Theological Term of the Week: Solus Christus

solus Christus
One of five Latin statements that summarize the core teachings of the Protestant Reformation. It means “Christ alone,” and refers to the truth that salvation is based exclusively on the mediatorial work of Christ. His sinless life and substitutionary death are the sufficient and sole grounds on which those who are being saved receive all the benefits included in their salvation.

• From scripture:

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time (1 Timothy 1:5-6 ESV).

• From The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 8: 

Of Christ the Mediator

I. It pleased God, in His eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King, the Head and Savior of His Church, the Heir of all things, and Judge of the world: unto whom He did from all eternity give a people, to be His seed,and to be by Him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.

V. The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience, and sacrifice of Himself, which He through the eternal Spirit, once offered up unto God, has fully satisfied the justice of His Father; and purchased, not only reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for those whom the Father has given unto Him.

VIII. To all those for whom Christ has purchased redemption, He does certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same; making intercession for them, and revealing unto them, in and by the word, the mysteries of salvation; effectually persuading them by His Spirit to believe and obey, and governing their hearts by His word and Spirit; overcoming all their enemies by His almighty power and wisdom, in such manner, and ways, as are most consonant to His wonderful and unsearchable dispensation.

• From Living For God’s Glory by Joel Beeke, page 144:

If you are a true son or daughter of the Reformation, Christ in His threefold office as Prophet-Priest-King will mean everything to you. The gospel is a gospel of solus Christus because, from beginning to end, it has everything to do with who Christ is and shat He accomplished outside of us, for us, in our stead. Do you love and live solus Christus? Do you love him in his person, offices, natures, and benefits? Is he your Prophet to teach you; your priest to sacrifice for, intercede for, and bless you; and your King to rule and guide you?

Have you learned to know Christ personally and experientially as your Savior and Lord? Have you learned that He is more than an example whom we should emulate, more than a martyr who is heroic, more than a psychotherapist who gives you health and wealth? Have you learned that, in terms of salvation, Jesus Christ is everything to you, a sinner?

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Why is solo Christo important?
2. Logonier Ministries: Christ Alone
3. Steven Lawson: Solus Christus
4. D. Blair Smith: What Does “Solus Christus” Mean?
5. Steven Wellum: The Five Solas: Christ Alone
6. Steven Wellum: 5 Reasons Solus Christus Is at the Heart of the Five Solas

Related terms:

• five solas
• sola fide
• sola scriptura
• solus Christus
• soli Deo gloria

Filed under Salvation

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Sunday Hymn: Moment by Moment

Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine;
Living with Jesus, a new life divine;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine.

Refrain

Moment by moment, I’m kept in his love;
Moment by moment, I’ve life from above;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine.

Never a trial that he is not there,
Never a burden that he doth not bear,
Never a sorrow that he doth not share,
Moment by moment, I’m under his care.

Never a weakness that he doth not feel,
Never a sickness that he cannot heal;
Moment by moment, in woe or in weal,
Jesus my Saviour, abides with me still.

—Daniel Whittle

Theological Term of the Week: Sola Gratia

sola gratia
One of five Latin statements that summarize the core teachings of the Protestant Reformation. The phrase means “grace alone,” and affirms that God’s grace in Christ is the “sole efficient cause of salvation.”¹ In other words, God saves human beings because he is gracious toward them, not because they meet any conditions.

• From scripture:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:1-10 ESV).

• From The Westminster Confession of Faith: 

Chapter 10. Of Effectual Calling.

2. This effectual call is of God’s free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man; who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.

Chapter 11. Of Justification.

1. Those whom God effectually calleth he also freely justifieth; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous: not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.

Chapter 12. Of Adoption.

1. All those that are justified God vouchsafeth, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption; by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God….

Chapter 13. Of Sanctification.

1. They who are effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them; the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified, and they more and more quickened and strengthened, in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.


Chapter 14. Of Saving Faith.

1. The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word; by which also, and by the administration of the sacraments and prayer, it is increased and strengthened.


Chapter 15. Of Repentance unto Life.

1. Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ.

Chapter 16. Of Good Works.

3. Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ. And that they may be enabled thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is required an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit to work in them to will and to do of his good pleasure; yet are they not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon a special motion of the Spirit; but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them.


Chapter 17. Of the Perseverance of the Saints.

2. This perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.

• From Living For God’s Glory by Joel Beeke, page 135:

Grace is most commonly defined as the unmerited favor of God, but … that definition doesn’t go far enough. The nineteenth-century Calvinistic Baptist William Newman once put it like this: grace is “the free favour of God … conferred … upon the unworthy.” Those who receive grace are not merely helpless sinners who are undeserving, but are hostile rebels against God with bad hearts and bad records. God is not obligated to be kind or gracious to them. They are sinners, deserving only hell. But in accord with his nature, God showers an entirely underserved love upon them—and as He does so, their lives are changed forever. As Ephesians 2:4-5 puts it, it is out of a heart full of rich mercy and great love that God saves—rescues, frees, liberates—sinners by grace. Though the are unlovely and loathsome to Him because of their sin, God shows love toward them. He pardones their sins, gives them knowledge of Himself, and moves them to repond with sincerity to His grace. By free, sovereign grace, therefore, we mean that the supreme God of heaven and earth—the sovereign triune God of salvation—freely wills and applies saving grace to guily, contemptable sinners, transforming their lives so that they enjoy Him and live for His service.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Why is sola gratia important?
2. Compelling Truth: What is the significance of “sola gratia”?
3. Levi Berntson: What Does “Sola Gratia” Mean?
4. Guy Waters: Sola Gratia: Christians Are Saved by the Grace of God Alone
5. Kim Riddlebarger: Grace Alone: An Evangelical Problem?
6. R. C. Sproul: The Sufficiency of Grace
7. Michael Horton: Five Solas: Grace Alone 
8. Martin Blocki: The Reformation Solas: Sola Gratia

Related terms:

• five solas
• sola fide
• sola scriptura
• solus Christus
• soli Deo gloria

1The Cambridge Declaration

Filed under Salvation

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.