Concrete Reasoning

                 If something is existing by itself in order to do a task, and then another thing is doing a separate task alongside the first thing , is the first thing alone or together with the second thing??
Think about it for a minute.
I suppose after you finish shaking your head, you will say that of course whatever thing is first alone is obviously no longer alone when anything else joins it. Right? Confused?

                So for example, let's say one guy shows up to lay a slab of concrete out on the ground. At present, he is alone. He begins to guide the shoot of the concrete truck in order to run out the concrete mud into the right spot. Then let's say another man shows, and he begins to rake the mud around with a mud rake into a more level form within set boundary boards. Now, the first man and second man are together on the job. We would not say they are alone right?

Let's say a third man shows up, and then a fourth man, and then a fifth man. The third man is there to start screeding the concrete or leveling it out with a long bar or "screed". The fourth man is there to use a hand float or "mag" to smooth out the edges. The fifth man is there to run a large bull float over the majority of the slab to get a smooth finish.

                

                  It is natural for us to look at this scenario and say, "Hey, those guys are pouring a slab together." In other words we would not look at the group of guys and say they were alone. 

  

                 Here is where it gets interesting and we move to the heart of my point. In logical, reasonable actuality we can safely say that the first man is "pouring out the slab" alone. He is at the shoot behind the truck alone and sliding out the concrete onto the ground. We can say that the second man is raking the mud alone. It is right to say that the third man is screeding the concrete alone. We can easily say that the fourth man is floating the edges alone, and we know it is obvious that the fifth man is bull floating the main slab....alone. You see, the minute that an additional person actually puts their hand to the exact task that any one of these men are performing, then that specific task is being done not alone, but by more than one person. Even though all the men are operating in unison to perform the act of laying the slab, each has his own task and is doing it all by himself.
                     This is pure reason and causes us to think in ways that we do not always think.

              Here is why this exercise is so very important. When we look at God and the way He works in the lives of the elect, we see various elements operating entirely by themselves, and at the same time in perfect unison.
This is actually how life works, but for some reason when we look at God, we say,
                            "No that can't be right."
              In salvation as described by the Bible, God is on display, not man. We know from the accuracy and innerancy of God's Holy Word that the Almighty is more than capable of getting His instructions into our hands. One of the most important truths we can ever come to grips with is that God does not need us. He is actually God. Down through history, so many have tried to pervert the truth of God by adding to who He is, how He does things, and what it is that He does.  In fact, when Constantine merged Christianity with Roman statism and paganism, we ended up with a very grotesque beast that festooned the precious words of God with every kind of man-made trappings available.  False doctrines such as Transubstantiation, Baptismal Regenertion, baptizing of and praying for the dead, Purgatory, Indulgences, Tradition and extra-Biblical revelation, and works-based faith became rampant.
In the 1500's men began to raise up in faith and strength from God to declare these doctrines false and exhort the church and all those who would listen back to authentic, Biblical Christianity.

 This was the time of the Reformation.

If you call yourself a Christian, you can thank the Reformers that you do not kiss the ring of a priest on Sunday and say your "hail Marys".  You do not attend a Catholic Mass, because brave men stood up against the spirit of totalitarian, self-righteous maligning of God's word that the Christ Himself had faced in the religious men of His day.  Like the Ark from the flood, a bright hope of true believers emerged from the flood of apostasy that had threatened to destroy all of Christendom.

  Of the many precious confessions of sound, Biblical faith that emerged from the Great Reformation as lenses peering into the endless depths of Scripture, one amazing creed stands out. It is that of the
Five Solas. Sola is Latin for alone and is used in this creed to describe the secret workings of God. In Scripture, when we see the word "mystery" it is always describing that which is being revealed. We have everything that God wants us to have of Himself and these things are clearly defined in Scripture. It is quite OK to speak of such things, and to determine by God's Holy Word the right and wrong ways of perceiving them. A great mystery revealed is how God operates in the lives of those He elects unto salvation. This mystery is easily defined in the Five Solas. They are as follows:





1 Sola gratia ("by grace alone")
                        Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. (Ephesians 1:3-8)





2 Sola fide ("by faith alone")
                                Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "All the nations shall be blessed in you." So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them." Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "The righteous man shall live by faith." (Galatians 3:6-11)



3 Solus Christus or Solo Christo ("Christ alone" or "through Christ alone")
                               There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time...For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. (1TI 2:5-6; COL 1:13-18)







4 Sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone")
                              All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (Psalm 119:18; Psalm 138:2; II Tim. 3:14-17)





5 Soli Deo gloria ("glory to God alone")
                                Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God; Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (1CO 10:31; 1PE 4:11; REV 1:6; 2PE 3:1; EPH 3:21; REV 7:12; ROM 11:36)

 

A great deal could be and indeed has been written on these five solas. My only endeavour here is just to show the reasonable logic of them. I used the concrete analogy to elaborate on my point and also to show how this logic applies to every area of our lives. How much more so the eternal Word of God. God established the laws of logic and of reason. We must look to Him and trust Him to be faithful in all He says and does.

 

We cannot and must not say that salvation is by Grace plus our good ideas; Faith plus our righteous works; Christ plus Mary; Scripture plus additional writing and revelation; all for the Glory of God plus for man's glory as well.

None of this foolish reasoning is Biblical neither does it even make sense.

 
            You may have noticed a difference between my initial analogy and the Five Solas themselves. My analogy just dealt with five guys doing tasks. However, look at the last Sola. It says,
                      FOR THE GLORY OF GOD ALONE.
         This is our end cause. So if we were to be complete in the analogy we may say our end cause was to set a shed on the concrete slab, or to play basketball on it, or build a house, whatever we want there is an end cause. The end cause of salvation far surpasses anything our simple, finite minds can fathom in all our laboring over earthly causes. The end cause is the Glory of God! Friends I want to tell you this is lost on our culture. The reality is, God glorifies Himself so that we may receive ultimate pleasure. If He were to glorify anything else He would no longer be God.

   
     There is no truer way to perceive God than perceiving Him as big as you can. Because even then, you are not quite there, not by a long shot, but you are closer than if you are trying to look at Him in a box. You are much closer than if you are trying to compare Him to man.
God works alone in all He does, for one, because our works are as filthy rags to Him, and two, His power is beyond the scope of our imagination. 
It is so vital to purge all the needless, man-centered additions we labor to attribute unto the work of God. In fact, our additions are blasphemy and pervert His Holy Word. Jude speaks of those who "sensualize the Word of God" and this is done when we strive so hard to cram our fleshly ways into the pure and clear text of the Living God. All His precious ways are sufficient unto themselves, and praise Him for it, because if they weren't we would have no hope.

a wretch in His grace,
Dan