Wellum - Christ alone---the uniqueness of Jesus as savior: what the reformers taught ... and why it still matters

Steve Wellum is my favorite living theologian because he masterfully integrates exegesis, biblical theology, historical theology, systematic theology, and practical theology culminating in doxology. He does it again in this book on solus Christus.

A NDY N ASELLI , assistant professor of New Testament and theology at Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis; elder of Bethlehem Baptist Church

Christ alone is the glue and centerpiece of the five great solas of the Reformation according to this magnificent work by Steve Wellum. We see the centrality of Christ in both his person and his work, for the work of Christ is effective because of who he is. Wellum makes his case from both biblical and systematic theology, and he shows he is well versed in philosophy as well. I believe this book is going to be read and quoted for many years to come.

T HOMAS R. S CHREINER , James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

In Christ AloneThe Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior, Stephen Wellum reminds us that Christ alone is not only the center of the five Reformation solas, but that it stands as the central doctrine of systematic theology. Without it we cannot fully understand the doctrines of the Trinity, humanity, or salvation. Christ alone, argues Wellum, must connect all the doctrines of our theology because Christ alone stands as the cornerstone of all the purposes and plans of God himself. Consequently, if we get Christ alone wrong, Wellum reminds us, all other doctrines will likely suffer. So take up this book, read it, and think on the person and work of Christ in order that you may know, worship, and proclaim the same Christ as the Reformers, who is none other than the Christ of Scripture.

J UAN R. S ANCHEZ , senior pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church, Austin, Texas

The Five Solas Series

Edited by Matthew Barrett

Books in Series:

Gods Word AloneThe Authority of Scripture

by Matthew Barrett

Christ AloneThe Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior

by Stephen Wellum

Grace AloneSalvation as a Gift of God

by Carl Trueman

Faith AloneThe Doctrine of Justification

by Thomas Schreiner

Gods Glory AloneThe Majestic Heart of Christian Faith and Life

by David VanDrunen

ZONDERVAN

Christ AloneThe Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior

Copyright 2017 by Stephen Wellum

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ePub Edition March 2017: ISBN 978-0-310-51575-3

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

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The Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible. Copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Cover design: Christopher Tobias/Outerwear for Books

Interior design: Denise Froehlich

17 18 19 20 21 /DHV/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Kirk, Colin, and Jonathan,
My brothers by nature and by sovereign grace.
Each of you in your own way has encouraged me to glory and rest in Christ Alone.

Contents

, Michael Reeves

W hat doctrines could be more foundational to what it means to be an evangelical Protestant than the five solas (or solae) of the Reformation? In my experience, however, many in evangelical churches today have never heard of sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), sola gratia (grace alone), sola fide (faith alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone).

Now it could be that they have never heard the labels but would recognize the doctrines once told what each sola means. At least I pray so. But my suspicion is that for many churchgoers, even the content of these five solas is foreign, or worse, offensive. We live in a day when Scriptures authority is questioned, the exclusivity of Christ as mediator as well as the necessity of saving faith are offensive to pluralistic ears, and the glory of God in vocation is diminished by cultural accommodation as well as by individual and ecclesiastical narcissism. The temptation is to think that these five solas are museum pieces of a bygone era with little relevance for todays church. We disagree. We need these solas just as much today as the Reformers needed them in the sixteenth century.

The year 2017 will mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. These five volumes, written by some of the best theologians today, celebrate that anniversary. Our aim is not merely to look to the past but to the present, demonstrating that we must drink deeply from the wells of the five solas in order to recover our theological bearings and find spiritual refreshment.

Post tenebras lux

Matthew Barrett, series editor

F ive hundred years on from the Reformation, there is much to encourage and much to trouble those of us who count ourselves among the heirs of the Reformers. At the same time that the key principles of the Reformation are being forgotten, derided, and attacked at large, we see Reformational teaching faithfully and clearly expounded by an impressive regiment of scholars and preachers.

Yet for all the fresh re-exposition of Reformation theology in our day, there is a danger that it could be distorted into a theological system abstracted from Jesus Christ. The principle of Christ alone (solus Christus) remains as a critical bulwark against that dangera guardian of the essence of that for which the Reformers fought.

Solus Christus expresses the biblical conviction that there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim 2:5 ESV), and that therefore there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12 ESV). Christs identity is absolutely exclusive and his work entirely sufficient. We have no need, then, for any other prophet to provide us with a new revelation, any other priest to mediate between us and God, or any other king to rule Christs church. Christ alone stands at the center of Gods eternal purposes, Christ alone is the object of our saving faith, and therefore Christ alone must stand at the very center of our theology. Stephen Wellum is therefore perfectly right when he argues here that