by Pat Blewett
We celebrate this year the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting his 95 Theses, which is commonly accepted as the start of the Protestant Reformation.The principles of the Reformation are no less significant because centuries have passed. They capture the heart of the gospel Alliance messengers proclaim around the world.
Every generation struggles and returns to the same questions about Jesus Christ: Who is He? And what is He?
The struggles during the Reformation between Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli are not the first time Christians disagreed. We find believers arguing over whether Jesus was fully God as well as whether He was perfect humanity. Like arguments today, words escalated until people were being called “heretics.” Arius, Apollinarius, Nestorius, Athanasius, and Eutychus were some of the players; I will leave their stories for you to explore.
The Council of Nicene in A.D. 325 produced the first clarifying statement on Christ’s two natures. Conflict continued for another hundred years, and believers finally came together in A.D. 451 to once again clarify who Jesus was. This important decision was given at the Council of Chalcedon.
What was decided? Jesus Christ was fully God and perfect man. He was unique in all of history. God became man to save us from our sin. This divine-human relationship within Jesus was called the “Hypostatic Union.” It is one of the most important beliefs within our Christian faith.
His Body and Blood
By the Reformation, the debate shifted to how Jesus was present with us during communion. The Catholic view was the elements became the body of blood of Christ (transubstantiation); Luther tweaked the doctrine saying Christ was mystically present over, under, in, and through the elements, but the elements did not become the literal body and blood of Christ (consubstantiation). The Swiss reformer, Zwingli, challenged Luther by suggesting that the purpose was to remember Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice and His broken body and shed blood on our behalf (a memorial view) pointing to 1 Corinthians 11:24.
What are the issues today that impact our understanding of the importance of solus Christus? Cults generally do not recognize that Jesus is deity; ask a Jehovah’s Witness or a Latter Day Saint who Jesus is. Other religions do not see him as God; ask a Muslim or a Jew. Still others do not see the need for people to be saved from sin; ask a Buddhist or perhaps a secular humanist. They see Jesus as just a good moral person.
Even within Christianity, you can read books about demythologizing Christ; these folks want to deny His miracles or His healings. They want to explain away the supernatural. So who is the real Jesus? Only Scripture gives us the answers.
Who Is Jesus?
Jesus is the Anointed One (i.e., the Messiah, the Lamb of God) who came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). He was God, and He came from heaven giving up His glory and camped out with us (John 1:1, 14). Jesus “humbled himself, by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross” for our sins (Philippians 2:8). John reminds us that God loved the world so much that He sent His Son to save us from our sin and give us eternal life (John 3:16–17). He made it clear about how many ways to the Father exist. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Our salvation is in Jesus Christ alone.
Hebrews reminds us that Jesus was tempted as we are yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). As our Great High Priest, He understands our human struggles. Jesus paid the price for our sin in full (Isaiah 44:22; Luke 1:68; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4). Paul proclaims that since Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for our sin, God the Father exalted Him and gave Him a name that is above every name, resulting one day that every person will bow and acknowledge Jesus as Lord (Philippians 2:9–11).
Within The Christian and Missionary Alliance, we summarize who Jesus is with four wonderful word pictures: He is our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. Truly Christ in us is our hope of glory (Colossians 2:7).
The Only One
Debates about Jesus will continue, and we must be ready to tell His story based on the truth of His Word. For a positive practical perspective on solus Christus, listen to the poem written and set to music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend titled “In Christ Alone.” In a contemporary way, it tells the story of who Christ is and what He did.
As we celebrate 500 years of the Protestant Reformation, I remember those words from the Heidelberg Confession: solus Christus. Jesus Christ alone is the only One who could save me from my sin.
Pat Blewett is dean of A. W. Tozer Seminary in Redding, California.