Solus Christus

This morning we are going to do something a little bit different than yesterday, we are going to work together on a series of verses that are all about Jesus. Yesterday we talked about how Scripture alone is the authority, Scripture alone is the reference point, and this morning we are going to talk about Solus Christus, Christ alone. We believe that Jesus Christ alone offers and provides salvation. It is not Christ AND it is Christ Alone that saves. Peter talks about this in Acts 4:10-12

Acts 4:10–12 NASB95

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. “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.”

No other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. It is Jesus alone that can offer salvation and it is through Jesus Christ alone that can secure salvation. It is through Christ’s perfect life, His perfect obedience to God the Father, His death and resurrection that man is saved. It is only through Jesus that we can have access to God the Father. Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” Now if you were to ask a Catholic person what they believed about Christ being the savior of mankind, they would agree. They aren’t saying that salvation comes from outside of Christ but they believe that salvation is based more on Christ AND and not Christ alone. As the solas were being produced, the Roman Catholic Church was teaching that while Christ is savior, in order for salvation to be achieved, there needs to be additions. They were teaching that in order to be saved, the believer also needed to be baptized and that rather than looking to Christ for their standing before God, they were to look at the Church. It was through the Catholic Church that grace could be given, it was through the priests or the pope that sins would be confessed to and then through their offering of prayers, that they would intercede on behalf of the people. The Catholic Church taught that Mary or the saints that a Christian should turn to in prayer so that they would go and ask Jesus because the thought was that we needed someone else to go before the face of God for us. They taught that in order for grace to be given to someone, for someone to be truly saved, not only did they need Jesus to atone for sin, they also needed to be baptized, regularly confess sin to a priest, and take part in the Eucharist at the mass. They believe that during the mass service, as they celebrate the Lord’s supper, that it is as if Jesus is being killed again. So, really if you were a Catholic, you were putting all of your hopes and your life not in Christ but in Christ and the Catholic Church. If we say that we are a Christian but we add things to Christ in order to be saved, we are detracting glory that rightly belongs to Jesus. Stephen Wellum writes, “Christ alone is not a slogan; it is the center of the solas by which the Reformers recovered the grace of God and declared the glory of God. Christ alone integrates the purposes and plans of God as he has revealed them in Scripture and as we represent them in theological formulation.” In Christ alone, we recognize that we can do nothing to contribute to our salvation. Salvation isn’t through checking off all the right boxes or by living a good life. This can’t be done. No, God alone has to save us. Romans 3:10 says, “as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;” No one has ever saved themself. We contribute absolutely nothing to our salvation except the sin that makes salvation necessary in the first place. What I want us to work through together are 5 passages of Scripture and if we don’t get through them all, that’s ok, but I want us to look at these passages and I want us to just talk about what we can discover about Jesus. What do these passages say when it comes to who Jesus Christ is. We are going to get into groups and we are going to spend about 15 minutes working through these passages.

John 1:1–5 NASB95

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:14–18 NASB95

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ” For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Colossians 1:13–20 NASB95

For He rescued 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. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn 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 through Him and for Him. 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 firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Hebrews 1:1–9 NASB95

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again, “I will be a Father to Him And He shall be a Son to Me”? And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” And of the angels He says, “Who makes His angels winds, And His ministers a flame of fire.” But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions.”

What questions do you guys have?