Before God, I looked from them to Christ, and I confessed that I had no hope but in Him. That is, I prayed,
"If Christ is not enough, if His blood is not sufficient to pardon my sins and redeem me [Ephesians 1:7], if His righteousness, and God's covenanted grace and mercy [Romans 3:19-25] are not enough, then I'm doomed and have no hope. I have no backup plan. I have no 'Plan B.' Jesus Christ is my 'Plan A-Z.'"It occurred to me that this is the personal, practical upshot of those Biblical sola's that the Reformation recovered, proclaimed, and proclaims.
If the Gospel revealed in Scripture alone is not enough, if Christ is not enough, if the grace of God is not enough, if faith is not a sufficient means of receiving this Christ and this salvation, and if the whole does not redound to the glory of God and God only — then we are of all men most miserable. We have no Plan B, no backup plan. All our eggs are in that one basket, so to speak. All our hope is in Christ, and in Christ alone.
If He is not enough, we are doomed.
But it is the Reformed, the Biblical, the Christian conviction that Christ is enough and to spare.
And that is what marks off Christian faith and hope from every other competing system, whether it calls itself Christian or not.
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8 comments:
There is nothing we can do to ensure our own salvation. Nothing. All is futility, all is vanity. The agent of our salvation is Christ alone.
You ought to send this in a certified letter to Pope Benedict in light of his throwing down the gauntlet this week.
I was irritated at first when Benedict called all other churches "not true churches." But then I thought, wow..what an opportunity to respond with the biblical Gospel.
Exactly, Sola. Makes you wonder whether squishes like Hugh Hewitt might finally wake up and smell the coffee. "Well, I'll be darned -- the Pope actually is Catholic!"
Amen!
I was just thinking this a few days ago in regards to Christ's imputed righteousness. Where would I be without it? I certainly don't want to stand on judgment day with only my own so-called righteousness!
Amen to this! And sola, you are exactly right. This should be sent to the Pope.
On a side note, I responded to what the pope said here.
In Christ alone I place my trust!
Cool. Very cool.
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