Christ Alone—The Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior: What the Reformers Taught… and Why It Still Matters

The Five Solas

by Stephen J. Wellum, Matthew Barrett (Editor)

Historians and theologians alike have long recognized that at the heart of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation were five declarations (or “solas”) that distinguished the movement from other expressions of the Christian faith.

Five hundred years later, we live in a different time with fresh challenges to our faith. Yet these rallying cries of the Reformation continue to speak to us, addressing a wide range of contemporary issues. The Five Solas series will help you understand the historical and biblical context of the five solas and how to live out the relevance of Reformation theology today.

In Christ Alone, Stephen Wellum considers Christ’s singular uniqueness and significance biblically, historically, and today, in our pluralistic and postmodern age. He examines the historical roots of the doctrine, especially in the Reformation era, and then shows how the uniqueness of Christ has come under specific attack today. Then, he walks us through the storyline of Scripture, from Christ’s unique identity and work as prophet, priest, and king, to the application of his work to believers and our covenantal union with him to show that apart from Christ there is no salvation. Wellum shows that we must recover a robust biblical and theological doctrine of Christ’s person and work in the face of today’s challenges and explains why a fresh appraisal of the Reformation understanding of Christ alone is needed today.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Faith, History, Christianity, Religion

343 pages, Paperback

Published April 18, 2017

About the author

Stephen J. Wellum (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is professor of Christian theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and editor of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. Stephen lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, Karen, and their five children.

Reviews

[Rachel Winkler · Rating 5 out of 5]

So thankful for Dr. Wellum’s work in this book! This really helped me to fill in several aspects of Christology that hasn’t quite clicked for me before. Dr. Wellum is very thorough and very clear in his explanations of orthodox Christology, covering topics such as Christ’s divinity, His humanity, His threefold office, and penal substitutionary atonement. He also gives very thorough arguments against erroneous views on these things and shows how the Reformed doctrine of Christ Alone is really the only one that doesn’t compromise either Christ’s exclusivity or sufficiency.

Very thankful for this book and recommend it to anyone who wants a really good basic introduction to Christology.

“Truly, in Christ alone all our needs are met completely and perfectly. Our need for truth is found in him as the final prophet and revelation of God. Our need for a righteous standing before God is achieved by him as our priestly representative, substitute, and new covenant head. Our need to have our rebel hearts subdued, our enemies defeated, and the new creation inaugurated and ultimately consummated is accomplished by him alone as our conquering king. Christ’s threefold office brings into focus the glory of his person and saving work, and it helps us understand the Reformation confession, Christ alone.”

[Philip Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Christianity is rightly described as a 'sinner's religion.'"

Great book on Christology in its own right, and an excellent addition to the Sola series put out by Zondervan. Wellum deals with the chalcedonian standards, and then what the Protestant Reformation uniquely states about Christ and his work. He then moves to our current context, observing that Roman Catholic theology is no longer the dominant ideology hindering people from embracing the Bible's conception of Christ, but rather secular post modernism and all the self contradiction and circular reasoning that it entails. The book draws nicely from the streams of both biblical and systematic theology. As with everything I've read from Wellum (who I'm convinced is super underrated), it was tightly argued and well researched. If you're looking for a good book on Jesus Christ, I recommend this!

[Emily Stem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough. Excellent. Page count on this is wrong. It's well over 300 pages.

[Jonathan Franzone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent addition to this series! Dr. Wellum does a great job of explaining the Biblical foundation of "Christ Alone" as well as the intricacies of the argument contra Roman Catholic theology.

[CJ Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one may be my favorite of the series so far. Wellum ties together exegesis, church history, philosophy, and historical, biblical, and systematic theology for a compelling presentation of the exclusive identity and sufficient work of Christ as the only savior. Very well done.

[Jeff Breeding · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent summary of orthodox Christology. An even better example of how to integrate biblical, systematic, and historical theology. The closing chapters dealing with solus Christus in a postmodern world are among the best in the book.

[Bradley Hooton · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an ever growing pluralistic and post-modern society, Wellum does a phenomenal job defining Solus Christus from the basis of Scripture as he stands on the shoulders of the reformers who have gone before us emphasizing the need for the doctrine of Solus Christus to be central to the faith!

[Matthew Bloomquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to Christology, highly recommend. Great defense of penal substitution and also loved his survey of the shift from pre-modern revelational epistemology to the rational epistemology of modernity and the enlightenment to the individualistic and subjective epistemology of postmodernism.

[Tristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that is rich and yet readable for anyone. Covers penal substitutionary atonement (PSA) and shows how it is central to the gospel and the entire biblical framework. He also provides throughout the book a great argument for Christ alone against Christ + works (amidst other things) as Roman Catholicism believes. Would highly recommend!

[Amanda Bittner · Rating 5 out of 5]

didn’t read all, but most of it.. again. another super well done book by Wellum.

[Hobart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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So, Stephen Wellum tackles the solus Christus Sola, the exclusivity and sufficiency of Christ as our Redeemer. It doesn't get the press that some of the others do, but it's as essential to the Reformation as the rest.

He begins with survey of the Biblical material surrounding the identity of Jesus Christ -- as Messiah and as God the Son Incarnate. This was some solid work -- I had a hard time engaging with his writing, I can't say why, but he just didn't hook me. It likely had to do with the fact that this book was on the heels of outstanding works on the same idea by Machen and Vos -- and a related book by Crowe. Wellum demonstrated a lot of familiarity with contemporary scholarship on the topic -- from all parts of the spectrum. Every few pages, I'd come across a paragraph or so that'd be really helpful. But the rest was just something I slogged through.

Part 2 focused on Christ's Atoning work -- the heart of the book, for sure. He spends two chapters defending and articulating the doctrine of the Penal Substitution. There is much to commend here -- well, much to endorse, I think it could've been stated in a more interesting way. The biggest issue I had with his presentation here is that he reduces everything else recorded in the gospels to an "extended prologue" to the passion narratives. That's not a characterization on my part -- he states that.

The third Part focuses on the use of the doctrine in the Reformation and today, both in reference to Roman Catholicism and the wider contemporary culture. I think there was a lot of promise to this section and I wish is was better developed. As it was, it came across half-baked. Although, at this point, I'd pretty much given up on the book and maybe it was better than I thought.

On the whole, this series has been a disappointment to me -- I'm going to finish it (I own one I haven't read yet, and my series OCD is going to compel me to get the last). This one more than the others. I wouldn't say don't read it -- there's some really good bits here and there, and there's nothing wrong anywhere, in fact, it's pretty helpful. But, I don't know, I just can't tell anyone to go grab it, either.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. So far, the best Theological work I've read this year. This is the layman's version of Wellum's more academic work "God the Son Incarnate" in which he goes into much more depth in terms of Christology and historical Theology. I read both works in tandem, because although they are covering similar topics at two different levels, they are by no means identical.

This is one of those works where, after completing the whole thing, you are absolutely floored at how precise you need to be when it comes to Theological concepts like Christology. Savory.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wellum does a good job on many points. One might argue he does a better job on some points than necessary. The scope of the book is not necessarily restricted to the differences of Christ between Rome and the Prots. That might have been a better book. Wellum begins to cover this around page 250 and after. Before that, he covers a great deal of Christological theology in general, which was still helpful but it wasn't related to the uniqueness of the reformation.

[Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's safe to say that the doctrine of Christ - both His person and His work - is central to the entire Christian worldview. If one's view of Christ is amiss, then one's version of "Christianity" as a whole will be skewed as well. Writing a book that specifically tackles the doctrine of Christ, then, is a daunting task; yet Stephen Wellum handles such a task like a first-class theologian, combining biblical, historical, and systematic theology in terrific fashion. The result is a treatment of Christology that I found both fascinating and invigorating.

Wellum's book is divided into three main parts. Part one discusses the nature and identity of Christ as they are revealed in the storyline of Scripture. I particularly enjoyed this section as he allowed the Old Testament writers, Jesus, and the apostles to speak clearly for themselves, thus laying down a foundation for Christology that is thoroughly biblical. Many of his insights into how the Old Testament sets up expectations for Jesus' identity as the God-Man were new to me, and I enjoyed having a fuller grasp of the storyline of Scripture as a whole. Part two discusses the sufficiency of Christ's saving work in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Included in this section was a chapter on the offices of Christ (prophet, priest, and king) and a helpful outline of the various views of Christ's atonement that have been held throughout church history. He concludes this section with two chapters that make a clear and compelling case for the truthfulness and centrality of understanding Christ's atonement as an act of penal substitution. Part three discusses the debate over Solus Christus in both the Reformation and in our modern culture, explaining the similarities and differences between our situation and that of the Reformers. I was surprised at how informative and interesting Wellum's discussions of Modernism and Postmodernism proved to be; those were not subjects I expected to have a better grasp of by picking up a book about "Christ Alone." He concludes his book with some guidance on how Christians can defend the exclusivity and sufficiency of Christ in our modern world. As a small point of personal satisfaction, I would also like to mention that his "Conclusion" contains some great quotations from two of my favorite authors - John Calvin and C. S. Lewis - thus earning him a bonus point or two from me.

What I may have enjoyed most about this book was its rare ability to focus on both big-picture issues of systematic/historical theology and the little details of biblical exegesis. So much of the book could function as a solid commentary on various key passages (cf. the treatment of Hebrews 2:5-18, which takes up most of chapter 4), while Wellum ensures that the reader understands how these specific texts join together to form a coherent and glorious picture of the person and work of Christ in Scripture. He also does not refrain from breaking out on occasion in praise of the amazing Redeemer he is describing (similar to the doxological habits of the apostle Paul in his writings), thus coloring his book with an attitude of worship and reverence for Christ. In a book describing the glorious person and saving work of God the Son, I can think of no better tone to maintain. If you are seeking to develop a rich, biblical view of who Jesus is and what He has accomplished for His people, I would highly recommend checking out this book.

[Curby Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 3rd book I have read in the Sola series by Zondervan. Like the others it too is an excellent defense and discussion of Reformed doctrine. In this case the doctrine of Solus Christus - Christ alone. This is also the longest of the 5 works - just over 300 pages. Wellum breaks this topic down into 3 sections.

Part 1: Christ Alone: The Exclusivity of His Identity.

This section is one that any serious Christian will agree on - whether Protestant, Roman, or Orthodox. Wellum makes a wonderful defense of how the Bible portrays Jesus, God the Son Incarnate, the Apostolic Witness to Jesus' Incarnation, and how His exclusive identity provides the basis for an all-sufficient work of atonement.

Part 2: Christ Alone: The Sufficiency of His Work.

Wellum presents a very thorough case for Christ's threefold office of Prophet, Priest and King from Scripture and from the historical Christian understanding. He takes a multi-perspectival view of the atonement - rescue, redemption, propitiation, Christus Victor, etc. But makes a convincing case that the basis and overall emphasis of Scripture is that of Penal Substitution. PS is not in conflict with the other aspects - but rather is the unifying principle behind them.

Part 3: Christ Alone in the Reformation and Today.

Wellum points out the Chalcedonian Unity in the Church on Christ's exclusive identity. Both Reformed and Roman understanding has no daylight on the dual nature of Jesus as fully God and Man and how His unique nature is the basis of our Salvation.

Wellum does point out the two main areas of conflict between the Reformed view and Roman view. In Roman theology there is no real Solus Christus in practice - but only Christus in Ecclesia (Christ in the Church) and Ecclesia in Christus (Church in Christ). Ultimately the Roman view truncates the sufficiency of Christ' work and our justification before God by faith alone in Christ alone. Rome sees Christ saving us only in tandem with the intervening act of the Church by the unbiblical notion of infused grace via the sacraments. Likewise Rome rejects the notion that Christ truly paid for all of our sins. Rather just our past and original sin.

Wellum also critiques the wholly unbiblical practice of the intercession of saints or any priestly role of mediation which steal from Christ His unique glory as our High Priest. The claim that praying to saints is just like asking friend to pray is properly dismissed as no one who asks a friend to pray for them thinks that they have an authoritative, effective intermediary office like that of Christ. Lastly, he critiques the ideology behind the Mass as it also undermines Christ's all-sufficient and perfect work in Salvation as it denies the exclusive priesthood of Jesus. It also denies the perfect, finished work that Christ achieved on the Cross.

Lastly Wellum then discusses the challenges of Christ's uniqueness in our postmodern society and the need to return to a top-down epistemology and rejection of both Enlightenment and Post-modern understandings of knowledge.

Highest possible recommendation.

[Brian Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A more accurate review would be 4.5 stars.

Wellum is a sharp theologian, and this book is a fine defense of Jesus' identity (as the divine Son of God and Prophet, Priest, and King) and his work in saving his people. In particular, this is a fine defense of penal substitutionary atonement (PSA), a doctrine that some find offensive (likely because they cannot bring themselves to acknowledge how offensive sin is to God, and how it must be dealt with decisively, and even violently). The biblical evidence for PSA is clear. And other aspects of the atonement rely on PSA. Jesus is an example, but if his death didn't actually accomplish something, it's a strange example to follow. It would be a pointless sacrifice. Christus Victor, the idea that Jesus, in dying on the cross and rising from the grave triumphed over his enemies, including Satan, doesn't work without PSA. Satan wanted to get people to rebel against God, and he is also the accuser, pointing out our sin and trying to have us believe that we could never be forgiven. He is defeated because Jesus takes our sin on his shoulders, is regarded as sin itself, pays the penalty in full for the sin of all who trust him, and then rises from the grave.

Where this book falls a bit short is defending the idea of exclusivity. I saw some marvel that Wellum would present a brief tour of Enlightenment philosophy, but that tour is superficial and doesn't get to the heart of today's arguments against exclusivity. I would rather focus on the fact that all of us believe in exclusivity, at least in some things in life. People who might find the exclusivity of Christ offensive surely believe, quite exclusively, that racism is wrong. We all make exclusive truth claims. The claim that only Jesus is the God-man who can reconcile us to God, and that we must have conscious faith in him to be saved, is exclusive, and it is true, just as exclusive and true as the claim that two plus two is four and not three or five.

As with the other books in this series, I wish Zondervan had printed these using better paper (the paperback has paper that feels like a thicker version of newspaper; I don't think it will age well) and a hardcover or casebound binding. These books were printed for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, but they deserve to have a long shelf life.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It should be no surprise, at this point in 2017, that this year is the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The year that Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Chapel, the act that sparked the Reformation. During the Reformation there was a resurgence in theological understanding summarized in the teachings of the Five Solas. These Five Solas are by scripture Alone, by faith alone, by grace alone, by Christ alone, to the Glory of God Alone.

These pillars of the Reformation are still alive today comma yet they need to be re-established as the centrality of what Christians believe. To that end Zondervan has produced new series of books called, The Five Solas Series. Each book in the series examines one of the Five Solas. The one under review today is that of, Christ Alone: The Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior: What the Reformers Taught… And Why it Still Matters, by Stephen Wellum.

Stephen Wellum is a noted scholar at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is very well-versed in this topic. Christ Alone, is divided into two parts. The first part studies by Christ alone in the context of scripture and history while the second part Studies by grace alone in the context of the church. Each of these chapters is jam-packed full of exemplary exegesis and application to the modern reader. This book is unique in the sense that it bridges the gap between scholastic and popular level study.

Furthermore this book may be the best treatments on the topic of how salvation is through Christ alone ever to be produced in short form. Therefore I highly recommend it to every Christian who desires to grow in their faith, be it Pastor, Bible student, Sunday school, or Congregant who was looking to grow in their faith as they study the importance of how God’s love demonstrated by his grace in the work of Jesus Christ is the only way for salvation from our sin.

This book was provided to me free of charge from Zondervan in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.

Christ Alone: The Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior: What the Reformers Taught… And Why it Still Matters

© 2017 Stephen Wellum

Publisher: Zondervan

Page Count: 352 Pages

ISBN: 978-0310515746

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough exposition of the person and necessity of Christ as our only Savior, Redeemer, Intercessor, Sacrifice, and Risen Lord. Despite the title, the aspect of Solus Christus as a Reformation doctrine set against Roman Catholic or Anabaptist doctrine plays a very small part in the book. The book is much more of a Christology than a Soteriology, and, in the context of the universal church and understanding what and why Christians believe what we do, that is a subject that is certainly more foundational to the faith. What Jesus has done depends almost entirely upon who he is, and that is Wellum's focus.

The format was different than the other books in the series, which at least led with the obvious Protestant/Catholic historical divide on the question and then proceeded to make the historical, intellectual, and Biblical arguments for the Reformation understanding of the doctrines. Wellum keeps that divide hidden well in the background until the last quarter of the book! In retrospect, that makes the book more likely to be read by those who may not consider themselves aligned with Reformational Protestantism.

Also, Wellum rarely uses primary sources, preferring explanations from authors in the past 20 years for explanations of historical events, doctrines, and positions. This was a disappointing aspect - otherwise it's a 5-star book.

[Mike E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a lot more than a book about the sufficiency of Christ alone for salvation as taught by Scripture and rediscovered during the Reformation. Lots of careful historical theology and historiography throughout.
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QUOTES

Scripture is clear: our greatest need as humans is to be reconciled and justified before our holy, righteous, triune Creator–Covenant God. This is something that fallen humans do not grasp, regardless of whether it is the reformation era or our own secular, postmodern time.

The reformers placed _Christ alone_ at the center of their doctrine because Scripture places _Christ alone_ at the center of God's eternal plan for his creation. (20)

The Reformers and Rome, however, disagreed on the sufficiency of Christ for salvation. As we saw in the previous chapter, Roman Catholic theology separated the believer from Christ by inserting the church and the seven sacraments as the means by which God applies his grace to us. Christ's death paid for our original sin, but our present and future sin is forgiven by a _combination_ of Christ's work _and_ the sacraments, which infuse grace into us as applied by the church through it's priests. (275)

Submitting to Scripture alone does not mean that we ignore the aid of tradition and historical theology. But we must remain clear that these hermeneutical servants merely help us apply the rule of faith as we read the authoritative Word of God in Scripture. (309)

Before the Enlightenment, people found it _impossible not to believe_ the Christian world view; starting with the Enlightenment, it became _possible not to believe_ in the basic truths of Christianity; three hundred years after the Enlightenment and the rise of postmodern pluralism, most people find it _impossible to believe_ in the objective truths and ultimate concerns of the Christian worldview. (277)

[Ben K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a scholarly exploration of the Reformation cry “Christ Alone.” Most of it’s pages explore two topics: Christ’s unique, exclusive identity, and the sufficiency of his work on our behalf. Wellum argues that the identity of Christ and his work cannot be separated. His identity qualifies him for his work, and his work is only sufficient because of who he is. While the reformers basically agreed with Rome on Christ’s exclusive identity, they disagreed on the sufficiency of Christ’s work. Rome’s sacramental theology diminished the sufficiency of Christ’s work.

The last part of the book moves beyond the Reformation to summarize the challenges of proclaiming Christ alone in a postmodern context where both the Identity and sufficiency of Christ’s work are under fire.

This was an enjoyable read for the most part. At times I felt that the language was very heavy and I experienced information overload. Some of the ideas could have been excised more simply and concisely. But these are minor quibbles. I highly recommend the whole “5 solas” series!

[Matt Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent volume in the five solas series. Wellum calls on other authors (at times perhaps too much) to shows that Christ has made atonement for believers. It shows the necessity of the Cross. It is also an explanation of the fact that penal substitution is the best explanation of the Crucifixion form the Biblical Worldview. There are other explanations of the Cross including the Ransom theory, governmental (or non penal substitution) and the moral example (on the extreme liberal side). The view first displayed by Anselm and then redacted most by the Reformers was that of penal substitution. Wellum shows that this is the argument that Paul put forth, unfortunately, it is not the one adopted by most churches today. This is a call for a return to penal substitution being the foundation to our understanding of Christianity.

[Marc Sims · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wellum does it again. This book, different from his book on Christology proper (God the Son, Incarnate), emphasizes the work of Christ. Wellum's treatment of Christ's roles as prophet, priest, and king was excellent, as well as his defense of penal substitutionary atonement. I was, for some reason, under the impression that the "Five Sola Series" was popular-level work, but it apparently is not. Wellum gets into the weeds on some issues, from various atonement theories to a history of interpretation from the Patristics all the way through Postmodernism and today.

What stuck out to me as most helpful was this idea, "Who Christ is enables the kind of work he does, and what he must do requires who he is." Essentially, it is only one who is truly God and truly man who is capable of doing the work that Christ accomplished.

[Samuel Bierig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super Dooper Uber good! A book is worth reading if it changes you or teaches you in at least one way. For this book, I think I was encouraged by Wellum's statements per what the OT sacrifices could and could not do. He mentioned that they could pacify God's wrath until the coming Messiah, but they could not relieve the sinner's feelings of guilt! That was huge. That truth alone was worth the time it took to read the book. What an all-sufficient Savior we have in Christ. He cleanses our consciences and tells our guilt to take a hike...and it does.

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

May we live as Wellum encourages us, "There are many good things in life which legitimately demand our attention. Yet, it is far too easy to forget who is central to everything, namely our Lord Jesus. Given who our Lord is as God the Son incarnate; given what he has done for us as our new covenant head and incomparable Redeemer; given the absolute necessity of his work; given that he has represented us in obedient life and stood in our place in substitutionary death to pay for our sin and accomplish our eternal salvation; given that he is the all-sufficient Savior who meets all of our needs as our great prophet, priest, and king; given all of this, our only reasonable response is to submit ourselves to him in complete trust, confidence, love, joy, worship, and obedience. He demands and deserves nothing less."

[Kevin O’Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent work on Christology. This is more accessible than Wellum's masterful work on Christology - 'God the Son Incarnate', but it still gives a great overview and introduction into the historical and theological components of Christology. I was particularly helped by Wellum's discussion of Christology in our current context of postmodernism.

[Alaric Aumann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall the book is good, Dr. Wellum provides an excellent introduction to Christ alone, which is the purpose of the book. However, I am confused by his analysis of Kant, it seems to not take into account Kant’s Prolegomena to Future Metaphysics, and ignores the good things that came out of the Enlightenment, and Western philosophy as a whole. Overall good book.

[Nathan Bozeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen tells us, from the perspective of Reformed theology, why Christ is our UNIQUE Savior and why no one else could ever fill his role.

The only reason I am giving it 4 stars is because I wanted a bit more of a treatment on Catholic theology - the sections he addressed the topic were great, but there wasn't much in there about it.

[Garry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciated this book as an overview on the sufficiency of Christ. Wellum carefully unfolded a respectful, propitiational Christology which I found useful on many levels. I do wish that he had interacted more with the Reformers and their theological evolution though.

[Peter Bronson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent example of straightforward theology

Dr. Wellum has contributed a clearly worded argument for the biblical-historical reformation proclamation of Christ alone.

Very accessible and highly recommended for believers at any stage of their pilgrimage.

[Justin Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last couple chapters are worth the price of the book. Very helpful in understanding how previous philosophical claims have formed the culture at large, and how to preach the Gospel to our world today. I recommend this book.