The final sola of the Protestant Reformation we will be addressing is formally known as solus Christus or solo Christo, that is, through Christ alone. This phrase is used to summarize the belief that salvation is in and through Christ and that he stands as the only mediator between God and man. Part one addressed the purpose of the Law and Jesus' command to come unto Him. The following sermon was delivered in Nigeria last month as part of a conference on the truths of the Reformation.
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Just as the invitation was extended to the Pharisees that day so long ago, it was also given to the Sadducees. The Sadducees were the liberal theologians of their day. What the Pharisees affirmed the Sadducees tended to deny. In particular they denied the bodily resurrection of the dead. They lived without hope of the future. They also denied angels and future rewards and punishment. They were the religious party of "no" during their generation which might be one reason they rapidly disappeared from history after the first century.
There are modern day Sadducees of course. We have liberal theologians in our time who deny the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, and the divine inspiration of the Bible. And yet, the invitation of Jesus still stands. They too can come to Christ for salvation and be forgiven of all their sins including that of skepticism.
There were other groups that Jesus spoke to during His earthly ministry. As the Lord invited Pharisees and Sadducees to come to Him so He invited the general population. Young and old, rich and poor, the educated and the uneducated alike were welcomed. Any one who was tired of striving or who had a burden could come to Christ.
What are you laboring to achieve? What is your burden? Are you trying to be good? "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one" (Rom 3:10). "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away" (Isa 64:6). "Come to me!" is the gospel cry of Christ. "Come to me!" Are you skeptical of religion? Has the wisdom of the world given you reason for concern?
In some public educational systems and in private conversations there is a concerted effort to destroy religious faith in order to silence the condemning voice of conscience. But the Moral Law of God is not easily dismissed. Individuals who engage in inappropriate behavior find the activity burdensome after a while. Sin brings to the soul a heavy weight to bear. It is an invisible weight but it is very real. There is often a secret desire to have the burden of sin lifted.
Many years ago, in 1952, a young merchant seaman was lying critically ill in a Glasgow hospital in Scotland. A pastor from the Seaman’s Chapel went to visit the young sailor. After a few minutes of talking the minister put his hand into a briefcase for a tract, not knowing which one would be pulled out. In the providence of God the tract happened to be one based on the Pilgrim's Progress, the great allegory written by John Bunyan. The track had a color reproduction of Christian coming to the cross with a great burden on his back. The pastor showed the young seaman the picture and told him the story in brief. The pastor said that Christian’s experience had been his experience too. He said that when he came to the cross of Christ, his burden of sin rolled away and any sense of sin and guilt before God was removed. The young sea nodded his yes when the pastor asked, "Do you feel this burden on your back today?" The young seaman and the pastor prayed together. At the end of the prayer there was a smile of peace and assurance that lit up the face of the young seaman and then he said that his burden was lifted too! Later that night, sitting by the fireside with paper and pen, Pastor John M. Moore could not get the thought out of his mind. That day spiritual burdens had been lifted and the pastor started to write:
"Days are filled with sorrow and care,
Hearts are lonely and drear;
Burdens are lifted at Calvary—
Jesus is very near.
Cast your care on Jesus today,
Leave your worry and fear;
Burdens are lifted at Calvary—
Jesus is very near.
Troubled soul, the Savior can see,
Ev'ry heartache and tear;
Burdens are lifted at Calvary—
Jesus is very near.
Burdens are lifted at Calvary,
Calvary, Calvary;
Burdens are lifted at Calvary,
Jesus is very near."
As Jesus spoke to the multitudes that day so long ago He spoke indiscriminately. Several years ago I received an inquiry as to whether or not the gospel should be offered to all or only to the elect. I was astonished by the question itself and surprised that such a debate among Christians was going on. Of course the gospel is to be offered indiscriminately for the servant is no better than the Master. We read in context in Matthew 11:7, "And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes." Generally speaking, whether there are multitudes there is a mixture of good and bad, saved and lost. To the multitudes Jesus spoke spoken indiscriminately making a sincere gospel offer. Our witnessing and our preaching of Christ must be general.
The story is told that one day a friend said to Charles Spurgeon, "If I believed like you do [about election], I wouldn't preach the way you do". To which Spurgeon replied: "Well, if the Lord had put a yellow streak down the backs of the elect, I'd go up and down the street lifting up shirttails, finding out who had the yellow streak, and I'd give to them the gospel. But God didn't do it that way – he told me to preach the gospel to every creature." Every person must be told about Christ for He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Light.
Of course not everyone believes this. Some believe that the way of salvation is Christ plus baptism. I spoke to a Lutheran pastor who confessed that he believed when he was baptized as a baby he was converted. Salvation was now his to lose. Some believe that the way of salvation is Christ plus church membership. As important as the local church is, the church does not save. The Roman Catholic Church holds multitudes in psychological bondage by teaching them that the way of salvation is through the church. To be put out of the church through an act of excommunication is to be put outside the sphere of saving grace. To that we say, "no". Christ is the Way of Salvation. Christ alone.
"We have heard the joyful sound:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Spread the tidings all around:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Bear the news to every land,
climb the mountains, cross the waves;
Onward! ’Tis our Lord’s command;
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!"
Some people believe that the way of Salvation is Christ plus good works. But what does the Bible say? The Bibles says that it is "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5). Good works are important. "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men" (Titus 3:8). But when it comes to the matter of salvation, it is Christ alone that saves. And when Christ saves He does so as a single person. This is an awkward way of saying that there is only one Savior for some have been taught to believe that others can save such as Mary, the mother of the humanity of Christ. But Jesus Himself declared that He is the only way to heaven. John 10:9 reads, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."
to be continued...
