The Bereans: an obscure group of people from a small town in ancient Greece who are our model for what we do with the teaching we hear or read. See our previous post to learn more about them: Being a Berean . Like the Bereans we stand on the truth of sola scriptura: Scripture alone. The Bible is our authority for life and practice of our faith. If anything disagrees with it, we must stand as the Bereans. We must stand on the Word. We must evaluate everything and everyone against the Word of God.
To help anchor ourselves to the Word, we are going to share some principles; just a few rules to help us hold to that foundation. While these do not come from the passage in Acts about the Bereans (Acts 17:10-15), we are naming the principles in honor of the “more noble” Bereans hoping to follow their example. The goal is that it may be said of us that we are “Being a Berean”!
Principles: “a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system or belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning” (Oxford languages). Principles function as an anchor that hold us to a sure place, as rules to keep us firm lest we are blown about by every false teaching. In the sea of ideas and teachings—all calling themselves Christian—we need some principles/rules to help us navigate the confusing waters.
The principles we use are the Five Solas. These positions are foundational to the evangelical Christianity. We are using them as a guide as we seek in prayer to discern the biblical basis of teaching we hear or read. The Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation offered a strong corrective to the faulty practices and beliefs of the reformer’s time, and they remain relevant today. They call us to focus on Scripture, accept salvation by grace through faith, magnify Christ, and live for God’s glory.
1. Sola scriptura: Scripture Alone.
(2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17) emphasis that Scripture alone is our authority. (Also see our posts on Inspiration
1a. Everything must be biblically based. While logical and philosophical thinking has its place, the Bible is our authority. It is the very Word of God. There is no other source of truth that trumps it. Sola Scriptura: Scripture alone is our standard. If a teaching does not come from nor is conformed with Scripture, we must drop that teaching.
1b. Can you find other teachers of Scripture who agree with the truths being presented? Eben though tradition is not the authority for us that the Bible is, if someone has a teaching that has not been espoused by the church in 2,000 years of Christian Bible teaching, we should be very doubtful.
1c. Can you see that the teaching is coming from the preacher’s or teacher’s text? If you consistently are being given teaching that does not seem to come from the Biblical text used, you should be concerned. Now, some preachers have a bad habit of using one text as a jumping point to teaching other biblical truths. The problem is how do you know if the “other biblical truths” really are from the Bible if he doesn’t give you a text to examine. This should be a big red flag that there is an issue. Ask the teacher for some biblical text to back up his teaching.
1d. Context is king. The context of a passage is the major controller of meaning. The context of the passage, the immediate section of the passage, the biblical book of the passage, and the Bible as a whole frame the passage with the context which gives it meaning. Even the historical and social context in which it was written helps to control the range of meaning a passage can have. Be leery of a teacher that takes a passage out of its context and interprets in the context of a current situation. This practice can go bad so quickly. We should apply the Bible to our current context but interrupt it in its own context.
2. Sola Fida: Faith Alone.
(John 3:16; Ephesians 2:9) Emphasizes salvation as a free gift. Does the teaching you are under have salvation by faith alone? Is there anything you need to do to earn it? If salvation is earned by anything—good works, loving acts, or even spiritual actions such as baptism—it is not the salvation offered by Jesus. Our salvation is based on what Christ has done for us, not on what we think we can do for God. This is non-negotiable. Our salvation is a done not a do! Any teaching failing on this principle should cause you to move away from that teaching.
I heard an analogy recently by Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas, while at the Missouri Baptist Convention. Dr. Jeffress told a story of a dead apple tree. It was clearly dried up, dead with no fruit. If he were to go buy some apples and hang them on that dead tree, it would not make the tree alive. Life comes from the tree not from the fruit. A living tree produces living fruit. We are dead in our sin and no amount of fruit (good works) will give us life. But when Christ gives us life by grace through faith in His death and resurrection, we then can produce fruit to His glory!
3. Sola Gratia: Grace Alone.
(Ephesians 2:8-10) Emphasizes grace as the basis for our salvation. In other words, we are saved due to who God is: gracious, rather than who we are or what we bring to the equation. We are saved by faith in God’s unmerited favor toward us: grace. There is no merit or worth in us that Jesus would die for us. Jesus, the Infinite, died for us—the finite, sinful, and wholly unworthy persons—out of His abounding grace. We are of worth and value because he died for us, not because worth is intrinsic to us for Christ loved us while we were still in our sin (Rom 5:8).
The order is so important. Salvation is from the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross to pay for our sin. We are saved to do good works in obedience to God for His glory.
Any teaching that puts our good works as the source of our salvation or an aid to our salvation is non-Christian. It must be avoided no matter how nice the teacher is, no matter how comforting and uplifting the worship is. Stand with the truth.
4. Solo Christo: Christ Alone or Solus Christus: Through Christ Alone
(John 14:6; Heb 4:15) Emphasizes Jesus Christ is the sole source of our salvation. Does the teaching magnify Jesus as the one and only Son of God, the second person of the Trinity? If Jesus is claimed to have been just a man or even a holder of the “universal Christ”, this is not Biblical teaching. Are you being taught Jesus died a substitutionary death for us, not just an example for us? Jesus is not a way to God, an option among many. He did not come to show us the way. That should not sound odd to you. For there is no “way” outside of Him. He came to show us He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE. He is the only way to the Father for He is the second person of the Trinity that took on humanity to live among us, living a sinless life, dying a substitutionary death paying the penalty for our sin, and rising in power to offer us new and abundant life. This is the only true teaching of our salvation; any other is heresy, unorthodox and unchristian.
5. Soli Deo gloria: To the Glory of God Alone.
(1 Corinthians 10:31; Ex 20:1-3; Matt 6:33) Emphasizes the glory of God as the goal of life. Does the teaching you’re under, the worship you engage in lift you up or God? Is it how wonderful you are, or God is? If you are being led to worship yourself, the church, the church’s leaders, this is idolatry. It may be very subtle. They may not say you are your own god, but who is being emphasized? Is anyone being put above God, emphasized more than God? The Westminster Shorter Catechism has it right: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Our whole life comes into order when we stop putting ourselves first but put God and His Kingdom first as the goal of our lives.
It will take patience, practice, and persistence to learn to use these principles. It is an acquired skill but with continued effort you will get there. Be humble, give the grace you would desire to be given to you. Don’t jump to conclusions. Merely because you don’t like the teaching does not make it unscriptural. Nor does liking how it makes you feel make it biblical. Seek out wisdom from more mature believers. Don’t be afraid to talk to your pastor if you have a question about his teaching. It could be you are misunderstanding or have misheard what he was saying. He may have inadvertently misspoken.
Most importantly, be brave! If the Holy Spirit has revealed that the teaching is not biblically based and of a serious enough nature as to violate Scripture, you must leave that situation. I know how hard this will be. I have had to do this in the past and it is painful. Don’t wait until you know where you are supposed to go next, but immediately get out from under false teachings. Start looking for a good Bible-teaching and Bible-believing church. Don’t get discouraged and give up the search. Keep praying and looking.
Remember you are looking for a people of God who will teach God’s Word not a “perfect” church. For you will never find the perfect church this side of heaven. A “lesser” church with “limited” worship yet with true biblical teaching is far greater than the “cool” church and exciting worship but with false teaching.
If in reading this you are sensing you may be as dead as that dead apple tree and have been trying to hang fruit of good works on yourself hoping to bring life, take a look at our post Do you know God Personally?
Until the next time we see you here at CultivatingFaith.org, God Bless! #CultivatingFaithOrg