Recognizing that Christ alone saves is important for whoever does the saving shall receive the glory. God will not share His glory in the matter of the salvation of souls and so we read the words of Isaiah 43:11. "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Saviour." Hosea 13:4 says, "Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no Saviour beside me".

Before Jesus was born, an angel announced that He would be the Savior: "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt 1:21). After the birth of Christ, the angel repeated himself. Luke 2:11 reads, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

In many places in the Bible the affirmation is made that salvation is through Christ alone and Christ, as the Savior, is one Person who acts alone. There is no infusion of grace into a person to perform meritorious works which then serves as the foundation of one's justification. Nor is Mary a co-redemptrix (co-redeemer) or a mediatrix (mediator) with Christ. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 reads, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." The gospel invitation is to come unto one Lord, one Savior, one Redeemer, and one Mediator Jesus Christ. For those who do come there is a divine promise. Jesus said, "I will give you rest."

For several years Martin Luther labored to enter into that rest for he was burdened with shame and guilt. Martin Luther staggered under the weight of sin. As a friar in the Augustinian monastery, Luther set out to honor his vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience through endless acts of confession of sins and the performance of good works. And yet, despite all that Luther did, he failed to find the peace with God he sought after. What could he do? Luther could do more. He would flagellate himself until the blood ran profusely down his body.

He would fast to the point of exhaustion. He would sleep on the cold hard floor. He would do anything and everything to merit the merits of Christ and please the Father. But somehow, in the deepest recesses of his soul, Luther felt that God was not satisfied. He was but another Cain offering the fruit of his labors to an unsmiling God.

In the providence of God Luther continued to study the Scriptures. It was either late in 1513 or early in 1514 that Martin Luther began to teach openly his students something different from Roman Catholic orthodoxy. Luther was now convinced that the true ground of justification was by faith apart from good works. Romans 1:17 confirmed it for there we read that,"The just shall live by faith!" The just do not live by relics, nor by good works, nor by any papal parchment that had been purchased. Man is legally declared righteous in the sight of God by faith. There was more.

The true Church was not the visible organization that could boast about apostolic succession; the true Church of Christ was invisible and consisted of those in the community of faith who had been given grace to believe in the substitutionary work of Christ at Calvary. Salvation was not corporate but common and individual. Salvation was not to be found in the sacraments but in the Savior.

The concept that human beings had a spark of goodness (enough to seek out God) was not a foundational truth but something that was taught by "fools" and "pig theologians." Humility was no longer a virtue that merited grace; rather, humility was the soul's response to the gift of God's grace.

Like a dam bursting with the pressure of floodwaters, gospel truths, long neglected, began to pour forth from the heart of Luther and washed over the people in his parish. Luther was renouncing everything he had been taught because he had found salvation in Christ alone, one Person, one Savior, one Redeemer, and one Mediator! Luther had found that Christ is all he needed. Luther would have been able to sing the modern little chorus, Christ is all I need.

"Christ is all I need,
Christ is all I need,
All, all I need.

For me He died,
For me He died,
He is all, all I need."

I am here reminded of another troubled soul that needed amazing grace. John Newton was a rough, dirty sailor with a foul mouth and an appetite for rotten living. He hated life and life hated him. He was captain of a slave ship. Then someone placed in his hands a copy of Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ.

He also had the gift of a good mother who told him about the Savior when he was young--something that he eventually looked back upon during the darkest hours of his life. But then something happened. He was saved. John went all over England sharing his faith. Well past his retirement age, he had to have an assistant stand in the pulpit with him on Sundays. He was nearly blind and spoke in whispers, but nothing could keep him from preaching while he still had breath.

One Sunday, while delivering his message John Newton said, "Jesus Christ is precious." He seemed to be lost and so he said it again. His helper whispered to him: "Pastor, you have already said that twice." Newton turned to his helper and said loudly, "Yes, I've said it twice, and I'm going to say it again." The stones in the ancient sanctuary fairly shook as the grand old preacher said again, "Jesus Christ is precious!" I trust that is your testimony for in Christ we have:

A love that can never be fathomed,
A life that can never die,
A righteousness that can never be tarnished,
A peace that can never be understood,
A rest that can never be disturbed,
A joy that can never be diminished,
A hope that can never be disappointed,
A glory that can never be clouded,
A light that can never be darkened,
A purity that can never be defiled,
A beauty that can never be marred,
A wisdom that can never be baffled,
And resources that can never be exhausted.

Come to Christ. Let Him lift all your burdens. He alone can do it.

An unknown Sunday school teacher relates the following story. "I was testing the children in my Sunday school class to see if they understood the concept of getting to heaven. I asked them, ‘If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into Heaven?’ ‘NO!’ the children answered. ‘If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into Heaven?’ Again, the answer was, ‘NO!’ By now I was starting to smile. Hey, this was fun! ‘Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the children, and loved my husband, would that get me into Heaven?’, I asked them again. Again, they all answered, ‘NO!’ I was just bursting with pride for them. ‘Well,’ I continued, ‘then how can I get into Heaven?’ A five year old boy shouted out, ‘YOU GOTTA BE DEAD.’"

While we smile at the answer of the young boy, he was actually theologically sound. In order to get to heaven "you gotta be dead." Many people believe they are alive spiritually and right with God because they have been baptized as a child, attend church, and perform good works. There are individuals who have not yet died to self righteousness and yet the Bible states very plainly that by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified or declared righteous in the sight of God. Galatians 2:16 reads, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." In the words of the little boy in the Sunday school class, "you gotta be dead." But there is good news. In Christ, those who are dead can live. "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this" (John 11:25-26)?

The great questions come to each of us. "Am I dead to self, sin and self righteousness? Have I believed in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior? Have I stopped depending on my baptism, church, and good works to get me to heaven?"

The little boy was right. "You gotta be dead" in order to live.

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