In this post I will cover the fourth of the five Solas of the Protestant Reformation, Solus Christus. Jeremy Thompson defines Solus Christus as, “The doctrine that Christ is the only mediator between God and human beings apart from a priestly class or sacraments.”[1] First Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” The London Baptist Confession reads, “This office of mediator between God and man is proper only to Christ, who is the prophet, priest, and king of the church of God; and may not be either in whole, or any part thereof, transferred from him to any other.”[2] Christ is the true mediator.
Why is this doctrine, Solus Christus, one of the Solas of the Protestant Reformation? First and foremost, because Scripture teaches it. The Lord Jesus is God incarnate (John 1:1, 14; 18; Col. 1:15, 19; Heb. 1:3). He is truly God and truly man (from The Council of Chalcedon, 451 A.D.).[3] In Christ alone, not through any other intermediary (not Mary, not the Pope, not a priest), is salvation found (John 1:11-12; 3:16-17; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 5:31; Rom. 10:9-13; 1 John 5:12-13). Christ is the One who provides atonement for our sins (1 John 2:2; Matt. 26:28; Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:14). S.M. Baugh states, “This connection between Christ and us is the heart of the gospel. Conservative Christians have long defended the biblical doctrine of Christ’s substitutionary atonement. This teaches that Christ died as a sacrifice in our place both to appease God’s wrath toward us and to cleanse us of the guilt and stain of sin.”[4] Salvation is in Christ alone. It is received by faith through grace (Rom. 3:22; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:13-14).
Secondly, it was a biblical doctrine that was under attack. The established church at the time of the Reformation was already long down the road of having removed Christ from his proper place in the life of the church and the Christian. “The Reformers identified the problem of a church that was casting shade on Christ; of a church that was [assuming] to itself prerogatives that belong to Christ alone. This problem impressed upon the Reformers the need to purge anything that would throw shade upon the absolute brilliance of Christ’s supremacy in our salvation.”[5] The system of sacraments, the priesthood, the king, and the elevation of Mary (and the saints) all became elements subverting the place of Christ. So, people were looking to the church and its system for justification and security rather than Christ alone. Fred Zaspel writes, “The greatest defect in the sacerdotal conception of salvation, best represented by the Church of Rome, is that it places sinners in the hands of men rather than a merciful God. Instead of being directed to God, we are ‘referred to an institution.’ According to the sacerdotal scheme, God desires the salvation of all men and has made adequate provision for the salvation of all via the church and its sacraments; but the actual distribution of grace is performed at the hands of the church, and apart from the church there can be no salvation at all.”[6] Sacerdotal comes from the Latin sacer (“sacred”) + dot (“to make”).[7] It has the idea, “to make sacred.” Sacerdos or sacerdot came to refer to “priests or things relating to priests.”[8] According to this view, man cannot approach God through Christ alone. Sacerdotalists believe that there must be a mediator between God and man. Yet, they do not mean Christ as mediator (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5-6). Rather, they believe that a class of priests must exist and function between God and man. John Owen corrects this error by declaring, “It is by the exercise and discharge of the office of Christ — as the king, priest, and prophet of the church — that we are redeemed, sanctified, and saved. Thereby doth he immediately communicate all Gospel benefits unto us — give us an access unto God here by grace, and in glory hereafter; for he saves us, as he is the mediator between God and man.”[9] There is no one else that rightfully fills this place.
Jesus Christ is Prophet, Priest, and King. He is the One who fills these various roles in the life of the church and the Christian. Jesus is the Prophet that Moses foretold (Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:17–23; 7:37–38, 51–53). He is God’s revelation to mankind (Heb. 1:1-2). He is the Word of God incarnate (John 1:1, 14). Jesus is the Priest who provided the sacrifice that paid for our sins once for all (Heb. 9:26, 28; Rom. 6:10). He is the Priest who cleanses all our sin (1 John 1:7; Heb. 9:14; 10:22). Christ is the High Priest who intercedes for us with the Father (Heb. 4:14-16; ch. 7). Jesus is our King, who has received all authority in heaven and on earth (Luke 1:32-33; cf. Matt. 28:18). He possesses the name above all names (Phil. 2:9-11; Eph. 1:21-22). He is King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16). The Lord Jesus Christ fills these roles of Prophet, Priest, and King in a way that no merely human being can. Kapic and Vander Lugt comment, “Solus Christus (Christ alone) indicates that salvation is accomplished by the sacrifice and mediation of Christ alone, and therefore… Christ is the only foundation of the church.”[10]
So, brothers and sisters, why is this doctrine of Solus Christus so critical? We must give the Lord Jesus Christ the proper place that Scripture assigns to him. We must avoid holding to philosophies and traditions that undermine (or even outright contradict) biblical truth and practice. How do we give proper consideration to this truth in our context? Pastor/elder/overseers lead local churches, but they are not mediators between God and man. Deacons serve local churches, but they are not mediators between God and man. Mary, the bondservant of the Lord, is not a mediator between God and man (Luke 1:38). Believers who have passed on to glory (i.e. “saints”) are not mediators between God and man. Furthermore, Scripture teaches that we are not to communicate with the dead (Lev. 20:27; Deut. 18:10–13; cf. 1 Sam. 28:7–19). Saints are not merely a collection of believers located in heaven, according to the testimony of Scripture every born-again believer (including those who are alive on earth) is a saint, who has been sanctified by God in Christ (Eph. 1:18; 4:12; 5:3; 6:18; Rom. 8:27; 1 Cor. 1:2). God’s Word is clear. Christ is the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5).
[1] Jeremy Thompson, Lists from Church History, Faithlife Biblical and Theological Lists (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2022).
[2] https://www.the1689confession.com/1689/chapter-8
[3] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/truly-god-truly-man-council-chalcedon
[4] https://www.wscal.edu/resource/the-all-sufficiency-of-christ/
[5] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/what-does-solus-christus-mean
[6] Fred G. Zaspel, The Theology of B. B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 415–416.
[7] Inc Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003).
[8] Ibid.
[9] John Owen, Christologia: or a Declaration of the glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ–God and Man (https://www.monergism.com), 65, http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Christologia.pdf
[10] Kelly M. Kapic and Wesley Vander Lugt, Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition, The IVP Pocket Reference Series (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2013), 112.