At the center of Christianity stands a Cross. But not just any cross, the Cross of Christ. From that Cross, Christ has accomplished salvation for us. Christ and Christ alone is the only way for us to be made right with God. And since he has come and accomplished redemption from the Cross, we who were once slaves to sin are now sons of God. It is essential that we have the right teaching of the Cross because the Cross is the centerpiece of our salvation. But what on earth do we mean when we say that?
We are in the second week of our study of the doctrines that sealed the protest from the Roman Church, the Protestant Reformation, known simply at the 5 Solas or 5 Alones. These five truths help us correctly articulate the gospel of grace. Last week I presented a sentence to you that helps us understand the gospel of grace:
Salvation (our only hope in life and death), according to Scripture, is through Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, to God’s glory alone.
From that sentence, we can see the movements of the gospel of grace: Grounded in Scripture, effected through Christ, by Grace, through Faith, for God’s glory. So today we focus on the second Sola – Christ Alone. Here is what we mean when we say Christ alone:
Christ alone means Jesus is the unique Son of the Father and has accomplished everything necessary for our salvation.
A key Scripture that helps us see this truth is Colossians 1:13-20
All of those truths are ours because of Christ alone. We need these truths not just on occasions, but every hour.
2 Truths (from 1 Peter 3:18-22):
1. Because of Christ We Are Right with God
He has restored our relationship with God. How? Through his death. God subjected himself to death so that we who believe in him would never die. God dying doesn’t mean that he ceased to exist, no more than it means that we cease to exist when we die – that’s not what it means to die. How in the world could God die? He had to bleed. How can God bleed? He had to become flesh. Did God become flesh? Yes, in the Incarnation of the Son. Without ceasing to be what he was, he became what he was not. That is, he, without ceasing to be what he has always been – God – became what he had never been – Man – all so that he could make us what he is – the perfection of God. Not that we become gods but that we become God’s. We belong to God, and he belongs to us. We are partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).
He had to become like us so that he could heal us. He became man because man needed saving. And as Irenaeus said, “What has not been assumed has not been healed.” He became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. He substituted himself for our sin; he died a death that should have been ours. He had no reason other than his love for us to die. He didn’t deserve death but died motivated by his love for us.
2. Christ Is Sufficient
Look at the rest of the verses in 1 Peter 3. Peter uses baptism the same what that Paul does in Romans 6. Peter uses the ark and baptism to point to the sufficiency of the Cross. All of these thoughts flow out of verse 18. Look at the last part of verse 18 – made alive in the Spirit. That refers to the Spirit breathing the breath of life back into Jesus’ dead body and causing him who was dead to experience resurrection. Look at verse 21 and 22. Because he has accomplished salvation through his death on the Cross, he has secured the hope of our salvation. We trust in Christ alone.
Do you trust in Christ alone for your salvation? I run into so many people, and I ask them a question, “How do you know you are right with God?” Nine out of 10 start telling me how good they are and how they have done this and that. You know what that does? That kind of reasoning says that the work of Christ on the Cross is insufficient, is not enough. The sure hope of our salvation is Christ alone.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus name.
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Can you sing that and mean it?
You can hear the entire message recorded from the pulpit of Oxford Baptist Church.