Solus Christus

Romans 8:1
"There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ".

2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come".

2 Timothy 2:10
"Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory". 

Salvation is in Christ alone. Solus Christus means simply that; salvation comes through Christ alone, is only found in Christ alone, and is only accomplished by Christ alone. Of the 5 Solas of the Reformation, this is the one that almost all Protestant Evangelicals agree on. Anyone who attends a church, even a liberal free-styling or legalistic bound church will at some point say that salvation comes from Jesus. So we all agree that salvation comes from Christ. The hang up with most people is the alone factor. Yes, we will admit that salvation is only possible because of Jesus. We will sing every Sunday that our saving faith rest on Jesus. And we will even give to the work of the spreading of the good news of Jesus. But when the rubber meets the road, we truly will wrestle and deny many times that it is Christ alone that accomplishes, brings, and has salvation alone.

First, understanding that salvation is accomplished by Christ alone, means that the only thing we personally bring to our salvation is the sin nature that condemned Christ on the Cross. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. There is nothing we bring to God's saving of us. In fact, there is no reason what so ever inside anyone that should merit the salvation that is found in Christ. When we proclaim solus christus, we are proclaiming that salvation is accomplished by Christ alone and then is given freely as a gift to whomever God and Christ chose to give it to. And that is why Paul can proclaim he endures everything, just so the message that salvation is Christ can be proclaimed and then change, through those words, those whom receive the gift.

Second, to proclaim Solus Christ is to proclaim that there is nothing we can do in ourselves to keep our salvation. Since salvation is from Christ alone, only remaining in Christ will salvation be found. It is one's relationship with Christ or to use the theological term, it is being "in Christ" that saves someone from the wrath and justice of God. And then remaining "in Christ" alone is where salvation is found. And being "in Christ" is an act that Christ and God do together by imputing Christ onto the individual. Being "in Christ" means that from the moment of imputation on, God the Father looks at the individual as if they are Christ alone. So to proclaim Solus Christus is to proclaim that the person is "in Christ" alone and they are viewed by God as "Christ alone".

And thirdly, Solus Christus is a declaration that we truly are never bearing any fruit on our own or that any fruit we bear is truly any fruit of us. Since salvation is in Christ alone and being secure for all eternity is in Christ alone, fruitfulness is ultimately only in Christ alone. And that implies it is and always will be Christ bear His fruit in us. This means that we are to remain faithful, affectionate, attached, and desiring Christ alone. And as we remain faithful, Christ will bear His fruit in us for the glory of His Father. That is when the Father can look down on us, as His Son, and proclaim, "well done, good and faithful servant". The fruit we bear after salvation comes through Christ alone, is really and truly only Christ fruit alone to bear.

So working through those three critical points, brings us face to face with the truth that we wrestle just as much with "Solus Chritus", as we do with the other four solas of the Reformation. But to understand that salvation is by the grace of God alone to those whom He implants the faith alone for salivation, must bring us to the reality that then salvation must only be totally in Christ alone. Salvation from the very beginning, from before time began, when the Father, the Son, and Spirit, made the covenant together to redeem a people, was only in Christ. And until the end of time, when the covenant of redemption is realized for all eternity and beyond, salvation will be in Christ alone. Yes it is the plan of the Father realized and applied by the Spirit. But salvation alone comes through the Son alone to those whom God has chosen alone, is a beautiful truth that must bring us comfort. To know that broken, fallen, weak, limited humans have no part in accomplishing their salvation (except to believe) must bring comfort to those broken, fallen, weak, limited humans in need of a Savior alone. We must proclaim now and for all eternity, with great joy, that salvation comes from the grace of God alone to those who have faith alone all though Christ alone for the glory of God alone and only told to us in Scripture alone.