“In Christ alone my hope is found.” These are the famous words of the modern-day
hymn penned by Keith and Kristyn Getty.
The song is only a few years old and has made its way across the globe
and is quickly becoming a staple of church music and worship. Those opening words reflect one of the vital
points of the Protestant Reformation.
Salvation is found only in Christ.
That is what Solus Christus means—Christ alone!
The
doctrine of Solus Christus stands in direction contradistinction from the
Catholic doctrine that says that salvation cannot be found outside of the
Catholic Church. The doctrine of Solus
Christus firmly declares that there is one mediator between God and man. We are not the mediators between a holy God
and us. Mary is not the mediator for
mankind. Neither are angels, good
works, self-improvement or anything else.
Christ alone is our mediator and Christ alone is our only hope of
salvation.
Our
look at Solus Christus will take us to the book of Colossians. The Apostle Paul is attacking heresy head on
with this letter to the church in Colossae.
There were some in the church bringing in all sorts of teachings that
corrupted the truth that we are saved by Christ alone. Before he addresses these issues and
heresies he sets forth the supremacy of Christ. He exalts Him high above and shows Him to be the one and only
Savior. Read through these verses and
notice how Paul describes Christ: the
image of God, the first born of creation
(which is a term of rank and does not mean He was created), He’s the
Creator, eternal, the head of the church, preeminent….it was through Him that
God is reconciling sinners to Himself.
Colossians
1:15-23 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of all creation. 16 For byhim 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. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all
things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might
be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was
pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all
things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile
in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh
by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach
before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable
and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which
has been proclaimed in all creationunder heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a
minister.
The rest of Paul’s letter to these Christians is a strong
warning to them to not be disqualified by letting others insist that salvation
is Christ PLUS other things. In other
words, Paul is saying that salvation is found in Christ alone. To replace Christ with anything or to add
anything to the finished work of Christ is to be disqualified from the
race—this means that you are not saved.
Solus Christus is not just a matter of preference. It’s a matter of life and death. Cling to Christ alone and you are
saved. Cling to anything else and you
are damned.
In
Colossians 2 Paul warns the church not to fall prey to the philosophy and empty
wisdom of the world. The world’s
philosophies and the wisdom they provide are empty. They appear to be full of wonderful promises and delights, but
they are empty. They are like storm clouds
that look like they’re going to deliver rain, but then don’t! Paul plainly says that these things are not
according to Christ. The wisdom of the
world and their philosophies are not the way to combat sin. That is not how sin is dealt with. Sin is dealt with in Christ only. He cuts the sin out of our hearts…that is
the point of spiritual circumcision.
Christ, not the world, is doing the saving and redeeming and restoring.
In
that same chapter we are told that the old man died with Christ…the new man was
raised with Christ. His death and
resurrection accomplished that for us.
Our trespasses and sin were nailed to the cross that He hung on and
because of that our sin debt was canceled.
God disarmed the evil forces that dominated us and He did this through
Christ.
Nowhere
in Scripture are we told that anyone else or anything else does this for
us. Scripture elevates Christ to such a
high degree that you should be left with only one conclusion: Christ alone is our Savior and
Mediator. He alone reconciles us to God
and secures our salvation.
I. LEGALISM CAN’T SAVE YOU
In
the latter part of Colossians 2, Paul tells the Colossian believers that no one
is to pass judgment on them for not adhering to dietary laws and Old Testament
holy days.
Colossians
2:16 Therefore
let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard
to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come,
but the substance belongs to Christ.
Apparently there were some false teachers in the church
saying that “real Christians” need to keep the dietary laws, festivals, new
moon celebrations and Sabbaths. In
other words, to be saved, the Colossians were wrongly told they had to practice
the Old Testament ceremonies and rituals.
What was Paul’s response to these teachings? “Don’t let anyone pass judgment on you! You are not damned for not keeping these regulations.” Paul then explains the truth regarding the
Old Testament feasts, holidays and ceremonies:
they were shadows of Christ….pictures of the things to come. All those things were leading us up to
Christ. You know how when you see a
shadow and you follow it to see what it casting it…well, once your eyes find
what is making the shadow, then you have found the substance. The shadow exists because there is something
real creating it. So too, when you
looked at the Old Testament holidays, feasts and Sabbaths, you could follow
them with your eyes and see what was casting the shadow. You should find that the shadow leads you
directly to Christ. He is the
substance. He is the real deal. They were about Him. Those Old Testament rituals, ceremonies and
feasts were very important--they were there to lead people to Christ. But once Christ had come those things, those
pictures became obsolete…they were no longer to be regarded. Not only that, but participating in those
things never saved anyone. They pointed
to Christ who alone saves!
So the false teachers were trying to convince these
Christians that salvation was found in Christ PLUS these rituals. Paul’s opening chapter in the letter was to
warn these believers against the danger of failing to see Christ as the
All-sufficient Savior. If they listened
to these false teachers they would not be saved. Christ alone was to be their salvation.
2. ASCETICISM CAN’T SAVE YOU
Paul then goes on in the next few verses and says:
Colossians
2:18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on
asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,puffed
up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not
holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together
through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
The
word asceticism carries some deep meaning.
Some translations have rendered this phrase as, “taking delight in false
humility”. In it’s fullest sense, the
word asceticism is used to describe the pride that these false teachers had in
humbling themselves. They were proud of
the fact that they denied their body food, clothing or anything else
pleasurable. That’s why some
translations use the phrase “false humility”.
The act of humbling their body was a source of pride for them. It’s like being proud that you’re
humble. It’s fake. It’s not real. They assumed that salvation and union with God was found in
disciplining the body and suppressing desires.
Many of the world’s religions still do these types of things in hopes
that they will be united to God.
Some
religious renounce all sexual relations.
Some do not use electricity or they do not wear shoes. Some will wear clothes that are
uncomfortable because they are made from rough material. Some will stand while eating or even fast
for up to a month. There are some who
own almost no possessions and even refuse to live in one place for more than
two months because they may become attached to one place. Others engage in the Hindu practices of
Yoga. To them, this is good news. This is how they are set free from the
flesh. This is how they are set free
from sin.
And Paul says, “Let no one disqualify you by insisting on asceticism.” Asceticism is not what frees you from
sin. It does not lead to salvation. It does not lead to sanctification or becoming
more holy and looking like Christ. But
if you look at these kinds of these from the outside, it looks like these
people are becoming more holy. But here
is what Paul says. He says, “these
regulations of…”
Colossians 2:21-23 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”
[22] (referring to things that all perish as they
are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? [23] These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in
promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they
are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Paul
is saying that these are human rules and teachings. Do not handle this. Do
not taste this food. Don’t touch that. These are according to the wisdom of man,
not God. Living by strict rules will
not save you. Paul says, “But it has
the appearance of wisdom.” It sure
looks good. But it is self-made
religion, this severity to the body stuff.
Look at what he says in the last phrase. They are of NO value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. They do not help whatsoever in controlling
your sinful appetite. They cannot
quench your desire for sin.
Do
you want to see how this plays out in our world today? Because people practice this kind of
stuff…perhaps not as extreme, but they think that somehow their lesser forms of
asceticism make them better people…and it surely puts them in right standing
with God. Some people think they are
good people and going to be with God because they have never done drugs, have
never hurt anybody, they never speed on the road, they don’t spend their money
frivolously, they watch what they eat, they exercise and take care of their
body. They don’t realize it but they
are practicing some form of asceticism.
They are trying to live a life that denies extremes. Whether it be overeating, overspending,
overreacting, or whatever, they think that their life of moderation is what
makes them a good person. They think
that this is the kind of life that pleases God and earns them salvation with
God. It has the appearance of
wisdom. But it is nothing more than a
man-made religion that will disqualify people from the prize that Paul talks
about. It disqualifies them from true
holiness and true salvation.
But
sadly this is just about all that pop-psychology can offer man these days. If Christians struggle with the sin of
overeating what do they do? They don’t
run to Christ do they? No. They run to Jenny Craig and put them on some
ascetic diet. When children are bad,
what do a lot of parents do? They put
their kids in time-out—and that’s all they do.
No fun for you…no pleasure for you—that’s asceticism. This will not work in saving our children,
nor will it work in making them more holy.
As parents our privilege and duty is to show our children law and
gospel, sin and salvation—we show them how their sin is against God and how
Christ saves them. And when we fail to
point their children to Christ when it comes to discipline, we fail miserably. If you want your child to be saved and grow
in godliness, asceticism won’t cut it.
Only Christ will. Do not be
disqualified. Do not participate in the
disqualification of others by pointing them to inferior methods of avoiding sin
and attaining salvation.
3. ANGELS
CAN’T SAVE YOU
The worship of angels? This church was plagued with blatant heresy. There were some ideas floating around that
said that if you wanted God to hear and answer your prayers, then you had to
get to God through angels.
Colossians 2:18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on
asceticism and worship of angels,
In their false humility
these false teachers said that God could not be approached directly. He was too great to have humans come to Him
directly. So the way that people
reached God was through the angels that He created. In other words, the angels were the mediators between God and
man. In order to get to God you had to
go through His angels. This is how they
paid homage and worship to the angels…by praying to them. The Judaizers reasoned that because the law
of God was given by angels, then it was OK to invoke them or pray to them. This heresy started in the Colossian church and
history records that it continued for another three hundred years. In fact, in about the year 363 A.D. a
council of 30 clerics or clergyman got together in Asia Minor to discuss some
concerns. Of the 60 concerns raised,
number 39 had to do with heresies—specifically the heresy of angelici—or
the angel invokers. The heresy of worshiping
and praying to angels that started in Paul’s day continued on and the council
took a stand and said that this was wrong because scripture condemned it.
These so-called humble
people took their humility to an extreme.
"We are so low and God is so high that we cannot approach Him. There must be a mediator that we can pray
to. There must be someone who stands
between God and us and communicates to Him for us." They chose the angels to do this and prayed to them. But Scripture never teaches us to pray to
angels as mediators. Christ alone
grants us access to the Father.
There is no mention in
Scripture of invoking angels when we need the help of God in overcoming
sin. Christ told us to speak directly
to the Father and pray, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from
evil.” In Hebrews 4, the Bible tells us
that we can come confidently to God’s throne in prayer to seek His help in
overcoming sin. Unlike the humble
Judaizers who were proud of their humility in not approaching God and prayed to
angels for help, the writer of Hebrews tells us the opposite. Don’t be afraid to come to God for help in
growing in holiness. Come boldly. Come confidently to God so that we can
receive mercy and grace for the sins we commit.
Hebrews 4:14-16 [14] Since
then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the
Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let
us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
How awesome are these
verses? We are weak and we will
sin. How do we deal with this? Asceticism?
Calling on angels? No. Going to God in prayer and holding fast to
our confession. Our confession is that
Christ is the Savior who died and rose again that we could be declared innocent
of our sin and righteous before God. When we sin, we can confidently draw near
to God, to the throne of grace and receive the mercy and grace that we
need. When we are tempted to sin we can
draw near to God and ask for help in overcoming it. Christ is able to sympathize with us. He knows what it is like to be tempted yet not cave in to
sin. He knows we are weak and that we
need His strength. So we ask the Lord
for help. We do not need a mediator
between God and us. Christ has provided
that link for us.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God, and there is one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who
gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper
time.
We insult God when we pray
to beings that are not capable of answering prayer. We become disqualified from growing in holiness when we pray to
another being. And ultimately, whom you
pray to is the one who you believe can help.
In essence that person or thing you pray to is your god. This would disqualify you from ever having a
part in eternal life unless you repent of it and put your trust in Christ
alone.
Sadly,
this kind of thing takes place takes place when others insist that to get to
God you must pray to the Virgin Mary or you must pray to dead saints. The problem of worshiping angels or needing
dead saints in order to get you to God is that they lead you away from
Christ. And any practice that leads you
away from Christ, His salvation, His sanctification is a terrible thing and
should be guarded against.
4. MYSTICISM CAN’T SAVE YOU
Colossians 2:18 going
on in detail about visions,puffed up without reason by his sensuous
mind,
You
may recognize the root of the word mysticism.
It looks like the word mystery.
It has to do with things that are hidden. It has to do with hidden knowledge that needs to be found
out. This was something that the early
church continually fought against. The
Gnostics came along and said that salvation and holiness were found in
discovering secret knowledge of God.
This secret knowledge was found in dreams and altered states of
consciousness. Much like the Hindus
practice with their yoga and chanting.
It’s designed to put them in an altered state of consciousness whereby
they can attain union and peace with God.
These types of things are forbidden in Scripture. Union with God and secret knowledge of God
are nowhere to be found in dreams.
Union with God is found only in Christ.
A saving knowledge of God is only found in Scripture as the Holy Spirit
enables you to grab a hold of these truths spiritually.
These
false teachers in the church of Colossae were so proud of their dreams and
visions. They went on in detail
describing every aspect of their dreams and what they had supposedly learned
about God. They became puffed up or
proud. This is what their sensuous or
sinful mind led them to be. So get
this: they were supposedly so humble
because of their asceticism and worship of angels and dreams that it led them
to be proud—it was a false humility they had.
And it was without reason.
Meaning that because this stuff was bogus there was no real reason for
them to be proud. It only condemned
them and led them to hell. There is no
reason to be proud in that. Not only
were they falsely humble, but they were also foolishly humble. They were fooled into thing that their
dreams led to salvation and union with God.
These bogus Christians were bragging about their supposed
new knowledge and revelation from their dreams. These false Christians told other believers that they were proud
and arrogant for praying directly to God instead of praying through
angels. These hypocrites insisted on
asceticism as a way to holiness. All of
these things they practiced showed that they did not understand the
gospel. They did not understand
Christ. They did not understand the reason
for which He came. They did not know
His power. Thus, they were
disqualified. They were not at peace
with God. They were never going to grow
in true holiness. They were out!
You
see, true Christianity is about the Supremacy of Christ in all things. He alone will be praised for all eternity
for the salvation He gave us. How sly
and wise the devil is in trying to get us to fall away from our Savior. These Satanic teachings have the appearance
of godliness and truth, but they are damnable.
They seem to be good news but are exposed as bad news. They seem to be a gospel but they are a false
gospel. The heresies in Colossae all
put the emphasis on what you do and they take your focus away from Christ and
what He has done. True salvation is found
in Christ alone, not in legalism, not in asceticism, not in angels, not in mysticism and not in the Catholic Church.
Christ alone. Anything else disqualifies you from eternal life. And that is why we say with Scripture and
with the Reformers, “Solus Christus!”
