Five Solas

Sola means "only." The 5 Solas of the protestant reformation have been abandoned by most churches today. As a result, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is veiled and misunderstood. We believe the 5 Solas protect the church from becoming human-centered or veering into works-based religion. The Solas keep the focus of the Gospel on God and His work in saving people for His own glory through the work of Jesus Christ.

Scripture Alone

The Bible is God's perfect and complete revelation to mankind. It is sufficient for all of life. Many today seek extra revelation from God outside of Scripture as if the Bible was not enough for one's life or church. We reject this notion entirely. The Bible is completely sufficient.

2 Timothy 3:16
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness."

The Bible is the final authority for all matters pertaining to our lives and church affairs. It clearly reveals to us God's will. The theme of the Scriptures is the redemption of mankind and creation for God's glory. This theme culminates in Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.
 

Faith Alone

We profess that it is by faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ that we are made right before God. We reject the belief of those who profess that faith must be supplemented by our own human works in order for someone to be saved.  

We also reject what is the predominant view of most professing evangelicals today, that we can be good enough for God to accept us based on our own works.
We profess that we are saved by faith in Christ alone. Jonathan Edwards once said: "We contribute nothing to our salvation other than the sin that made it necessary."

Galatians 2:16
"Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we have also have believed in Jesus Christ, in order to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."

Grace Alone

This famous hymn accurately states that we are wretched before God. Our sin has so separated us from God that we are completely hopeless when left to our own works and devices. There is nothing in us or about us that would merit any favor from God. But God, for His own glory, in His love and mercy, bestows salvation on sinners because of the work of Christ. Grace is getting what you do not deserve. Because of God's grace we get the righteousness of Christ and are found to be right before God. All of our sins are forgiven and we are made new.  The very faith we possess in Christ, no matter how small, is bestowed by God's grace.

Ephesians 2:8 "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."

Christ Alone

At the last supper the night Jesus was arrested He made some remarkable statements to His disciples. The most controversial statement ever made by any leader in history are these words of Jesus: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

Research shows that 1 in 3 Christians today believe this statement to be false and believe in other ways of salvation along with Jesus. This sad reality of evangelical Christianity in America shows a gross misunderstanding of the gospel.  At Christ’s Fellowship, we believe in the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. We gladly preach and profess Christ alone as the only way of salvation. What Jesus' disciples taught we teach and profess today:

Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Glory of God Alone

Isaiah 42:8 "I am the LORD, that is my name; my glory I give to no other."
The entire purpose of the universe, the earth, and every man is to glorify God. All of the Solas culminate in this: The Glory Of God. God did not create because He was lonely; He created for His glory. Jesus was not plan B for God. God did not scramble to come up with a plan after man fell into sin. Redemption through Jesus was always God's plan and it was His plan for His own glory. God does not save the sinner for the sinner's own sake; He saves the sinner for His own glory.

Psalm 115:1-2 "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?". Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases."