by Andrew Corbett | Aug 28, 2018 | Theology
When it comes to the revelation of salvation: Sola Scriptura (the Scriptures alone). When it comes to the identity of the Saviour: Solo Christo (“Christ Alone!”) When it comes to the cause of salvation: Sola Gratia (Grace Alone!). “Grace alone!” Perhaps the most abhorrent and repulsive summary of the most sublime news anyone could ever herald.
Abhorrent? Indeed. We are so conditioned to earn every merit or reward that comes our way that the concept of someone else paying our debt with no thought of seeking any form of payment is truly abhorrent. Repulsive? Certainly. The attitude of “I got myself into this mess and I’ll get myself out of it!” is so entrenched in most people’s thinking that the notion of another exhausting all their resources to rescue us- and then making no demand for any kind of repayment is indeed repulsive! Yet that which most find abhorrent and repulsive is the core of the Gospel: God’s grace.
by Andrew Corbett | Aug 28, 2018 | Theology
Biblical Christianity commences with the authority of Scripture. Some might say that it commences with Christ. But without the revelation of Scripture we wouldn’t know that! Against the backdrop of a Papal Church usurping authority to lord it over those who would follow Christ, the Reformers protested that such usurping was contrary to what the Scriptures permitted. When confronted with the option of obeying God’s Word or the contradictory commands of men, the early apostles said-
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”
Acts 5:29
William Tyndale was one of the first reformers to defy the Papal church leadership and teach that the Bible was a higher authority than the Pope. For this stand he paid a terrible price (being burned alive at the stake). Not only did he teach this doctrine of Sola Scriptura he trained lay preachers (derogatively referred to as “Lollards” ’empty heads’) to preach it across England. He then worked on translating the Scriptures into the common language of the people and was able to do something that Wyclif over a hundred years earlier was unable to do: he published his English Bible by means of the newly invented printing press. Tyndale died to make the English Bible available to the Spiritually hungry. I wonder what mixed emotions he would feel today if he could see the number of Bibles in the homes of Christians today and how little they were actually read! (Research shows that only 2% of Christians have read the entire Bible.)
by Andrew Corbett | Aug 22, 2018 | Theology
“Christ Alone!” The cry of the Reformers was that salvation was revealed in the Scriptures alone (Sola Scriptura) which is based on the work of Christ alone.
…that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.”
Second Corinthians 3:14
When we say ‘Christ alone’, we are emphatically stating that Scripture reveals salvation in and through no one other than Christ.
by Andrew Corbett | Aug 20, 2018 | Theology
When the Reformers were protesting the corruption of the then State Church, their pursuit was to return (‘reform’) the Church to something closer to the Biblical prescription. Luther had protested the Roman Catholic practice indulgences, and Catholic Church’s sacerdotal practices such as, Confession, Penance, Transubstantiation. Calvin had systematised Biblical Christianity into four categories: God the Creator, God the Redeemer, The Grace of God, The Holy Catholic (‘universal’) Church, in his four volume series, The Institutes of The Christian Religion. In what might be a summary of these Protestant works, the “Five Solas” were developed as brief and easy-to-remember statements of what the Bible taught about God and Salvation.
by Andrew Corbett | May 28, 2018 | Commentaries, Theology
The foundation of the Bible and Christianity is the opening story of Genesis – about how God created the world- especially its claim that God created Adam and Eve as the parents of all humanity. If this opening account is wrong, the very foundation for believing the Bible is destroyed! But if this account of creation is the pillar of truth, why are the two opening chapters so contradictory? Or are they?
by Andrew Corbett | Apr 19, 2018 | Theology
The Bible is the most influential book of all time. It’s contents have changed the course of history. It’s story has formed the pattern for all the great literary classics. It also makes the astounding claim that it is the uniquely authoritative revelation from God and therefore has the authority to command our moral behaviour. But if the Bible is not reliable, then its claims are indefensible and Christianity is without foundation! Yet despite this glaring vulnerability, the Bible has withstood rigorous scrutiny and repeated attempts to refute it. Here’s why it is indeed reliable.
