We’ve been looking over the past few weeks at the ‘Five Solae’ statements of the Reformation, which summarise how one is saved. The third of these is ‘Christ Alone’, which is something the Christian Church has been debating since Acts Chapter 15.
The very first Christian council was called ‘The Jerusalem Council’, which was convened due to a controversy that had arisen when the Apostle Paul was preaching in Antioch. Certain teachers from Judea were claiming that the Gentile Christians had to be circumcised and obey the Mosaic Law in order to be saved. To settle this matter, Paul and Barnabas travelled to Jerusalem to confer with the Apostles, who called together a special council in order to discuss the matter.
The Apostle Peter reminded those present that the Holy Spirit had been poured out on Gentile believers (Acts 10) in the exact same way He was poured out on Jewish believers; indicating that God now makes no distinction between Jews and Gentiles. He then says:
Acts 15:10-11 … why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved.”
Over the centuries however, the Christian church (Catholic and Protestant) continues to forget this, instead claiming that we are saved by Christ PLUS good works. When the Reformers went back to the Scriptures, they realised how far the church of their day had strayed from the gospel. To combat this, they famously declared that salvation is found in Christ, and in Christ Alone!
Brendan McLaughlin
