god

Sola Scriptura | The Inerrant Word of God

The word of God is in errant in all that it speaks and reveals. In short, if God’s word is inspired, having been breathed by God, and if God is n all knowing God who eagerly desires to reveal Himself to us, then God’s word must be inerrant. Our culture views tends to view truth as a subjective where anyone can interpret their own reality as they see fit. Yet, this disregards the inerrancy of scripture and the role of God as divine author of all creation. God defines truth as the divine omniscient one who understands how all things come together. Furthermore, as the authoritative truth that is inspired and revealed by God, scripture speaks as the authority over other all other authorities by merit of its inerrancy. Others may fail in their understanding, interoperation, and instruction, but scripture, when properly understood, will reveal truth to the readers as the Holy Spirit speaks in conjunction with scripture.

Sola Scriptura | The Inspired Word of god

Sola Scriptura | The Inspired Word of God

The Bible, as the word of God, is our final authority as Christians through its inspired, inerrant, and sufficient nature. All other church authorities must submit, without contradiction, to the word of God in the Holy Scriptures. This means that, for Sola Scriptura, the bible alone maintains this level of authority that cannot overturned by tradition, human authority, or any other man-made institution. At the core of Sola Scriptura comes the nature of scripture being breathed out by God. No other text, teaching, or authority that we have will hold up to the standards of scripture. We do not worship scripture, as we should only worship the Lord, but we do revere scripture as His own self revelation given to mankind for our benefit. Scripture provides the basis for truth, teaching, and training that no person, tradition, or structure can override its authority.