🕯️ The Solas:
The Reformation’s Lanterns

In the 16th century, amid theological upheaval and ecclesiastical corruption, the Protestant Reformers lit five lanterns to guide the faithful back to what they saw as the heart of the gospel. These became known as the Five Solas—Latin slogans that distilled their convictions into sharp, declarative truths.

They were not exhaustive, but they were defiant. They were not romantic, but they were resolute.”

These five formed a theological backbone—but as we’ll soon explore, they may have left the heart behind.

A Quiet Suspicion

They stand firm—but is something still missing?

The Five Solas stand like pillars—firm, noble, unyielding. And yet, as we gaze upon them, a quiet suspicion begins to stir. Not a contradiction, not a refutation… but an incompleteness. Something elemental, something essential, seems to hover just beyond their reach.

They appear to be true. But are they whole?

First, I would like to present two Solas that are obviously missing!

Sola Amor and Solus Deus are conspicuously absent from the original Solas. The Reformers focused on the mechanics of salvation—authority, justification, mediation, grace, and glory—but they didn’t explicitly name the source (God Himself) or the motive (Love). That’s like describing a symphony by its sheet music and instruments, but forgetting the composer and the emotion.

💖 Sola Amor – Love Alone

Without love, the Solas become cold doctrine.

The heartbeat behind every law, every sacrifice, every act of redemption. Without love, the Solas become cold doctrine.

Without love, faith is hollow, grace is mechanical, and Scripture becomes a weapon.

This sola reminds us that God is love, and love is the animating force behind all divine action.

🕊 Solus Deus – God Alone

The true source and center of all Solas.

Not just glory to God, but God as the source, sustainer, and sovereign. The One who initiates, not just receives.

It’s a metaphysical sola: everything begins and ends in God, not just our salvation.

🔍 Are They Necessary? Absolutely.

Without Sola Amor, theology becomes cold, transactional, and brittle. Love is not a garnish—it’s the essence of divine action. “God is love” isn’t metaphor—it’s ontology.

Without Solus Deus, the Solas orbit around doctrines but risk losing their gravitational center. If God Himself isn’t named as the beginning and end, the Solas become theological satellites without a sun.

I am calling theology back to its heart. The Solas were forged in a battle for truth, but truth without love is tyranny, and doctrine without God is idolatry.

The scroll is not yet fully unrolled. Beneath the Solas lies a name, a place, a promise. The cornerstone is missing! Sola Sion - Zion Alone.

🕍 ️ Sola Sion – Zion Alone

The covenantal soil from which the gospel blooms.

The covenantal context, the people and place through which salvation history unfolds. The root system beneath the fruit.

“Quid Solis sine Israël?” What are the Solas without Israel?

“Solae? Nonne radicem Hebraicam oblitae sunt?” The Solas? Have they not forgotten the Hebrew root?

“Whispered in psalms…”

Sola Sion affirms that salvation is not abstract—it is rooted in the covenantal soil of Zion. From Zion comes the law, the promise, the Messiah, and the vow. To forget Zion is to forget the altar where heaven and earth first kissed.

It has been hidden in plain sight. Whispered in psalms, etched in prophecy, walked by the feet of kings and the sandals of the Messiah. The Solas speak of grace, faith, Scripture, Christ, and glory—but they forget the soil from which these truths sprang.

Zion is not merely a place…

It is in Zion that the covenant was sealed. It is from Zion that the law went forth. It is to Zion that the Redeemer came. And it is in Zion that the vow is performed.

Zion is not merely a place—it is a people. The people of God, the children of Israel, the covenant-bearers through whom salvation history unfolds. To speak of salvation without Zion is to speak of fruit without root. The Abrahamic and Davidic covenants, the prophetic voice, the sacred altar—all converge in Zion.

Sola Sion affirms that salvation is not abstract—it is historical, covenantal, and Jewish. It reminds us that the gospel is not a rupture, but a fulfillment. It is not a new story—it is the flowering of an ancient one.

🧭 Summary: The Solas Reclaimed

The Five Solas of the Reformation formed a theological backbone—Scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and glory to God alone. They were forged in a battle for truth, clarifying the mechanics of salvation and the authority of the gospel.

But something essential was left behind.

The Solas speak of how we are saved, but not why, by whom, or through whom. They name the instruments, but not the Composer. They proclaim the fruit, but forget the root.

To restore the heart of theology, we must reclaim what was hidden in plain sight:

Sola Amor – Love Alone: The motive behind every divine act. Without love, doctrine becomes cold and brittle.

Solus Deus – God Alone: The source, sustainer, and sovereign. Not just the recipient of glory, but the initiator of redemption.

Sola Sion – Zion Alone: The covenantal context. The people and place through which salvation history unfolds. The root system beneath the fruit.

These three are not additions—they are revelations. They do not compete with the original Solas—they complete them.

🎭 Sounds Fine: Everything's Fine, Right?

But the Solas framework ALONE is WRONG,
The Solas framework strands us in a theological mess because we are never Alone in Christ!

Sine Solas (Without the “Alone”): A Framework of Relationship
Not undoing the Solas, but changing the framework to a relationship.

The Solas were true. But Alone was never the way.
Christ is not a doctrine. He is a Bridegroom.
We are never Alone in Him.

Sine Solas.
Step into the Sine Solas: United in Christ, Together in Love. Always. With God.