The purpose of this page is to explain the theological convictions that distinguish our congregation from other faithful churches in our city, to help you discern whether Grace Community Church would be a good church home for you. We believe it’s essential to clearly articulate, from the outset, the convictions that shape and govern our life together as a church.

THE FIVE SOLAS

At the heart of the Protestant Reformation was a recovery of the Biblical teaching regarding salvation. The Reformers sought to hold high and herald the true gospel over and against the deadly errors of the Roman Catholic Church, which had distorted the message of salvation through centuries of man-made traditions, sacramentalism, and ecclesiastical authority.

To proclaim and preserve the biblical gospel, the Reformers articulated what we now know as the Five Solas (sola meaning “alone” in Latin). These were not new doctrines, but a heaven-sent rediscovery of the ancient, apostolic truths found in the pages of Scripture. We recognize that most Protestant churches today would readily affirm the Five Solas without any hesitation. However, we list them as one of our distinctives not because they’re tucked away safely in some theological closet—only pulled out for the occasional orthodoxy check—but because these truths saturate our preaching, guide our praying, shape our singing, and enrich our fellowship. Because we treasure these truths, they are naturally woven into the very fabric of our life together as a church.

Sola Scriptura: According to Scripture Alone

The Bible is our final and highest authority in all matters of faith (what we are to believe) and practice (how we are to live). The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are God-breathed, authoritative, true, clear, sufficient, and supreme (2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Cor. 4:6). Fools may temporarily twist its message (2 Pet. 3:16), but they cannot ultimately trump its authority (Isa. 40:6-8). Scripture is not only our highest earthly authority but also our greatest earthly treasure. Sweeter than honey and sufficient to save, sanctify, and satisfy our souls, the Christ-centered Word brings life (Ps. 119:50), light (2 Pet. 1:19), liberty (John 8:31–32), and lasting joy (Psa. 119:111). 

Sola Gratia: By Grace Alone

Salvation is an undeserved gift to hell-deserving sinners, not a reward for self-righteous churchgoers. It can’t be earned by our efforts, religious strivings, or moral achievements, but is freely lavished upon us by God’s free and sovereign grace (Eph. 2:8; Tit. 3:5). This stands in stark contrast to Roman Catholicism, which teaches that justifying grace is imparted to believers through the sacraments and is maintained and increased through their cooperation and good works. But the grace of God is not a spiritual supplement to empower religious people to achieve salvation—it is the sole source of the sinner’s salvation from beginning to end.

Sola Fide: Through Faith Alone

During the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church made the official declaration: “If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone... let him be anathema” (Session 6, Canon 9). Yet, long before this, God had already settled and sealed the matter in Scripture: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28; see also Gal. 2:16). Sinners are justified, not by a combination of faith and works, but by faith alone. Faith is the open, empty hand by which we receive the free gift of God’s righteousness.

Roman Catholicism views justification as an ongoing process involving both faith and works. In contract, the Bible presents justification as a once-for-all legal act, in which God declares the believing sinner to be righteous in His sight the very moment he or she embraces Christ by faith. The sinner comes to Him, confessing, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling” (Augustus Toplady). Even faith—the very act of coming to Christ—is a gift from God (John 6:44, 65; Phil. 1:29).

Solus Christus: In Christ Alone

There is one God and one mediator between God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). He alone is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him (Heb. 7:25). No priest, saint, or even Mary the mother of Jesus can accomplish or contribute to the salvation of sinners. Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life. Salvation is found in no one else (Acts 4:12).

Soli Deo Gloria: To the Glory of God Alone

Because the work of salvation is entirely God’s, the glory is exclusively His. No one will boast in the presence of God (1 Cor. 1:29). To boast in anything other than the sovereign grace of God—whether it be our willingness to receive Christ, our wisdom in discovering our need for Him, our faith to embrace Him, our repentance in turning to Him, or our good deeds—is to boast in grace received rather than in the Giver who lavished it. Such boasting reveals a distorted understanding of salvation—or worse, the absence of saving grace altogether.

A Fitting Doxology

After showcasing the multifaceted beauty of the riches of our salvation in Romans 1–11, Paul sweetly and succinctly summarizes everything in a soul-stirring doxology: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36). Paul’s understanding of salvation is clear: it flows from God as its source, is accomplished through God as its means, and returns to God as the ultimate end of all things.

This doxology is simple enough for a child to grasp, yet so profound that the sharpest theological minds in church history have spent their lives mining its treasures and have barely scratched the surface of its unsearchable riches. It is the fertile soil from which the Five Solas spring forth with breathtaking beauty. It is the solid oak from which the battering rams of the Five Solas were hewn—rams wielded by the Spirit-empowered church to assault and break through the gates of death and false religion, liberating captives entrenched in spiritual darkness, both at the time of the Reformation and in the centuries that followed—even to this day.

As the church’s understanding of the gospel matured and deepened through the centuries, this divinely inspired doxology served as the theological foundation from which the Five Solas would be faithfully articulated and powerfully proclaimed. Sola Gratia and Sola Scriptura affirm that all saving grace and truth flow from God as the source. Solus Christus and Sola Fide proclaim that every aspect of our salvation is accomplished through God—through Christ alone and received by faith alone. And Soli Deo Gloria declares that all the glory in salvation belongs to God alone.

A One Word Revolution

The power and preciousness of the Five Solas is contained in the word alone. That one word is what set the Reformers apart from the Roman Catholic Church then—and what still sets us apart today. Roman Catholics—then and now—believe in Scripture (Scriptura), believe in grace (gratia), believe in faith (fide), believe in Christ (Christus), and believe in the glory of God (Deo gloria)—but they leave out the most important word in the equation: alone. Protestants, by contrast, prize and proclaim the truth that:

  • Scripture alone is sufficient to show us the way of salvation—not Scripture plus tradition or the doctrines of men.
  • Grace alone is the ground of our salvation—not grace mingled with merit or earned by human effort.
  • Faith alone is the means by which salvation is received—not faith plus works.
  • Christ alone is the one by whom salvation is accomplished—not Christ alongside popes, priests, saints, or sacraments.
  • God alone deserves the glory for our salvation—a glory not shared with the Mary of Roman Catholicism, nor with anyone deluded by the notion that salvation ultimately depends on man’s wise decision in time rather than on God’s sovereign choice before time.

Whether in our day, the days of the Reformation, or the days when the Spirit of God worked through His servants to complete the canon of Scripture, the word alone has preserved the purity, power, and preciousness of the gospel—ensuring that the crown of eternal glory and unending praise is placed precisely where it belongs: upon the head of our wonderfully worthy Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[More to come...]