This coming Lord’s Day we will be considering the fourth of the five theological affirmations of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, ‘Christ Alone,’ or Solus Christus. When this slogan was sounded, the Reformers meant that the salvation of sinners is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in the work of Christ alone! In other words, they proclaimed that there is just one Savior of lost sinners, and that what He has done is fully sufficient to redeem them from the wages of their sins, and to provide eternal life forever in the presence of God!

Regarding this affirmation of the Reformation era, Dr. Michael Horton has written that:

“The Reformation was, more than anything else, an assault on faith in humanity, and a defense of the idea that God alone reveals Himself and saves us. We do not find Him; He finds us. That emphasis was the cause of the cry, ‘Christ alone!’ Jesus was the only way of knowing what God is really like, the only way of entering into a relationship with Him as father instead of judge, and the only way of being saved from His wrath” (From Monergism.com).

This essential truth—that we are saved from the just wrath of God by His Son alone, our Lord Jesus Christ—is like each of the other four affirmations in that it needs to be recovered again and proclaimed with renewed conviction and emphasis today!

While there are many Scripture passages to which we could appeal to defend this truth of ‘Christ Alone,’ perhaps none is more moving and beautiful than our Lord’s teaching in John 10:1-18. You might immediately recognize this as the ‘Great Shepherd’ chapter, where Jesus sets forth His self-identity and defines His mission using the tender illustration of a shepherd’s care for his sheep. It is also here that we discover two of the “I AM” sayings of our Lord: “I am the door” (v. 7), and “I am the good shepherd” (v. 11). As we examine this passage we will see how Jesus, in His own words, emphatically teaches that He alone is the divine Son of God and Savior of the world.