Sola Scriptura: The Formal Principle of the Reformation

On October 31st 1517, the Catholic Monk Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the Whittenburg Church door in Germany. This kicked off a fire storm of revolution and change that has impacted the world like nothing else. Every Bible believing church is a product of the Reformation. One of the hinges on which the Reformation turned was the principle of “Sola Scriptura” (Latin for Scripture Alone). This is the terminology that affirms Scripture is the supreme authority in all spiritual matters, including salvation, spiritual life and practice of the church. It teaches that Scripture is the highest and supreme authority on any matter on which it speaks.

The word “Scripture” (“graphe” in Greek) in used 51 times in the New Testament and refers to the 66 books we have in our Bibles. While the words “Scripture” and “alone” and not used back to back in the Bible, every time the word Scripture is used it is clear that Scripture “alone” is the only authority (1 Corinthians 4:6). The fact that different biblical authors forbid anyone from adding or taking away from Scripture is powerful evidence that Scripture was a completed authority (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Revelation 22:18-19). Also, the way Scripture itself speaks about human traditions, tells us that Scripture is the supreme determiner of truth. Jesus continually castigated and rebuked the Pharisees because they made their traditions on a par or even above the Word of God. He declared to them in Mark 7:13, You are making the word of God of none effect through your tradition. Scripture is different; it is the word of God and higher than any man made teaching (Colossians 2:8). Even in the way Jesus spoke about the Scriptures tells us all we need to know about their divine authority over everything. In refuting the errors of the Sadducees, Jesus said in Matthew 22:29, You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. Jesus held the Sadducees accountable to the Scriptures whether they knew them or not. Jesus did this several times; He would begin His answer to a fallacious question by saying, “Have you not read?” (cf. Matthew 12:3; 19:4; 21:42). Jesus is saying in essence, “Have you not read the authority? The authority has the answers. You are accountable to this authority!” Jesus constantly referenced the Scriptures as the final court of appeal. He did this often by the introductory phrase, “It is written,” which is repeated some 90 times in the New Testament. Jesus used this phrase three times when appealing to Scripture as the final authority in His dispute with Satan (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10).

The concept of Scriptural authority is woven throughout the fabric of the Scriptures themselves (Isaiah 8:20). Those who understand this are considered more noble than others who don’t (Acts 17:11). In 1 Thessalonians 2:13 the Apostle Paul speaks of the Thessalonians receiving the letter he wrote as from God: You welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. Nowhere is there such a clear statement of the divine origin of Paul’s writings. The men who wrote the Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy 3:16 declares: All Scripture is God-breathed God. Since the Bible is God-breathed, it is the only infallible guide for what we believe and what we do. While other teachers and books have value, none of them are authoritative in and of themselves. It is only when those teachers and books speak of the truth of Scripture that what they say has authority.

Sola Scriptura is absolutely essential in the life of the church and in the life individual Christians. The Scriptures are essential to our lives. We must read them, study them, preach them and meditate on them for our spiritual nutrition.