The Five Solas: By Christ Alone

Why was the statement "By Christ Alone" such a divisive issue?

In the 1500's, Martin Luther was brainwashed to look to his priest, pope, Mary, and other saints as mediators between him and God. The Catholic Church's only way to maintain this stronghold is to not allow the Bible to be translated into an everyday language. The way false belief systems could maintain their legitimacy was by controlling the information that goes out to the public. Even though Martin Luther was trained in this false belief system, God opened His eyes the heretical teaching of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther realized the meaning of Hebrews 4:14-16 which says, "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. 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. 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."

Let's take a brief look at the life of Paul. The Apostle Paul was trained at the best schools, and was in line to rise to the top of the Pharisees. On his way to kill many Christians, God showed up. Paul hated God, even though he was a religious leader. He loved knowledge, but was entrapped by pride. Paul was not looking to change his life in any way. But God... God put Saul in a position that he had no choice but to look to God.

Martin Luther's story is similar to Paul. He was trained to look to everyone except God. He was trained to view that common people (not priest, monks, pope, etc.) didn't deserve to know how to read the Bible for themselves.

The Word of Faith movement ties in subtle amounts of faith other than Christ. Benny Hinn, a Word of Faith leader, said, "He [Jesus] promises to heal all...every one, any, any whatsoever, everything... all our diseases." Jesse Duplantis said, "The very first thing on Jesus' agenda was to get rid of poverty." Creflo Dollar took it a step further by denying the deity of Jesus Christ. "If Jesus came as God, then why did God have to anoint Him? Jesus came as a man, that's why it was God’s legal to anoint Him." Mike Todd took it step further by saying, "Jesus never reached his full potential."

These quotes are absolute heresy. We are trying to humanize God. The Catholic Church humanized the trinity by adding in monks, priests, the pope, and Mary. The Word of Faith movement has humanized the trinity by asking people to put their faith in their faith. Why place your faith in Jesus when Jesus didn't reach His full potential? Why place your faith in Jesus when God didn't heal this person? People have to do extra things. It is grace plus this. It is faith plus. It is Scripture plus.

Jesus Christ grafts us to the True Vine. He did what Adam could not. Todd White a leader in the Word of Faith movement seems to have made a turn. Read this quote by him, "When you come into the gospel because you came in for a better life," he explained, "you've come in for the wrong gospel. When you come to Jesus because He's gonna give you this and He's gonna give you that, you really didn't surrender. See, what you're saying is, 'I've come to get this.' What you've done is a taste test to see if it's true. It's the same thing as getting a buzz: 'Well, I'll try this Jesus thing. Maybe there's a buzz in it.' That's not Jesus." Todd White's eyes being opened wasn't anything that he was seeking. He knew enough about the Bible that God began to open his eyes to his need of the Savior. By faith Alone, Grace Alone, Scripture Alone, and Christ Alone. (We need to pray that Todd White continues on this road towards good sound theology.)

Romans 5:1-2 and 17, "Therefore, having been justified by faith [Faith Alone], we have peace with God through Jesus Christ [Christ Alone]. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace [Grace Alone] in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God [Glory Of God Alone]. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace [grace alone] and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ (Christ Alone)."

Whoever is not satisfied with Christ alone, strives after something beyond 

absolute perfection. - John Calvin


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