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Good morning. Hope you are doing well. We’ll turn our Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 2 and we will read verses 5 and 6. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 5 and 6. This month we will look at the five solas. Because this month is called as the Reformation month.
This year marks the 508th anniversary of the Reformation. And the Reformation was the 16th century religious movement that challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church leading to the creation of Protestant faith or Protestantism. And some men from the Roman Catholic Church, they studied their Bibles and realized that the Roman Catholic Church had deviated from the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
Men protested against the practices and the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church has developed many teachings and practices that are not grounded in the scriptures which led these men were also called as the reformers to urge the Roman Catholic leaders to return to the scriptures as a primary authority for Christian faith and practice.
Let’s look, today we will look at one aspect of the solas or that is Solus Christus or Christ alone. For 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 5 and 6. “For there is one God and one mediator, also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for this morning that you have given us this blessed privilege to come together as a redeemed people, as your redeemed people, God, to declare our faith in you and also to confess that you are our creator, our Lord, our sustainer.
And we thank you, Father, for this time that you have given us, Lord, as even we look into your word. We pray that you would continue to strengthen our faith. We pray that you revitalize our faith. We pray also for such people in our midst who haven’t known you Lord that they may come into the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ our Father. And we pray that you would use your word to build us up Father in Jesus Christ, and we pray, amen. The Reformation was a movement guided by the Spirit of God and it was a long battle for truth.
God raised up men like John Wycliffe, Peter Waldo and John Hus in the 14th and 15th centuries and teachings became important predecessors to the Reformation. And then in the 16th century God also raised up men like Martin Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Tyndale and others for the reform of the Roman Catholic Church. And they spoke out against the corruptions of the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church had persecuted and killed many faithful believers who protested against its corruptions. And the ongoing corruption of the Roman Catholic Church led to the founding of the Protestant and Reformed evangelical churches.
And the Reformation serves as proof that God is sovereign. He is in complete control of the events within the church also. And the enemy may assault God’s people and use agents and strategies to destroy it, or to destroy what God was building or God has been establishing.
The Reformation is a reminder that God is building His church and God will build His church. And no power of hell, no schemes of man will ever prevail against the purposes of God, can never thwart God’s purposes. Whatever God has purposed in and through his church will be fulfilled. And the Reformation also reminds us that God cared for the truths that he has revealed to his apostles and preserve them in the scriptures. And during those dark ages there were — I mean in the medieval period of the church history, there was a departure from the gospel. There was a departure from God’s word.
And the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, they abused their power and kept people away from God’s word. And they put people in darkness and deception. And despite this, God allowed a few men from different places to study the scriptures and help them see this truth.
And the Reformation would have been impossible without God turning men back to the Bible to see it as the only authority for Christian doctrine and practice and also even for church order. And therefore the core principles that emerged from Reformation teaching were Sola Scriptura, Solus Christus, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, and Soli Deo Gloria.
And last week we saw one of the aspects of the five solas that Charles had helped us, and there was Sola Scriptura. Today we will look at Solus Christus. We have read a confession on Solus Christus this morning, that is Christ alone, which fundamentally means that our salvation is accomplished by the mediatory work of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the historical person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And his sinless life and his substitutionary atonement alone are sufficient for our justification, sanctification, and also for our glorification. And the gospel is not proclaimed unless the substitutionary work of Christ is explicitly proclaimed.
That his work is enough for us to be saved. Right? Nothing is necessary to be added to the sufficiency of Christ’s work. His work alone can save us and his work alone is sufficient. And faith in Christ and his work alone can actually save people. So why was this an issue during the Reformation? Why was this an issue during the Reformation? Now while the Roman Catholic Church acknowledged Jesus as the Savior, the Roman Catholic Church taught that believers needed additional traditions or additional mediators such as Mary and other saints. the entire sacramental system that the Roman Catholic Church has developed the the Eucharist you know that they have developed or they perceive to be that during the Eucharist or the we call it as a lot say but they call they call as the Eucharist you know they believe that when the
bread is broken or you know during the Eucharist time or during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper sacrificing himself, right? These are all errors and the entire sacramental system and also the the Pope’s authority that he is called as a vicar of Christ and and the late medieval church taught salvation through Christ and the elaborate sacramental system administered by the priests, including indulgences. You can save people from hell or purgatory by paying some amount on that person’s name who already died and probably suffering in purgatory. And penance and sacramental rites and things like that. And they taught that salvation required not only Christ’s work but also human merit.
Human merit. Good works and all these things. Penances and sacramental participation all contributed to the justification. Solus Christus was needed during the Reformation because the medieval Roman Catholic Church’s teachings and practices often obscured or diminished Christ’s sufficiency and exclusivity for salvation, requiring believers to rely on the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church that they had invented, rather than on Christ alone for grace and reconciliation.
And this made the church, not Christ the mediator of grace, implying that Christ’s work was insufficient on its own, and that human effort or clergy intervention was necessary for salvation. And the reformers, as they studied the scriptures, they noticed a significant difference between the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings and the clear teachings of the scriptures.
And they were alarmed. They were shocked. They saw the practices of the Roman Catholic Church as the departure from the teachings of the Bible. They saw the practices of the Roman Catholic Church as an assault on the sufficiency of Christ’s finished work. So the reformers protested, protested furiously against these teachings and the practices of the Roman Catholic Church, boldly proclaiming scriptural truths and exposing this corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.
That was then. Now we have our Bible, now we have all these truths available to us and how does the Reformation matter today even after 500 years of Reformation? Should we think about it? No, we must not forget that we live in a pluralistic society, no, in a postmodern era that denies any objective morality. Many cultures, we are we are surrounded by many cultures and many belief systems. And most of these belief systems are pluralistic or inclusive, right? And the prevailing assumption holds that all religions and practices represent different paths to the same end.
All religions, all faiths, all practices, even no religion, nothing can lead you to the safe haven. That is a pluralistic mentality or the inclusive mentality. And you will be surprised by what evangelical Christians believe today. And the State of Theology, that’s an organization, partnered between Ligonier and Lifeway Research, their survey reveals that people who attended evangelical churches, right, evangelical churches, no, they believe the in the authority of the Bible, they believe in the finished work of Lord Jesus Christ, right? So they did a survey among the people who are attending the evangelical churches. And many of and many of the survey answers from the evangelicals in 2025 reveal an alarming lack of biblical literacy among the people who are attending evangelical churches.
About 47% of evangelical Christians affirm that God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. A Pew Forum survey found out that 56% of evangelical Christians believe that there are many paths other than faith in Christ to God.
This is not secular world saying people who profess to believe in Christ Jesus, who profess to be born again believers. A Probe Ministry’s poll reported that over 60% of born-again Christians believe Jesus is not the only way to heaven. And they expressed Buddha and Muhammad as possible ways.
There is an increasing trend among Western Christians who attend evangelistic churches with pluralistic beliefs. Why is there such a state in the evangelical churches? Why is there such a state among Christians today? And in the name of Christianity today, we see that in our city, thousands flock to many churches and they do nonsense.
They do nonsense. And why is there such a state in the evangelical churches? Because evangelical churches should have biblically qualified leaders who can accurately teach the word and prioritize sound doctrine. And as biblically qualified pastors lead God's people in worship and the accurate exposition of God's word regularly, healthy growth among believers will occur as the Holy Spirit causes the word to bear much fruit in the life of his people.
Even in the so-called evangelical churches we see that different things are being taught, stories are being taught, not the Bible. And today if we survey the state of churches, we will see that faithful evangelical and reformed churches and faithful expositors of God's Word are few. And in a very subtle way, most of today's Christianity is not shaped by God's word, but by men who exalt themselves by their subjective experiences.
They compromise on the word of God and those who do that twist the word, they peddle with God's word and water down its meaning and its significance. So many people are deceived today because too many pulpits are occupied with men who do not believe in the sufficiency of the scriptures. They believe that something else is needed, something charisma is needed to attract people and to keep them in the church. But that's not building the church, that's tearing God's church from the pulpit. We as Christians must hold on to the sola scriptura. Our scripture alone provides us with the proper epistemology and worldview of Christ. How do we arrive at the conclusion of Christ's exclusivity as the only Savior?
How do we arrive at that conclusion? It's through the scriptures. When we look into the scriptures and interpret the scriptures in its own, according to his own terms, Christ alone is not an invention of man. So it is not up to a pluralistic society to decide what is right or what is wrong. Christ alone is the light that shines from the Bible and is understood when Christians study the Bible on the Bible's own terms.
What Christianity needs today is a firm grounding in Bible's historical truths. The enemy employs subtle methods to divert Christians from the truth. Therefore, every pulpit should faithfully preach God's word. Every believer should sincerely look into God's word, study God's word, and which should be aided by sound doctrine as outlined in the historic confessions and creeds of the church. And in an era of declining biblical literacy, churches must actively recognize the importance of historical confessions as valuable tools for summarizing and teaching God's truth and discipling God's people.
Why Christ alone? Because the Bible says so. And what does the Bible talk about Christ? We will look at this aspect from the scriptures very briefly. Firstly, the Bible says that even before Christ came into this world as a man, he existed from all eternity as God, one with the—the Apostle John tells us in John chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” John refers here word to the person of Christ Jesus. He refers to him as God. And look at verse
3. John chapter 1 verse 3, he says that “All things were made through him,” through Christ Jesus, “and without him was not anything made that was made.” And Paul says in one—sorry, Colossians chapter 1 verse 16, “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.” The Son of God is the Creator. He is also the mediator in creation. All things were created through him, through him, and God created everything through the Son of God. He was co-
equally existing with the Father from all eternity. He is the—he is not the created Son of God, is the begotten Son of God, which—and the Bible employs his word called monogenes, which means of the same substance of the Father. He's of the same substance of the Father. And this is theologically called as eternal generation of the Son, this which means that he is all from eternally is of the same substance of the Father. And Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3, the writer of Hebrews in the first part, “He is the radiance of his glory.” He is the radiance of his glory. Observe
the word, observe the, uh, this, uh, phrase here: he is, he is, which talks about his existence. He is, he. This talks about his essential nature. He is, that means he did not come into being. He did not become God's glory, he is God's glory. He has always been God's glory. He is always God. He never became God. He is God. And he is a radiance of God's glory. What is radiance mean? Radiance literally means shining forth. It is not the reflection. Jesus is not the reflection of the Father, but he is a radiance of the glory. He outshines the same glory as of
the Father. Jesus is the outshining of God’s glory, his perfections and his attributes because he possesses the similar attributes and perfections. And next look at second part of verse 3, Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3. He says that, “and the exact representation of his nature.”
The same, the verb is continuity. He is the exact representation of his nature. He has the same nature. So he represents the same nature. He is no way inferior to the Father. He has the same essential qualities of the Father. And this eternal God came into this world at one point of time.
If you look at Hebrews chapter 1 verse 4, you see there another word employed for Jesus Christ. He became something. He became something at one point of time. And in John chapter 1 verse 14, we see there, And the Word who existed with the Father as God, who created everything before the foundations of this world, at one point of time, this Word became flesh.
became flesh and dwelt among us. He dwelt among us. He became a man at one point in time, and he took upon himself a human nature at one point in time. He was born of a virgin without sin, the virgin birth, as we read in Luke chapter verse chapter 1, verse 31 and 35, that the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb was a miracle. It was the work of the Holy Spirit.
The virgin birth was necessary for Jesus to be free from Adam’s sin and also at the same time to be identified with Adam’s race and to be the son of David. It therefore, the virgin birth made possible the uniting of full deity, full divinity of Christ Jesus, and full humanity, which was consumed at his birth, which was assumed at his birth, or taken at the time of his birth. These two natures were united in one divine person. In one divine person. This theologically is called as the hypostatic union of Christ Jesus. It is the union of two natures, divine and human, in one divine person.
Jesus is a divine person. He took upon himself a human nature at one point of time. And that nature became part of him forever. Look at what Paul said in Colossians chapter 2 verse 9. He said, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”
The whole fullness of deity, which talks about his divine nature, dwells bodily. Bodily, which means the physical aspect, which is the human nature. These two natures were in him, the divine person. And one of the earliest creeds of the church was a Chalcedonian Confession, which was issued in 451 AD. And it was necessary for the church at the time to postulate these truths, summarize these truths of the Scriptures as creeds and confessions so that the church is preserved, protected from errors, right? And the Chalcedonian Confession said about the hypostatic union, it said that these two natures were said to be “inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly and inseparably” together in one person.
This is the historical truth. This is what the church has been believing since its inception. So why the exclusivity of Christ? Why only Christ? Why Christ alone is the Savior and mediator? Why not other people? Why? Because He’s a divine person. There is no other being in this world who is a divine person, because no one else is God. He alone is God, who took upon himself a human nature to be a perfect mediator, a perfect redeemer. So the human nature of Christ is now forever joined to this person of Christ, and the
Westminster Confession of Faith says Christ in the work of mediation acts according to both natures, by each nature, both natures, that is divine and human, by each nature doing what is proper to itself. You may be wondering, how is this possible? With God everything is possible, because he is a creator. Our sin created an infinite chasm between the holy God and sinful humanity. And a mediator must stand between both the parties and reach both.
Only someone who is fully God and fully man can bridge this divide, sharing the divine nature to approach God and human nature to represent humanity. The divine nature ensures Christ’s work as eternal. It gives Christ’s work an unchanging value. And His sacrifice doesn’t need repetition. like the Roman Catholic Church says that at the Eucharist, or unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, where sacrifices were made repeatedly, day after day, because Christ’s sacrifice possesses infinite merit through His divine personhood.
His sacrifice is fully accepted by the Father. And not only that, as a human, our Lord Jesus Christ lived as a man. But as a human, he was absolutely free from sin. The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 7 verse 26, it says, “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens.” Why Christ alone? This is the reason why Christ alone, because we have one high priest who is, who is only fitting that for that job?
Who else is free from sin? Who else is innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and who is exalted above the heavens? It’s only Christ alone. So he alone is the Savior, he alone is that perfect mediator, he became that perfect substitute for us. Christ needed to be human to represent those he saves, and he must pay the penalty for human sin.
He had to obey God perfectly as a man, active obedience and also suffer in our place for our sins and obey God on our behalf which is passive obedience and he had to please him perfectly in his life and suffer the penalty for those who displease God by sinning against him continuously.
Therefore, 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5 says, For there is one God and one mediator also between God and man. The man Christ Jesus. He alone is a mediator. He alone fits that role. no one else can fit that role no one else can be the mediator who can save us and to be a mediator Christ was anointed as a messiah you see in the Gospels that he was baptized by the John the baptist in john chapter one you read that and then the and then the holy spirit came upon him as a as a sign of anointing we see that and just before the holy spirit he was baptized by john the baptist and then you see that a visible sign of thou coming upon him john witnesses that right and just before this incident as jesus was
walking up to the, up to John the Baptist just declares, after seeing Jesus in John chapter 1 verse 29, he says that the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him. John chapter 1 verse 29. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, can we read this verse together? John 1:29. Let’s read it together.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He alone can take away the sin of the world. John the Baptist did not fit the bill.
He did not fit the bill. No prophet who came before Jesus fitted the bill. No one. All the prophets, the entirety of the law and the prophets anticipated, pointed to the one who is coming. And John the Baptist declares that this is that Lamb of God which the law and the prophets anticipated for or pointed for — of God who will come and he will take away the sin of the world. And he was anointed as the prophet, priest and the king. However, he was not a priest according to the Levitical order. He’s a priest of, a high priest of a highest order, namely according to the order of Melchizedek.
As the writer of Hebrews... What are the unique features of Christ’s mediatory work? Hebrews, book of Hebrews, such a beautiful work. It gives us such a beautiful interpretation of the Old Testament. In Hebrews chapter 10, verses 12 and 10, we see there that Christ Jesus the high priest, according, who is the high priest according to the, in the order of Melchizedek, he is the high priest, he is the priest, and he is also the sacrifice. As the priest and the sacrifice, you know, in the old covenant the priests would take the sacrifice and offer the... And in the Holy of Holies, once a year, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies with the sacrifice on behalf of him and also for all the people of Israel.
Right? But here is a high priest who is innocent, who is undefiled, who is free from sin, who need not offer sacrifice for him, but he became a substitute by paying for his people. Right? He offered once for all. There is no longer a requirement to sacrifice again like the Old Testament sacrifices. His sacrifice is effective, Hebrews chapter 7 verse 27. His work is effective, his sacrifice is effective. He did that once for all. There is no sacrifice, no, required, there is no sacrifice at the Eucharist. That’s just a weird imagination of a fallen man.
There is no sacrifice taking place during the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial and a means of communion with our risen Lord and Savior. It is not a re-offering of his blood and body. We come to the table to make Christ, to remember Christ who has presented himself for our sins and to remember that he is present with us always, having accomplished our redemption completely, once for all. And he entered the heavenly tabernacle.
And now as a perfect eternal high priest. He mediates for his people in the presence of God. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25. He is now the high priest upon the throne. Which signifies that he is the high priest and also the king. He is the high priest upon the throne. He is a priest with absolute authority. He rules over his people through his finished work.
He has right over his people. And he alone is the mediator between God and man. And this truth liberates us from the burden of seeking mediation through saints, through priests or any human mediators. We need no earthly mediator to approach God's throne because we have one and only mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ. He himself is our advocate.
And as Paul talks about it in Romans chapter 5, just as Adam’s sin was imputed to humanity, all humanity, because he was our federal head of humanity, Christ must be human to serve as the second Adam whose righteousness is imputed to his people. And this is the glorious exchange. He took our sin, we receive his righteousness. This is no fiction, this is no legal fiction, but divine reality accomplished through our union with Christ. Our union with Christ is such a precious truth from the scriptures. All our blessings in Christ, all our blessings in our Christ Jesus, our redemption which includes, as Paul says in Romans chapter 8
verse 30, he says that those whom he predestined he called, he called, and those whom he called he justified, and those who he justified he also glorified. All these blessings in Christ, they are ours because of our union with Christ. Because we are united with the person of Christ by faith in his saving work. All these blessings of calling, justification, sanctification and also future glorification is ours because we are united with Christ.
Tell me who can, such blessings, which mediator can procure such blessings? The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, it removes our sin. Christ’s sacrifice atone for our sin. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12, Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12. We can look into, please turn your Bibles. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 12.
Let’s read it together. Hebrews 9 verse 12. “And not through the blood of goats and calves.” Let’s read it louder. “Not through the blood of goats and calves. His own blood he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Having obtained eternal redemption. And verse 26, “he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” So Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf is sufficient in our justification, to give us a right standing before God. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 14, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” His sacrifice alone is sufficient to cleanse us from all dead works, to give us
a right standing before him, to have a clear conscience before him. No amount of our works can cleanse us. You may be thinking, “I should do this, I should do that, I should fast for these many days so that God will be pleased. I should read the Bible for so many hours so God will be pleased.” No, none of our works acts. Only the faith in Christ’s finished work will cleanse you. You know, one day I was so much backslidden in my Christian life. And suddenly I started turning to the Lord and I started repenting of my sins as a young Christian and I thought it was not enough.
I thought I should do something. So what else I should do? I prayed throughout the night, repeating the prayers, repeating Psalm 51 again and again and again and again and again, praying that prayer, praying other Psalms so that God will be pleased. And the next morning I woke up, I was still not satisfied. Maybe I should cleanse myself. I went into the washroom, took a bucket full of water, poured on myself and I said, “Lord, I baptize myself.” That was foolishness.
No amount of work, nothing. See, we should be convinced by the word, we should be convinced by the word. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for our sanctification as well. The God John the Apostle says that in 1 John chapter 1 verse 9, he says that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If we confess our sins to him faithfully, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us and to cleanse us. He cleanses us from all unrighteousness. And in 1 John chapter 2 verse 1, it says that “my
little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone sins” — what he says, if anyone sins, look where? Nowhere else. He says look to Christ. “If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus,” Jesus Christ the righteous.
If you have sinned, if you have failed, if you’re guilty of anything, look nowhere else but to Christ. His sacrifice is powerful enough to cleanse you, to make atonement for your sins. Look nowhere else. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27. “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment.” And verse 28 says, “So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await him.”
This is about glorification. This is about glorification. His once for all sacrifice is sufficient for us to be glorified. And according to the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30, it says, as Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
Perhaps no aspect of Solus Christus offers more comfort to the troubled conscience than this. Christ himself is our righteousness. Himself is our righteousness. We stand in him. We are comforted in him. You may be a failure. You may be failing. People may look down on you. But if you turn to Christ, you will realize that he is my righteousness. He’s the one who makes me right. He’s the one who makes me straight. He is the one who makes me stand holy and blameless.
We are not saved by Christ-plus our good works, Christ-plus our sincere efforts, Christ-plus religious performance. Yes, we obey because now we belong to Christ. Not to earn merit. We obey not to earn merit. We pray not to earn merit. We worship not to earn merit. We memorize scriptures not to earn merit. We study our Bibles not to earn merit. We serve Him not to earn merit. We serve him as obedience. We worship him as obedience. It because now as Christians we realize that it is our duty to serve and worship the one and true God. We serve him, worship him, because we have realized that he alone is worthy. He alone is
worthy. And another blessing of our union with Christ is Christ’s session. Christ’s session. What do you mean by Christ’s session? It means Christ is now seated at the right hand of the majesty as the eternal high priest and God. He’s seated. That is Christ’s session. And because of Christ’s session, there is continual blessing. Christ’s session means now Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father as the eternal God and high priest who mediates for us.
Now let’s read Hebrews chapter 8 verse 1. Hebrews chapter 8 verse 1. Let’s read it together. Hebrews chapter 8 verse 1. “Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens.” He is seated here because his work is finished, as John Hebrews 1 says, that he made purification for our sins and he’s seated. Christ as eternal high priest in heaven is a sole head of his church. Not a Pope, not the denominational head, not a celebrity. Christ rules his church, his people, through his word, by his spirit.
He supplies gifts to the church. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 8 to 12. To build his church, he supplies gifts and also to bring to perfection. While we recognize the God-given responsibilities in the church, like for example the elders to shepherd the church and to teach the church and other brothers and sisters in the church to serve in different and various capacities.
But ultimate authority resides in Christ alone, who governs the church through the scriptures and builds his church. He governs the church through his word. And the true biblical church, which is born out of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is under the lordship of Christ Jesus. Is under the showers of the blessings that flow from the seated high priest to which the church belongs. He is the head who is seated at the right hand of the majesty, and the church is connected to him. Christ is ruling now through his word, by the ongoing work of the spirit. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30, it says that we are sealed by his spirit for the day of redemption. He is saving his people. He is sanctifying us daily to present us holy and
blameless. He supplies grace to his people daily. He aids in our weaknesses, and we can cry out to the Father through Christ. Let us read a couple of scriptures and we’ll close. From the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 4. Let’s read it together. Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14 till 16. Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14 till 16.
Let’s read together. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things, as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Let’s also read Hebrews chapter 7 verses 24 and 25. 24 and 25. Let’s read together. “But Jesus, on the other hand, because he continues forever, holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore he is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Here the word intercession means not just praying. It’s a word used for, it signifies his mediation.
He lives forever to be our mediator, to supply grace to his people. Who is like Christ? Who’s all sufficient to save an unworthy people. And how dare people can proclaim and say, even after reading these things, that Christ plus. Christ plus something else.
That’s a blasphemy. That’s a blasphemy. If anyone is saying that you need Christ and other things, you need Christ and you have to do these things in order to be saved, that’s a blasphemy, that’s a lie, that is discrediting what Christ has done. Look into the scriptures. The scriptures are very clear. There is no one else who can save us. There is no other perfect mediator who can save us. We need not run to anyone else or anywhere but daily look to Christ. Look to Christ.
So brothers and sisters, Solus Christus, this doctrine, this teaching of the scriptures should create deep humility in us because all of us have sinned against God and we have fallen short of God’s glorious standards. No matter what you do, we could never have measured up to the standards of God by any of our works.
God accepted us not on our merit but on Christ’s merit. Secondly, our sanctification is not about trying harder, but trusting in the revealed word of God. Hoping in the work of Christ, depending more fully on Christ’s ongoing ministry in our lives through his Spirit as the eternal high priest.
Our sanctification gets stronger only when we fix our eyes on the one who is seated at the right hand of the majesty and put our faith in his finished work and the grace which he supplies to us daily. Thirdly, in preaching, our pulpits must exalt Christ from every text of the Scriptures.
Christ is not merely a topic we occasionally address. He is the substance of all biblical revelation. Third, fourthly, we are faithful in our suffering, in our trials, because Christ suffered. And he has set an example for us to suffer rightly. He is our savior who is nigh, who is near to us.
God, he is Emmanuel, God with us. God with us. And he helps us in our weaknesses. We can approach to the throne of His grace with all our weaknesses and cry out to God as above other. Simply in evangelism, we proclaim Christ and his work alone as sufficient for salvation. We point to Christ alone who can take away sin. We point to Christ alone as the Lamb of God who takes away sin. We unashamedly proclaim the exclusivity of Christ in a pluralistic, inclusive age. When people say that all ways lead to God or whatever stuff, we are unashamed of this truth. People may mock at us, look down on us. We proclaim boldly that Christ is the only way, the truth and the
life. Sixthly, as a Christ-centered church, we must guard Christ’s gospel and other scriptural truths. Secondly, Solus Christus fuels our mission. Because Christ alone saves, we must make Him known. Because He’s sufficient for all types of people, in all times and all places, we take the gospel or we send the gospel to every tribe and town.
We are a part of the Great Commission to make disciples, send missionaries, support missionaries, coordinate with other like-minded churches for the sake of this mission and plant churches. So let our churches be places where Christ is preached, exalted, trusted, and enjoyed. Let our worship be Christ-centered, our fellowship be Christ-shaped, our mission be Christ-driven.
Christ is not simply the foundation of our theology. He is the substance, center, and culmination of all that we believe and do. He is the prophet, the prophet revealing God to us. He is the priest who is saving us. He is the king ruling over us for our good. He is the coming king, the great I am. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Let's pray.