Regardless of how the year is going, 2022 is quickly coming to an end as we enter the holiday season. Although it hasn’t been my best year, it hasn’t been my worst either. There are some things I lament, others I’m grateful for.
We live in a broken world and we all have a sin problem. As I am writing this, over 6 ½ million people worldwide have died from Covid 19. Each year in America 50,000 people die from brain injuries. I have managed to live almost twenty-six years after sustaining a serious brain injury by God’s amazing grace.
Along the way, I have seen ex-girlfriends and high school friends die way too soon. In October a childhood friend who is the same age as me tragically died in a motorcycle accident leaving behind his new wife and her kids. While 2022 has seen many disappointments for me, I know it could be a lot worse. Many days I just find myself asking God why am I miraculously alive? As we begin November, I know I should just be thankful and not question why. While it is appropriate for us to be grateful during the holiday season, the Christian lens and purpose of grace go much deeper than just giving thanks you got what you need.
Most of us like to spend the holidays thanking God for our blessings, but we often neglect to give God all the credit He is due. Many believers credit themselves with their success, albeit because of God. Again, we’ve missed the point, because the only thing that separates believers from the lost is Jesus, so no Christian can boast! Our salvation and blessings have nothing to do with us; they are credited to Christ alone (Solo Christo) (Romans 5:1!)
One of, if not the most important changes that came from The Great Reformation over 500 years ago is the belief of “Solo Christo”! The Latin term means Christ alone. Meaning everything about a believer’s life is credited to us by Jesus and His work of redemption for all mankind (not just the church).
Remember, the Jewish people missed God’s plan to redeem all of humanity and became prideful. The focus of the Great Reformation is that of salvation by grace alone, not our works or our positions, not even our beliefs.
The Christian lens of grace is more than just giving thanks, it is receiving what we do not deserve and cannot earn, that no one may boast. The early church reformers were united in the belief that salvation is a free gift of God and none of us deserve it(eph 2:8.) Under the banner of Solo Christo there are five components or Solas:
If we are in Christ alone, we cannot boast about the blessings we have or how holy we are, because we have not accomplished anything—Christ accomplished it all on the cross (Eph. 2:8-9.) The Christian view of grace is we are not saved by our works, but to do good works and not to show off either!
What an awesome God we serve. Grace is the distinguishing factor between Christianity and other works-based faiths. When believers focus on their works for salvation or blessings as verification, they aren’t practicing Christianity at all.
Every human on the face of this planet deserves eternal damnation, Jesus alone can save us. Even the Almighty Pharisees weren’t saved by their knowledge of Scripture. Jesus is our standard. Anything less is missing the mark. The tiniest sin can defile the most righteous person, like the tiniest drop of oil can make a clear glass of water polluted! All boasting about our works and salvation is evil (James 4:15-16.) This grace we claim isn’t a license to sin or judge others, it’s freedom from both. In college, I used to think I was better than others because I didn’t have the same sins as them.
In actuality, I didn’t realize how bad my own sins were until I found myself committing the same sins as others that I realized just how depraved I was. No matter how hard I tried to change and do better, I kept giving into the same temptation whether I wanted to or not. Grace, I know I need it daily. It took my accident for God to help me let go of my old sinful ways. When I couldn’t do anything for myself physically, I was able to let go and let God. That is what “in” Christ alone means to me.
We can try and be perfect through works or Scripture memorization until we run ourselves into the ground as I did, but no one can keep the entire law. The Apostle Paul experienced this same struggle and concluded that he, nor we can be perfect in ourselves(Romans 7:14-20, Ephesians 2:8-9). The ultimate goal of God’s law isn’t just to show us God‘s standard but to show us how much we all need grace and give us a fear of God. Anyone who doesn’t stand in grace falls under the law and will not be saved.
Truly trusting in God means not trusting in ourselves, our success, or our works, because no human can save themselves! Hence the reason why we must let go. As hard as it is, even for me, trust means letting go and trusting God with the outcome (Romans 11:6.) This is more than just saying I trust in you God.
How have you learned to let go and what was the outcome? In my life, I have experienced the miracles of God’s grace, before my accident I tried to save myself to no avail. Afterward, I tried to heal and fix myself. But God had to chisel me through hardships It has taken me over 25 years to learn that grace is a miracle in Solo Christo!
2 Comments
This is a great reminder. It makes me think of the song “In Christ Alone”. Without Christ we have nothing, and with him we have everything that we need and more than we deserve.
It is in Christ alone that I am here. Thanks for the wonderful message.