Solus Christus

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But in these five weeks, we are considering the five solae that summarize the

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Reformation ideas about God bringing salvation to man.

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As has been said, the Latin word sola means alone or only.

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Only scripture, only grace, only faith, only

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Christ, only God's glory. There is, however, one sense in which they are not alone.

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The solae must be taken together to give the full picture of what God has done and evermore will do to secure our salvation.

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All of these solae grew out of the Reformers' realizations that the

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Roman Catholic Church had strayed from the true gospel by adding requirements and layers to what

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God had done, much as the Pharisees had done by the time

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Jesus was on earth. Today, we focus on solus

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Christus, Christ alone. That this idea is scriptural is abundantly clear from numerous references.

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Jesus himself proclaimed his exclusive role in salvation when he said in John 14,

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I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.

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Peter amplifies the idea when he and John were brought before the rulers and elders of the people in Acts 4.

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And there is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

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No priest, no deacon, no pastor, no pope, no mentor or prophet or holy man or saint or angel can in any way help us in salvation other than to point us to Christ alone.

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Because, as 1 Timothy 2 says, there is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man

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Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.

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Furthermore, Christ is only and once sacrificed.

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For the celebration of the mass is said to be the true body and blood of Christ sacrificed for sins.

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On the other hand, Scripture says, and inasmuch as it has been appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation with no reference to sin to those who eagerly await him.

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Salvation comes through trusting in Christ alone for his once and final sacrifice on the cross.

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We do not need the priest as mediator or the mass as a means of applying saving grace.

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Luther understood our tendencies all too well when he said, We humans are weak and stubbornly perverse and more likely to become attached to saints than to Christ.

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That it is easier for us humans to believe and trust in everything else than in the name of Christ, who alone is all in all, and more difficult for us to rely on him and through whom we possess all things.

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As Ulrich Zwingli proclaimed, Christ is the only way of salvation of all who were, are now, or shall be.

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And in his 67 articles Zwingli explicitly contrasted

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Roman sacramentalist views with those of Christ. Christ has borne all our pain and travail.

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Hence, whoever attributes to works of penance, be that being oneself, praying endless hours, doing masses, whatever, that is not according to Christ alone, errs and blasphemes

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God. Pretty strong words. Joel Beakey in writing about Solus Christus says,

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The centrality of Christ is the foundation of the Protestant faith.

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Martin Luther said that Jesus Christ is the center and circumference of the

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Bible. Meaning that who he is and what he did in his death and resurrection is fundamental content of the scripture.

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Salvation is only in Jesus Christ because there are two conditions that no matter how hard we try we can never meet.

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Yet they must be done if we are to be saved. The first is to satisfy the justice of God through obedience to the law.

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The second is to pay the price of our sins. We cannot do either.

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But Christ did both perfectly. In his

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Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin wrote, Christ stepped in, took the punishment upon himself, and bore the judgment due to sinners.

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So Christ is called the King of Peace and our Peace. Because he quiets all agitations of conscience.

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If we ask the means, we must come to the sacrifice by which God has been appeased.

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For anyone unconvinced that God is appeased by that one atonement in which Christ endured his wrath will never cease to tremble.

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If you don't trust in that, nothing else will work. In short, we must seek peace for ourselves solely in the anguish of Christ our

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Redeemer. In summary, Solus Christus, Christ alone.

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As one blogger said, since Rome has not changed, and since our hearts constantly look elsewhere for salvation, the issue is still before us today.

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So it is still the duty of the Church to clear away all helpers and assistants in salvation, and preach

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Christ and Him alone. He is all we have for salvation, but he is all we will ever need.

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Martin Luther gives us a simple summary, quote, I must listen to the

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Gospel. It tells me not what I must do, but what

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Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has done for me. Amen.