CHRIST ALONE

When I was about 15 in high school, so I'd been a Christian for about a year,

I had the chance to be trained in sharing the good news of Jesus.

I was trained to do a spiel, can't even have a better word,

and a hundred point outline of the gospel.

There was a hundred different stories, memory verses, illustrations,

points to go through.

And the point was I could articulate start to finish somebody who needed to meet Jesus

to would you like to become a Christian.

Now, as a side point, I'm not sure you need an a hundred point presentation.

I think we can maybe do it with a few less, but it was the one that I learned anyway as a 15 year old,

and it was a good one.

But this presentation would always begin with two what we call diagnostic questions.

Questions that were supposed to help you figure out where the person was

in terms of what they knew about God, what they were trusting in, that sort of thing.

The first question was,

if you were to die tonight, are you certain you would go to heaven?

And the second, it's quite morbid in hindsight,

suppose you did die tonight,

and you appeared before God, and he asked you,

why should I let you into my heaven?

What would you say?

I remember as a teenager finding those questions really heavy,

and so to try and lighten the mood,

you would improv a little bit in the second question,

and I'd be like, you know, suppose you did die tonight,

you know, you got hit by a bus, or something like that,

which didn't really lighten it, but that was my attempt to go,

I'm actually asking you a really, really serious question here

about life and death, something that really matters.

And on one level, these questions are really quite simple,

but at the same time, they're quite profound.

And I wonder for you, if I was to ask you those questions,

not in front of everyone, not with everyone eavesdropping,

but just we were to have a chat, and I was to ask you those questions,

what would your answer be?

If I was to ask you, if you were to die tonight,

how certain are you that you would go to heaven?

And if you did rock up at the gates to heaven,

and God's there, and he says, why should I let you in?

What would your response be?

See, these questions reveal a whole lot

about what it is that we're trusting in.

The things that we would hand over to God

as the basis for letting us into heaven,

but also, just how confident we are

that those things are actually going to deliver.

Just how much we actually believe these things

that we would present to God would be a convincing resume.

These questions show us not just if we're confident,

but what we're trusting in,

and whether or not, deep down,

we actually know that those things can come through for us.

Now, the most interesting thing for me in this whole process was,

when I couldn't find somebody to share the gospel with,

to help me practice my 100 points that I had to memorize,

I would make my friends sit down with me

so that I could go through my big presentation.

And it was always interesting to me

to hear what my friends who went to church with me

would say when asked those two questions.

It wasn't always the same.

On one end, you had the people who were certain

that they were going to heaven,

but were trusting in flimsy things.

They were certain they were going to get into heaven,

but they were trusting in how much better they were

than most people in the world.

Or they were trusting in the fact that they'd been baptized once.

Or they were trusting in the fact that

their parents worked at the church.

Down the other end, you had those who were uncertain,

really wanted to go to heaven,

but couldn't say certain,

but were trusting in the unbreakable promises of God

to get them there.

And then you had everything in between on the spectrum.

Now, the point being that not everyone

who wants certainty when it comes to heaven,

not everyone who wants that kind of guarantee,

wants to be able to answer with an emphatic yes

to that first question,

actually gets it.

And in reality, some of the people who say

that they're certain probably shouldn't be.

Even though God's word promises peace

that passes understanding,

even though God's word speaks of an immovable hope,

in the passage just read out for us,

in Hebrews 10, it talks about confidence

to enter the most holy place.

Sometimes it's easier to talk about confidence,

to talk about certainty,

than it is to know it,

to feel it,

to believe it.

Martin Luther, who was one of the key figures

in the Reformation 500 years ago,

was a man who was acutely aware of God's holiness

in stark contrast to his own sin.

It's said that having become a monk,

he would often hog his confession opportunities

and would stay in the confessional booth

for up to six hours at a time

to just recount as many of his sins

as he could possibly remember.

He was a man who was soaking in God's word,

he was studying it,

he was meditating on it,

and yet he was somebody who lived his life

crushed by the weight of his own sin

and guilt and failure.

He knew that God demanded perfection

and it was that unattainable goal

that cast a shadow over his life.

And even having dedicated his life

to being a monk,

to serving God,

the security he so desperately wanted

continued to elude him.

And he's not alone.

Maybe that's how you feel.

Maybe you're doing lots of things

to serve God.

Maybe you're trying very hard

to be the person that you know

he wants you to be

because you desperately want to know

for certain that when you die

you will get to go to heaven.

But it feels like the harder you try,

the less certain you feel.

Last week, Steve mentioned briefly

about the sale of indulgences.

These were effectively papal pardons

for sin.

That is, the Pope would give these things out

as a kind of pardon

for the sin that you had done.

And in the time of the Reformation,

these had begun to be sold for money

as a fundraiser for building projects

and stuff like that.

Effective for building projects

but probably not really helpful

for everyone else.

These indulgences were then

subcontracted out to priests

who would travel around

and give people the chance

to confess sin

and then essentially buy forgiveness.

That's how the system worked.

Now, a really key reason

that something as ridiculous

as that happened

was what we looked at last week.

That really the priests

were the only ones

who had access to the Bible.

Unless you had been through university

and studied Latin,

you had no idea

what God said in his word

and so who were you to argue?

You just took their word for it.

All you knew

is that you were sinful,

God was holy,

God was just

and you needed help.

But there's a second

really important reason

that this all happened.

There's a second reason

that we need to grasp

as we reflect on the Reformation

500 years later.

See, the problem

that required the Reformation,

the thing that needed change,

wasn't the Catholic Church itself.

Now, it was the context for it.

It was the place

where the issue

got institutionalized,

but it wasn't the problem itself.

The core problem

was sinful people.

And I'm not even talking

about the active sin

of the fact that

they were trying, you know,

to pervert the truth of God

and take advantage

of insecure people.

Although that's true

and that was there.

See, the problem then

wasn't that they didn't know

they were sinful.

Of course they did.

That's what made people insecure.

The problem

was that they didn't understand

just how fundamental

their sin was.

They didn't understand

how inherent their sin was,

how deeply inside

of a person

sin exists.

And so the solutions

they would come up with,

the security

they would reach out for

was only of a surface level,

only of a superficial.

And the surface level solution

that the Catholic Church

came up with

was a thing called

penance.

Penance had three steps.

You confess,

you show contrition,

and then you do satisfaction.

So,

you steal some bread.

You confess to the priest

that you stole some bread.

You be contrite.

That is,

you actually mean

your sorry confession

and you plan

to not do it again.

And then,

you do some satisfaction,

which basically means

you give some money

to the poor,

you spend some time

in prayer and fasting,

you make a trip to Rome,

a bit of a pilgrimage,

something like that.

Essentially,

your ledger with God

is in the negative,

so do some good stuff

to get you back

in the positive.

That was the answer.

And there's some logic

to this system.

There's even some

rightness in it.

I mean,

confession is a good gift

from God.

You don't need a priest,

but confession itself

is a good thing

because it reflects

that we're understanding

sin is actually serious.

You've actually got to

do something with sin.

It needs to be dealt with.

Contrition,

of course.

You've got to be genuine

when you confess.

You can't just say the words

and not mean it.

We want to be genuine

in seeking God's forgiveness.

And even the idea

of satisfaction,

that third bit,

the idea that having

done something wrong

towards God,

there should be

some payment

or some restitution,

makes sense.

But when the payment

that you owe God

for sin

is something trivial

like money,

or something temporary

like a few hours fasting,

or a trip to St. Peter's

in Rome,

all it shows

is that

we haven't really

understood sin

at all.

We haven't actually

understood

how big an issue

it is,

how close to us

it is.

It's just a thing

that's been done

and so it's a

good thing

that can be done

to balance it out.

It's just a

superficial solution.

And the result

back then

was a church

full of

petrified people.

People who are aware

that they were sinful,

they knew that,

but they are imprisoned

by these temporary,

ritualistic,

resource-based

solutions.

Their forgiveness

at any given moment,

their security

to say,

I'm certain

I'm going to be

in heaven,

was only ever

partial.

And in some cases

it was limited

to how much

money they had

to buy that

forgiveness.

And so the answer

for the average

churchgoer

back then

to that second

diagnostic question

would have been

about how many

indulgences they had,

how many trips

to Rome they'd made,

how much money

they'd given

to the poor,

how many times

a week they were

fasting and praying,

which was such

an inadequate answer.

Even the church

knew it was

an inadequate answer,

they invented

a theology

of purgatory.

Purgatory

essentially exists

as the place,

they believe,

the place between

this life and heaven

where you settle

the accounts

that you didn't

have a chance

to settle

in this life.

So it's like,

here's our solution.

Do good stuff

to make up

for your bad stuff,

but you'll never

be able to do

enough good stuff,

so we're going

to invent

another space

that the Bible

doesn't talk about

where you can

keep doing good stuff.

In some cases

they thought people

were going to be

in there for

thousands of years

trying to catch up

for all their bad stuff

because their solution

was inadequate.

See,

on one level

they knew it

and yet

this was the cycle,

this was the trap,

this was the prison

that people lived in,

a prison of fear.

And then,

while soaking in God's word,

the reformers

saw Jesus,

saw him for who

he really is,

saw him for what

he had actually done,

saw him for what

he was doing

and is doing

even now

and it changed

everything.

Now it's not that

the Catholic church

back then

didn't believe

in Jesus,

it's just that

they weren't seeing

him clearly enough.

They weren't seeing

him the way

he's revealed himself

in his word.

Even now today

it feels like

when we say

we believe in Jesus

we need to clarify

that because

it's almost not enough

because lots of people

say they believe in Jesus

but they don't all

mean the same thing.

I've had people

come to my house

and knock on my door,

Mormons,

you know,

white shirts,

name tags

and they try and convince

me they believe in Jesus

and I try and explain

to them that the Jesus

that you believe in

is not the Jesus

that the Bible talks

about who I believe in.

Sometimes just to say

you believe in Jesus

is not enough.

If you desire

true salvation,

if you desire

the kind that gives

peace and security

and purpose

and direction

then you need to know

who Jesus

really is.

you need to know

what the Bible says

about Jesus

because it all

stands or falls

on Jesus.

Everything.

And so we need to look

to the ultimate source

of authority,

the place that Steve

took us last week,

the place that the

Reformers went

500 years ago,

the place where God

promises to speak to us

in His Word

to us,

the Bible.

So what does it say?

Well, quite a bit.

Every page is about Jesus.

But let's look at

two specific things

in this passage

from Hebrews 10

that the Bible

definitely says

about Jesus

that we need to grab.

First one.

Jesus does

what you can't.

So again,

Jesus does

what you can't.

He's perfect.

perfect.

This has been the issue

since Adam and Eve

in the Garden of Eden.

Since the moment

where Adam and Eve

decided that they knew

better than God

and they were going to

do things their own way,

God is pure

and perfect

and He demands

the same of His people.

And so from that

point in time,

there has been

this gap

that no one of us

has ever been able

to bridge.

And that gap

is essentially

perfection.

perfection.

That's what

God requires.

That's the standard

He expects.

That's what He's asking for.

So before Jesus came,

God provided His law

with sacrifices

and rituals

and there was contrition

and there was confession

and all those bits

were in there.

But even that

was never going to fix

this issue.

I mean,

have a look at

Hebrews 10 verse 1.

Hebrews 10:1

The law is only

a shadow

of the good things

that are coming,

not the realities

themselves.

For this reason,

it can never

by the same sacrifices

repeated endlessly

year after year

make perfect

those who draw

near to worship.

Can't do it.

Otherwise,

would they not have

stopped being offered?

For the worshippers

would have been cleansed

once and for all

and would no longer

have felt guilty

for their sins.

But those sacrifices

are an annual

reminder of sins.

It is impossible

for the blood

of bulls

and goats

to take away sins.

None of it

made anyone perfect.

This huge chunk

in the Old Testament

which tells Israel

exactly how they

should live,

which tells them

exactly how they

should worship,

which tells them

exactly how they

should gather,

none of it

made anyone

perfect.

And that's what

needs to happen.

If people are going

to be certain

about heaven,

if people are going

to know God,

if people are going

to have a relationship

with Him,

the issue is

they're not perfect

and so the solution

is they need to be

made perfect.

That's the core issue.

That's why we fumble

with that first question.

That's why that word

certain makes us

feel so uncomfortable

because anyone

with even the slightest

bit of self-awareness

knows that perfect

is not them.

And so we feel

uncomfortable

because God

does require that.

And even if the

sacrifices that He

describes in the law

had been able to

pay for past sins,

which they couldn't,

but even if they

had been able to do

that, if they were

able to wipe the

slate clean,

it doesn't change

the fact that

people are sinful.

That sin runs

deeper.

So even if we

could do the

sacrifices and

wipe the slate

clean, as soon

as it's clean,

we've already

dirtied it again.

As soon as the

accounts to zero,

we've already

started accumulating

debt again

because it's us

who are sinful.

Sin comes from

within us

and so something

else is needed.

A better solution

is required.

Therefore,

verse 5,

Therefore,

when Christ came

into the world,

He said,

Sacrifice and

offering you did

not desire,

but a body you

prepared for me.

With burnt

offerings and sin

offerings you were

not pleased.

Then I said,

Here I am.

It is written

about me in the

scroll.

I have come to

do your will,

my God.

First,

He said,

sacrifice and

offerings,

burnt offerings,

and sin offerings

you do not

desire,

nor were you

pleased with

them,

though they

were offered

in accordance

with the law.

Then He said,

Here I am.

I have come

to do your

will.

He sets aside

the first to

establish the

second,

and by that

will we've

been made

holy through

the sacrifice

of the body

of Jesus

Christ once

for all.

Jesus came

to do what

we couldn't.

Jesus came

to provide

the perfection

that was

required.

He came

to do

the perfect

obedience

that we

were falling

short on.

Verse 9,

Here I am.

I have come

to do

your will.

Perfect

obedience

was required,

and in

Jesus,

perfect

obedience

was provided.

The only

place anyone

will ever

find the

perfection

that God

demands of

them

is in

Jesus,

in his

perfect

life,

in his

perfect

death.

In fact,

that's the

whole reason

he came.

Now,

let me just

slow down

here for a

second.

Jesus

didn't come

to be

perfect for

you because

it was

difficult and

he wanted

to make it

easier.

he didn't

come because

you were

close and

you would

have got

there

eventually,

but he

just wanted

to help

you along.

Jesus

does it

because it's

impossible

for you

to do it.

There is

no chance

that anyone

could ever

make this

standard.

Isaiah

tells us

that even

our righteous

acts are

like filthy

rags before

God.

that our

best attempts

are almost

offensive to

him.

And yet

sometimes

we treat

Jesus and

his perfect

obedience like

it's the

top up for

our almost

perfect

obedience.

We don't

see him as

the solution

to our

impossible

problem.

We see

him as the

icing on

our pretty

reasonable

cake.

But the

Bible says

about Jesus

that he's

doing what

we couldn't

do.

He's the

only perfect

one.

That's the

first thing.

The second

thing is

that Jesus

takes what

you deserve.

Two things

are needed

if we're

going to

grab hold

of this

perfection

that we

need to.

we need

this new

perfect

record that

Jesus has

established by

living a

perfect life

but we

still need to

deal with the

consequence of

our sin.

We still need

to deal with

the right

judgment that

God has for

the times that

we ignore him

and dishonor him

and don't love

him the way he

deserves.

But Jesus

takes that as

well.

verse 10

by that

will we've

been made

holy through

the sacrifice

of the body

of Jesus

Christ once

for all.

Day after

day every

priest stands

and performs

his religious

duties again

and again he

offers the

same sacrifices

which can

never take

away sins

but when

this priest

Jesus had

offered for

all time one

sacrifice for

sins he sat

down at the

right hand of

God and since

that time he

waits for his

enemies to be

made his

footstool for

by one

sacrifice he

has made

perfect forever

those who are

being made

holy.

One

sacrifice

sufficient for

all sins

past present

and future

the perfect

son of God

the innocent

son of God

killed in the

place of guilty

ones

killed in our

place

peace.

The prophet

Isaiah

describes it

vividly in

chapter 53

it says

surely he

took up our

pain and

bore our

suffering yet

we considered

him punished

by God

stricken by

him and

afflicted but

he was

pierced for

our transgressions

he was

crushed for

our iniquities

the punishment

that brought

us peace

was on

him and

by his

wounds we

are healed

we all like

sheep have

gone astray

each of us

has turned to

our own way

and the Lord

has laid on

him the

iniquity of

us all

Jesus death

on the cross

was the once

for all

sufficient

payment for

sin

it was the

one time

payment that

keeps the

debt at

zero no

matter how

many times

you stuff

up

it removed

every possible

barrier between

us and

God and

replaced those

barriers with

the perfect

obedience of

Jesus

it's what we

sometimes call

the great

exchange

Jesus takes

what we

deserve

he takes

our wrath

he takes

our judgment

he fully

satisfies God

by dying in

our place

and then in

exchange

he gives us

his perfect

report card

he gives us

his perfect

obedience

and now he

can sit at

the right hand

of God in

heaven

guaranteeing

that his

life lived

for us

his death

died in

our place

makes it

possible

for people

like you and

me to hear

the words

that should

be reserved

just for

Jesus

words like

this is my

son whom

I love

and with

him I am

well pleased

this is my

daughter whom

I love

with her I

am well

pleased

Jesus is the

only place

where sinful

people can

find hope

he's the

only chance

that we

have to

know the

perfect God

of all

creation

as our

heavenly

father

Christ

alone

can do

what is

needed

Christ

alone

does what

you could

not

and takes

what you

deserve

and that's

why Acts

4 says

salvation is

found in

no one

else

for there

is no

other name

under heaven

given to

mankind

by which

we must

be saved

the issue

for many

of us

when it

comes to

being able

to answer

that first

question with

a confident

yes

comes back

to that

system of

penance

confession

is a good

and right

response

when God

shows us

that we're

not the

people we

need to

be

contrition

is a

necessary

part of

that genuine

confession

but it's the

satisfaction

bit where

we go

wrong

satisfaction

needs to

happen

but the

only

satisfaction

that leads

to assurance

is trusting

in the

satisfaction

that Jesus

has done

trusting in

the payment

that Jesus

has made

for our

sin

there's a

chance that

if you're

somebody who

doesn't feel

particularly

secure when

it comes

to heaven

if you're

somebody who

struggles with

the certainty

that God

speaks of in

his word

and promises

is available

through his

son

there's a

chance that

you're doing

the confession

bit maybe

you're doing

the contrition

bit but it's

when it gets

the satisfaction

that you're

tempted to do

maybe Jesus

and yeah

I trust

Jesus but I

feel the need

to do a bit

of the work

myself

the only

place you're

going to find

certainty is

him because

the only place

you're going to

find perfection

which is what

is required

is him

and all you

do when you

try and add

to his

perfection is

dilute it

you unperfect

it

if you're

somebody in

this room

who is not

following Jesus

if you're not

a Christian

if you're not

somebody who

has gone

through that

process of

recognizing that

you need

God's help

if you're ever

going to know

him

you need

his help

if you're

ever going

to be in

heaven

if you're

not somebody

who has

asked for

the forgiveness

that Jesus

purchased by

dying on the

cross in

your place

I want to

tell you

that the

offer of

forgiveness

the offer

of certainty

of hope

of peace

is there

for you

right now

tonight

because Jesus

has done

what you

cannot do

he has taken

what you

deserve

and he is

offering

to forgive

you

to restore

you

and to

begin the

work of

preparing

you for

heaven

here's the

question we

need to

finish with

does this

still matter

surely

you know

we're a

bible

believing

church

this was

a drastic

discovery

500 years

ago but

we know

it's

Christ

alone

I mean

Steve

even mentioned

it last

week

you might

be really

clever

and even

be able

to say

solus

Christus

which is

what the

reformers

would have

said

so surely

we don't

need to

cover this

we know

Jesus is

the only

way we

can be

saved

we talk

about this

every week

at church

was this

really worth

27 minutes

of our

time

well maybe

why did

why did

what the

entire

church

in the

15th

century

who knew

what God

had done

in Jesus

on the

cross

end up

so

fatally

misled

why do

you and

I need

to hear

this

the answer

is

sin

it was

the problem

then

and it's

the problem

now

we need to

understand

that the

issue here

is not

that it's

confusing

God has

laid it

out

he said

trust in

Jesus

just pick up

this solution

it's here

I've done

all the work

it's right

there

just take

it

and yet

our default

setting

is to

not do

that

our default

setting

is to

take what

God has

idiot proofed

for us

and make

it not

work

our default

setting

is to

hear God

say I

love you

in spite

of who

you are

and then

feel this

need to

be somebody

who's

worthy

of God's

love

our default

setting

is to

move in

the opposite

direction

of the

certainty

that God

has offered

by doing

what you

can't

and taking

what you

deserve

and sending

his son

to die

in your

place

on the

cross

we need

to be

reminded

that it's

only in

Jesus

because when

I asked you

at the

beginning of

this

whether or

not you're

certain

you're going

to heaven

most if

not all

of us

were hesitant

about the

word

certain

that's

what

Jesus

offers

and so

we need

to come

back

now

we need

to recognize

that this

is a battle

going on

in our

hearts

and that

salvation

is only

found in

Jesus

not in

the extra

ministry

that you're

doing

not in

your

incredible

godly

character

even

though

that

might

be

true

Jesus

is not

the top

up

he's

the

exchange

he's

the

substitute

and in

him

and him

alone

can we

find

certainty

certainty

is the

debt

that we

owe to

the

protestant

reformation

the

possibility

of

assurance

and

security

in

Jesus

was

all

but

lost

prior

to

the

reformation

but

thank

god

500

years

ago

some

people

opened

their

bibles

and

rediscovered

it

rediscovered

security

and peace

forgiveness

grace

hope

love

and all

of it

in

Jesus

alone

and only

in

Jesus

alone

Jesus

has done

what you

cannot

he has

taken

what you

deserve

and he

invites you

to rest

securely

in that

heart

and there

you

know