Solus Christus: Christ Alone

Sorry for being a day late on this as I had a lot come up yesterday.

Galatians 3:10-14

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.

I recently read a comment on a blog (that blog escapes me at the moment, but I have a summary written down–not good academic form–I know) that people of certain religions need to get over elements of their history.  It was something along the lines of “Muslims need to get over the crusades, Jews need to get over the holocaust and Christians need to get over the crucifixion”.  I was aghast at the misunderstanding of the crucifixion of Christ.  You see, we do not look at it as a someone who became a martyr, but as one who voluntarily offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins and proved victorious by His resurrection.  You see, at the very heart and soul of the Christians faith is Christ crucified and Christ risen and Christ returning.  This, what theologians call the “Christ event” is what we, or at least what we are supposed to, celebrate, contemplate and be instructed about when we gather for Christian worship.  It is this that is to be the center of the Christian faith.  Why?  Because there is no other way that one is accepted by God but by Christ.  We who have been found by Christ, are celebrating all that we have been given.  We are strengthened in it that we might declare it to others so that they too, might be found by Christ and enter into right relations with God.

Christ did what no other could do: he satisfied God’s wrath against our sin in His death and by His resurrection, He was openly declared to be son of God.  In His return, He shall come to bring the blessed hope of the resurrection to His people. No pastor, priest, rituals or anything you’ve done can absolve you of your sin.  It is only by looking to Christ through the eyes of faith that we enter into right standing with God.  We’ve seen that good works can’t do it and that we can’t muster it, only God can provide it and this is why: the Christ event.  We are helplessly lost in sin without Christ.

At the center of our Christian lives and at the center of life in our churches, ought to be Christ.  We cannot place a dynamic speaker, good musicians, our felt needs, programs or even our families in this place.  We gather around Christ and none other because He is our saviour who has rescued us.  In quests for effectiveness, we often diminish the centrality of Christ in the name of programs, methodology and even the wordsmithing of a preacher.  What I mean by the last is this, as an example, Good Shepherd Community Church is not “Mark’s church” or “Jeff’s church”–she is Christ’s church.  As pastors, it is not our job to sell anyone anything, to put on a show or have the weight of the entire church rest upon us, rather it is our job to, in essence, get people to look at Him.  If they remember me, I have failed, but if they remember Christ whether they remember me or not, I have succeeded.  At the center of the Christian faith is Christ–and none other.  I leave you with the words from a song by Charlie Bancroft written about 140 years ago that is still sung to this day.  It is a great summary of Solus Christus as well as Protestant theology.  I’ll then close with the thoughts from the Cambridge Declaration.

Before the Throne of God Above (Charlie Bancroft, 1863)

Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea.  A great high Priest whose Name is Love who ever lives and pleads for me.  My name is graven on His hand, my name is written on His heart.  I know that while in Heaven He stands no tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of my guilt within, upward I look and see Him there who made and end of all my sin.  Because the sinless savior died, my sinful soul is counted free.  For God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me.

Behold him there the risen Lamb, my perfect spotless righteousness, the great unchangeable I AM, the King of glory and of grace, one in Himself I cannot die.  My soul is purchased by His blood, my life is hid with Christ on high, with Christ my Savior and my God.

From the Cambridge Declaration:

As evangelical faith becomes secularized, its interests have been blurred with those of the culture. The result is a loss of absolute values, permissive individualism, and a substitution of wholeness for holiness, recovery for repentance, intuition for truth, feeling for belief, chance for providence, and immediate gratification for enduring hope. Christ and his cross have moved from the center of our vision.

We reaffirm that our salvation is accomplished by the mediatorial work of the historical Christ alone. His sinless life and substitutionary atonement alone are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to the Father.

We deny that the gospel is preached if Christ’s substitutionary work is not declared and faith in Christ and his work is not solicited.

May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering,

Pastor Mark