Solus Christus

Drawing by my friend, Casy Kovach

    

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

     (Romans 8:1 ESV)

   

 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

     (John 14:6 ESV)

     The phrase “Solus Christus” in Latin means “Christ Alone”. The phrase reflects the doctrine that through Jesus Christ and Him alone humanity can be reconciled to God.

 God, in His perfect plan, sent His Son to earth to save His people. Jesus gave Himself up for the people whom He loved.  For those whom God the father gave Him, Jesus went to the cross to satisfy the wrath God held against them. While on earth, Christ also lived a perfect, sinless life and fulfilled the entire Old Testament law. Christ rose from the grave three days after being put to death on the cross. By Jesus' death on the cross and His life-giving obedience to God, we can be declared righteous before God. It is through trusting in Christ's work we receive God's free gift of salvation!

The lyrics and video to the song below explain this doctrine well.

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! Who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
 
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me; From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

By Stuart Townend and Keith Getty

Sola Fide

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.     (Galatians 2:15-16)

     Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
     For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.     (Galatians 3:7-14)

     The Phrase "Sola Fide" literally means, "Faith Alone", or "By Faith Alone". It represents the scriptural truth that God's people are justified by faith in Jesus Christ's merits, and His merits alone.

     As I have been preaching through the book of Galatians over the past two months, God has revealed truths to me about the mechanisms of salvation by faith alone. Paul connects salvation through faith to the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15. In this covenant, God agreed to bless Abraham (who was then Abram) with a son, a large posterity, an inheritance of land, and an offspring.  God also promised to bless the nations through this offspring (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:8). The Bible says, "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6; Galatians 3:6).

     Paul also says that all who rely on the Old Testament law to save them will be cursed. Why? Because no one is righteous (Romans 3:10) and all have fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). Jesus preached during His ministry if a man sinned against God in his heart, he was guilty (Matt. 5:21-30). Because of our sinfulness, God's Holy standard is not reachable by any human being, therefore we can't be saved by moral efforts. We cannot live by the whole law, and the Bible says to fail in one area of the law is to be guilty of all the law (James 2:10). In summary, to strive to save yourself by any moral standard is disobedience to God.

     But Paul tells us, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). Jesus Christ's mission in coming to this world was to fulfill the law (Matt. 5), stand in the place of those that the Father had given Him, and satisfy the debt of God's wrath against them. Christ also gives us His perfect law-fulfilling obedience when we take Him at His Word, just like Abraham did when he, "believed God and it was counted to Him for righteousness." God asked Abraham to believe some illogical things. For example, He told Abraham that his wife Sarah would have a son when she was well passed childbearing age. God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac, but Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness! God also asks us to believe some illogical things: the authority of the Bible, the virgin birth, and the resurrection just to name a few. But by following in Abraham's footsteps of faith, through Christ's substitution for us on the cross, we are justified before God.

     I would like to ask you a question. In whom do you trust? Are you trusting in God's Grace through Christ's perfect righteousness to save you from eternal punishment, or are you hoping your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds enough for you to "make it" to heaven? If you believe the latter, you are deceiving yourself! You might fool others into thinking you believe in Christ, but what do you believe in your heart? Justin Martyr wrote to those who would persecute the church, "You can kill us, but you can't harm us." He knew that there was a life after this one, and while someone could take away his life on earth, no one could change his eternal destination. He trusted that Jesus Christ's merits and sacrifice on the cross were sufficient to give him access into God's presence forever. Do you have the same foundation that Martyr had? Would you be willing to say with him, "Take my life, you can't change my eternity"?

Sola Scriptura

     The Latin Phrase, "Sola Scriptura" means "by the Scriptures alone", and I have decided to discuss this Sola first because it is an integral belief by which the Christian's worldview and understanding of the Gospel stands or falls.

     The Bible as it exists in the Old and New Testaments is the inspired, infallible Word of God without error. The Scripture gives testament to itself in 2 Timothy 3:16, 

     "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,"

(2 Timothy 3:16 ESV)

     If Christians can agree on this, we have a plumb line by which to measure ourselves and the truth. We have an authority and standard for what is true. Without it, all of our convictions decay to merely suggestion and the Christan faith becomes as subjective and impotent as any business leadership or self-help book on the market.

     God has given people (who only deserve His wrath) a book by which to know Him. He has revealed His character, His saving plan, and His way to Holiness in this book. We would do well to give our lives to studying it. There are men, like John Wycliffe and William Tyndale who devoted themselves daily to the translation of the Bible into English, or even had their blood shed for it. 

     I never cease to be surprised and overjoyed that God has revealed in His Word everything we need to know about Him and His plan to save a people. Through the Bible, God has spoken to humanity and given us comfort, wisdom, correction, instruction, knowledge, and salvation.

     

     In conclusion, I challenge you to treasure the Scriptures for what they truly are; God's words. I charge you to spend time reading and contemplating the Word of God. Even if you have been reading the Bible for years, God can reveal something about Himself in His Word by the Holy Spirit. Finally, I ask you to not just be a hearer of the Word, but a doer of the Word (James 1:22). I would be better off as a Christian to know two or three scriptural truths and live them in my life than to know many scriptural truths and do none of them. 

     What amazes you most about "Sola Scriptura"? Please let me know in the comments below.

     Deal bountifully with your servant,
          that I may live and keep your word.
     Open my eyes, that I may behold
          wondrous things out of your law.
(Psalm 119:17-18 ESV)

New Blog Series

I am excited to announce that I will be starting a new blog series over the next 5 to 6 weeks! In my blog series, we will look at the five “Solas”: Latin phrases that summarized the doctrines of the protestant reformation. Each week I will look at each Sola, summarize what it means, and discuss how the phrase anchors and shapes our devotions to Christ. If all goes well, I will post number one of the series tomorrow. Are there any questions you'd like to have answered about the Solas in this blog series? If so, let me know by commenting below.

      If you would like to know more info about what the "Solas" mean, follow this link.