We have seen that the 5 Solas of the Reformation were a rediscovery of the truth of God’s Word So far we have seen that Sola Scriptura is of great importance for seeing the revelation of God to His people. Scripture is the supreme authority and contains all we need for teaching about God, all things necessary for salvation and the life of faith. We have seen to that Sola Fide is the biblical idea that our faith (resting on Christ and His righteousness) is the only means by which we can receive justification (a right standing before God). In this study we will look at the idea of Solus Christus. This is the idea that Jesus Christ as our saviour and mediator has accomplished the necessary work for our salvation completely.
The simple concept that Christ has completed all that was required for salvation is probably the concept that clashes the most with popular spirituality as well as our own internal moral compass. Solus Christus claims absolute exclusivity, that “Christ Alone” is the Only way to God and it is the most attacked and avoided doctrine of Christianity, whether violently or subtly. In the past, godly men and women have been persecuted and lost their lives over this concept and it is a major component of what differentiates true Christianity from Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and many other religions.
So, taking our cues from the first and second Solas, lets look at what scripture says about this core doctrine, with faith that God meant what he said in His word.
Solus Christus Begins In The Old Testament
“Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. ”And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you." (Exodus 3:13-14)
God has given Moses a message for His people, who are in slavery in Egypt. It is really interesting to note that all the way back when God was establishing who was talking to Moses through the burning bush, He states his exclusivity. This was important, because the people of Israel had to know who this God was and that He was very different from all the other gods the people worshipped in the area, including those the Egyptians served. By calling Himself “I Am” or Yahweh (יְהוָֹה), God’s clearly and simply tells Moses and the Israelites that God is a unique and exclusive God who doesn’t even fall into the same categories as the other so called gods! The term literally means “he who brings into existence that which exists”. God here denotes His role as everlasting Creator and Sustainer of all things. This was a vital distinction that Moses brought back to the people of Israel to encourage them that their deliverer was the supreme power in the world, as well as the name which Moses was to bring before Pharoah, who himself was worshipped as a God by the Egyptian people. It is important to start back here in Exodus because in a lot of ways, the exclusivity of God and Christ it is really a question of authority.
The Importance of God’s Authority
It was important for God to outline His authority this early on for 2 reasons. The first was that in the immediate context of being stuck in slavery to the Egyptians, the Israelites needed to trust that God had the authority and power to bring them out of Egypt. The second reason was just as much to do with Gods future dealings with Israel as it is for us today. Once God had delivered his people, He would give them the Law and they must understand and believe that God has the authority to give them rules to live by, and also expand on the covenant that He had made with Adam and Eve, Noah and Abraham.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:2-6)
Here we see God beginning to give the 10 commandments to His people through Moses. Notice how God prefaces these Commandments. He reminds the people that he is the one who saved them from their slavery, He is unique and He is exclusive. He backs this up when He says that he is a jealous God and as such is against all idol worship. We do have to understand here that this jealousy is not how we as humans understand the concept. It is a sin when we desire, or we are envious, or we are jealous of someone because he has something that we do not have. God’s jealousy is about what belongs to Him. Worship and service belong exclusively to Him, as the 10 Commandments outline in different ways. Its not that God needs this worship and service, but it is that, as the only true God and creator of humanity, it is what is rightfully His, and so He is jealous when worship praise adoration and service are given to idols; those things which we put in the place of God.
The most significant place in the Old Testament that emphasizes the exclusivity of God is found in the book of Deuteronomy, where God not only makes clear who He is, but also clearly paves the way for how we should understand Jesus:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4)
For clarity, here is the verse more literally spelled out: “The Lord our God is one Lord; or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; or The Lord is our God, the Lord alone”Solus Christus is based on the Words Of Jesus
This understanding of Gods exclusivity in the Old Testament helps us better understand why the religious leaders of Jesus’ day took offense at almost everything Jesus said and did. The pharisees were readers and enforcers of the Law of God, the 10 commandments and the rest of the laws God had set up for his people to live by. These religious leaders were not angry with him because they didn’t like His interpretation of the Law. They took offense because he taught with the same authority that God displayed back at the burning bush, something they were very familiar with.
“And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” (Matthew 7:28-29)
The pharisees offense was also because of what Jesus taught about Himself, with the very same authority. In fact, Jesus went as far as to say that God who spoke to Moses through the bush that day was the same one who was standing before them teaching them.
“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” (John 8:58-59)
Here, Jesus uses the same construction found in the Greek version of the Old Testament. “Ego Eime” (ἐγώ εἰμι) is the same literal translation that we saw in Exodus 3:14.
Jesus was literally saying, “I am Yahweh!” I am the exclusive, God that is above all other gods. I have always existed and I always will exist. I am the God you have worshipped since Abraham and Isaac.It doesn’t take too much deep thought to see why Jesus got the reaction He did. This is a bold claim for himself, that one aspect of God’s essence that no one else can possibly ever possess; self existence. The self-existence of Jesus is vital to the understanding of “Solus Christus”
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16)
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
Lets unpack this a little. If Jesus is self-existent, that means He has no creator, no beginning and no end, He is the source of all that exists and therefore He has rights and power over all of His creation. To be the self existent one, Jesus has power over death. In fact, this has massive implications for the gospel as it is only because of His perfections and his self existence that Jesus could be crucified and then self-resurrected.
Of course, this statement was so powerful that it provoked a violent reaction from the Pharisees and Sadducees. According to them, and a correct understanding of the law, it was a claim worthy of death unless Jesus was in fact who He said he was. As an aside, if we are speaking about Jesus in the terms which he describes Himself, we shouldn’t be surprised that we get the same sort of strong reactions from some hearers, especially if we make the claim that Jesus is God, or Jesus is the only way.
Later on Jesus talks just with his disciples and again he emphasizes His exclusivity. However this time it’s not in opposition of the Pharisees but rather in order to encourage the disciples:
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:1-11)
Jesus would soon be leaving his disciples and returning to heaven, so that they might spread the Good News of repentance and faith in Christ that he had commissioned them to share. He states again that He and God the Father are the same God, states His authority and in that His sovereignty over all of what will happen in the future.
When Jesus starts with “Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God believe also in me.”, he is not kidding when He says that these truths should bring comfort to our souls. Truths such as Jesus being the only way to God, that He has finished His work of salvation, and that we can rest in His sovereign control of the universe should bring great peace and comfort.
Our eternal destiny and our life is safely in Jesus’ loving and capable hands. This exclusivity of Christ thing cuts both ways because it is an offense to those who do not agree and great comfort to those who are Christ’s children.
To quote Luke Easter “It's not what you achieve, it's what you believe and who you place trust inthat ultimately gives you legitimacy”
Solus Christus Was Preached in the early Church
There are some that claim that Solus Christus was not taught in the early church. A quick survey of the New Testament says otherwise. Here are a few highlights.
“This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12)
After Peters first sermon, which birthed the church after 3000 people repented and sought forgiveness for sins, his message to the religious leaders contains a clear and unmistakable message about the foundation of the church. The Jesus they had tried to eliminate is God and the only means of salvation.
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
One would think that these verses would be as clear as day in not only stating both how our salvation came to be, and the exclusivity of Christs role in our salvation. Apparently, those in Roman Catholic circles, as well as other groups and cults dispute this, despite claiming to use scripture as a source of God’s revelation. We will see shortly how this has come about.
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18)
Even in future prophecy, Jesus is there and in charge of death and life, having again established that He is eternal. This is still the source of a lot of peace, comfort, and reassurance for those who are his children, despite what turmoil may be going on in the world.
Solus Christus vs Totus Christus
So, if Solus Christus or Christ Alone is biblical and found throughout scripture, why was it significant that is was reinstated by the reformers? The key difference is encapsulated in the term Totus Christus and how it differs from Solus Christus. Solus Christus stress on the uniqueness of Jesus’s person (the God-man) and His atoning work, while Totus Christus insists on an organic relationship between Christ and the Church. In technical terms this is called synergism.
Essential to Roman Catholicism has adopted what could be called a “Christ-Church interconnection”:
“The Church is considered a prolongation of the Incarnation, mirroring Christ as a Divine-human reality, acting as an altera persona Christi, a second “Christ.” (G.R. Allison, Roman Catholic Theology and Practice)
Even from this simple understanding, one can see that It is impossible for Roman Catholicism to join the Reformers in “Solus Christus”, as to them it would be violating the organic bond they see between Christ and the Church. In Roman catholic eyes, it is not simply the work of Christ that saves (monergism), but an organic union between Christ and his church (which must be nurtured) which ultimately saves.
The threefold ministry of Christ goes hand in hand with salvation being a work of God:
“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 were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side,[g] he has made him known.” (John 1:1-18)
As Prophet He is the fullest revelation of God to humanity.
“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ[a] came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:1-18)
As priest, Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, making what He did in our place and for our sins effectual for salvation.
“None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:8).
Jesus is already the Lord of Glory, the divine King of creation and the ultimate expression of what Kingly rule should be.
The Roman Catholic Church instead has its own substitutes: its hierarchical rule, its magisterial interpretation of the Word, and its administration of the sacraments. There is never solus Christus (Christ alone), only Christus in ecclesia (Christ in the Church) and ecclesia in Christo (the Church in Christ).
Going back to the Source of Totus Christus
The origin of the “Christ-Church interconnection” goes back to a faulty interpretation of the interaction between Christ and the church by the Church father Augustine (354-430 AD). Augustine coined the term totus Christus or “total Christ” to describe the unity of Christ and His church in a deep single entity, which he maintains is a “mystery” ( Sant’Agostino, Il Cristo totale) Christ as Head of the body is so united with the body of the Head as to become a single Christ. It might sound very strange to a protestant ear, but what Augustine is saying is that all members of the church become Christ once they enter into this union. On this doctrine, Roman Catholicism has built its own theology of the continuation of the incarnation in the Church. It is as if there was such an intrinsic and profound union between Christ and the Church as to make it possible, indeed necessary, to see the Church as the sacramental extension of the incarnation of the Son of God. In fact, there are texts in which Augustine throws himself into one-sided statements in which, speaking of the Church united to Christ, he affirms “we are Christ" or "we have become Christ”.
It should be pointed out here that this is not some sort of Anti-Augustine argument. Augustine was one of the foundational church fathers whose writing is biblical and orthodox. If anything, this is a good case study in what happens when we take a small part of what someone teaches out of context from the whole writing. By itself, the idea that the whole Christ “is head and body” could be understood in the way Roman Catholics have interpreted it, except that Augustine wrote a very thorough orthodox Christology in his other works. He is very clear in other places to spell out that "even without us, He is complete”. According to Augustine himself, Christ does not need the ecclesial body to be Christ, which is soundly biblical.
To further illustrate this orthodoxy, Augustine writes: “He is the Creator, we are the creatures; he is the craftsman, we are the work made by him, he the molder, we the molded ones”. Even though Augustines writing on this seems a little confused, it does it holds the clear the distinction between Creator and creature and does not elevate the Church (the body) to a status of divinity, unlike those who have built theology upon it.
In saying this, Augustine’s interpretation of Colossians 1:24, Acts 9:4, and Ephesians 5 on the relationship between Christ and the Church in terms of a bride and groom led him to seemingly affirm the organic nature of that relationship that Roman Catholics are keen to promote and to go so far as affirming the “totality” of the combination of Christ as head and the church as the body as one Christ. Augustine does not help things by referring to the “deification” of the Christian so that in effect being part of the body of christ is not figurative but a literal incorporation into the person of Christ becoming part of the mystical body. (David Meconi, The One Christ. St. Augustine’s Theology of Deification)
You can see how the metaphor of the total Christ would be so attractive to a person wanting to elevate themselves, as Satan promised in Genesis 3:5, and theology was developed far beyond Augustine into the theology of the Eucharist (the “real presence” of Christ), the priesthood (the priest acting in altera Christi persona, in the person of Christ), and in the development of dogma (the Roman Church being endowed with the authority of Christ in promulgating dogmas).
Because of this blurring, Augustine’s thought on the matter is not the most clear on the passages and shouldn’t be used as the basis for any theological framework, as you could argue either Solus Christus or Solus Totus from your own interpretation of his writings.
Roman Catholics Run with Totus Christus
As we have already seen, Roman Catholics interpret the Augustinian reference to totus Christus as a union, which confuses the distinction between the Head and the body of Christ. In fact, The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “Christ and his Church thus together make up the ‘whole Christ’ (Christus totus). The Church is one with Christ” (§ 795). As we have seen before, it is easy to see reason why the Church of Rome has such a high and excessive view of herself and is inclined to claim divine privileges. They would view themselves as in fact being part of the whole of Christ, taking their interpretation of Augustine to its natural conclusion.
It should also be noted that Augustine, who had converted from Manicheanism (an idea that there are two opposing gods of good and evil), often tried to run from his former beliefs and reduce everything to one. With this in mind, it seems that he often failed to emphasise the distinction between the Head and the members, and therefore between Christ and the Church, and so, to quote Vittorio Subilia “ the sovereignty of the Head on the body is disastrously lost sight of”.
Roman Catholic theologians defend their interpretation of Augustine by summarizing the ecclesiology of the totus Christus as “Christ continued and identified in the Church” (Brunero Gherardini, La Cattolica)
This is one of the reasons there is such emphasis on the theme of the unity between Christ and the Church in both the hierarchy and the sacramental system of the church as they see themselves representing Christ on earth. In terms of deviation from the intent of the church fathers, its clear to see biblically that the centres of the gospel and the organisation of the church have been changed to an entirely different system, one which requires human participation and real-life good works to maintain.
This is why Sola Christus is important, because the differences of Roman Catholicism are not merely in one doctrine or in some trivial differences on secondary issues. The difference problem lies at the very heart of its system and is pervasively present in all its expressions: from the Roman catholic understanding of the Trinity to Mariology, from the salvific nature of the sacraments to Roman soteriology, from ecclesiology to the manifold devotions. Every aspect of Roman catholic theology rest on totus Christus.
Why We Must Understand Solus Christus
With all of this explanation behind us, it is vital that we understand that the protestant reformation actually began as an attempt to rectify the damage caused by of this inflated and distorted misunderstanding of Christianity by putting the totus Christus back within its biblical boundaries.
When Luther argued that the faith and life of the Church needed to be grounded on Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura), he and the reformers after him were establishing the authority of God exercised by Scripture over the Church. This stood in stark contrast to the Roman Catholic use of totus Christus to claim to have authority to declare new dogmas without Scriptural support and to endorse teachings and practices that went against the Bible. Sola Scriptura is a reminder that the Church is subject to the authority of God in the Bible. Since that time, confessing that salvation comes to us by faith alone (Sola Fide) helps us to recognize that we are saved by an external gift achieved by Christ alone and given to us by grace. There is nothing in us that deserves it, despite the Roman claim that the church contributes to salvation though its sacramental system and that the christian merits salvation through his good works. This really is Good News because Jesus Christ alone has accomplished what is needed for our salvation. Salvation needs to be received by faith alone, and its benefits come by that same faith. So, to finish this on a positive note, what are the additional benefits of Christ dying in our place and for our sins?
“Forget Not All His Benefits”
"The concept of substitution may be said, then, to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone." -John StottJesus death is not a tragedy perpetrated by oppressive Roman soldiers but a self-initiated sacrifice, an offering He came to make. In that offering, He, though sinless, bore or carried our sin. Through His sacrifice, guilty sinners are sanctified or cleansed of sin, defilement, and shame. God says through His divinely inspired Scriptures that somehow Jesus’ death was my death and your death. We were helpless, spiritually dead, and separated from God. Yet, when Jesus died on the cross, His death was somehow ours so that we don’t have to be separated from God anymore. We no longer have to be lost in a maze of self-centredness, living for ourselves. Because Jesus death was our death, we can live like, with, and for Jesus, spiritually alive and connected to the living God.
Now, since our faith is not some intellectual exercise, but a practical means of life change, what does the atonement actually mean in our lives?
You are being tormented by demons: Jesus is our Christus Victor
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:13-15).
Jesus can allow us to experience victory over Satan, demons sin, and death. Having prayed and spent time with a person who suffered in this way, I have can attest to the fact that when you are in Christ, Satan has no long term power over your life.
You have a problem with Lust: Jesus is our redemption
“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.” (Romans 6:6-7)
Jesus can free us from the bondage of sin to a life of holy freedom in Him.
Your husband or wife has done you wrong: Jesus is your new covenant sacrifice
“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28).
You may want blood in return for what these people have done but Jesus shed His blood for both of them.
You think you are a “Good Christian”: (Not according to God you aren’t). Jesus is your gift of righteousness
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”(Ephesians 2:8-9)
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)
When God looks at us, He sees Jesus righteousness on us like a cloak when we repent of our hypocritical self-righteousness.
You have mistreated a person who you were responsible for: Jesus is your justification
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” (Romans 3:23-25)
Jesus can transform and forgive guilt and sin if we repent, and when we stand before Jesus the Judge we can be declared righteous.
You were hurt by another person: Jesus is your propitiation
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:9)
“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
Christ took the consequences of the full righteous anger of God the Father for what this person has done to you. Jesus met the demands of justice for both you and your abuser, allowing you to forgive and leave the consequences up to God… unless you think you are bigger than God of course…
Jesus is also your expiation
“For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.” (Leviticus 16:30)
“On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.” (Zechariah 13:1)
“He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” (John 1:7-9)
The gospel is the only means by which our brokenness can be healed, our feeling of filthiness can be cleansed and our soul’s wounds can be bandaged.
Your wife can no longer look after herself: Jesus is your Christus Exemplar
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phillipians 2:5-11)
“For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:20-24)
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” (Hebrews 12:1-6).
Christs death on the cross and mind transformation are the place we need to continually look to in order to know how to live and serve others sacrificially.
I hate my brother: Jesus is your reconciliation
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 4:17-5:2)
Jesus enables us to discover and deal with the root of bitterness in our lives as well as throwing out its rotten fruit. Jesus has forgiven them. Are we greater than Jesus?
Wanting to know God: Jesus is your revelation of God
“No one has ever seen God; the only God,[a] who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.” (John 1:18)
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.“ (Colossians 1:15)
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” (Hebrews 1:1-3)
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”(1 John 4:9-10). Jesus Christ dying in our place for our sins shows us who God is. If we don’t grasp this, we do not yet understand the reality of God. Jesus is the greatest revelation of God in all of history, and promises to satisfy our longing to know Him.
“Through Christ alone we are given salvation, blessedness, grace, pardon, and all that makes us in any way worthy in the sight of a righteous God”-Ulrich Zwingli