The Four Solas of John 3

3:31And that's how we're characterized a lot, right? But I want to share with you that the Reformation was something far more than that, something far more glorious, far more wonderful. And I just want to talk a little bit about it because long before Martin Luther and the Reformation, there was John chapter 3. And what you see in John chapter 3, or what you see in the Reformation is a return to the biblical teaching about salvation. The Reformation was a time of rediscovery. We could call it that. Much like the time in Josiah's reign when Israel rediscovered the law of God when they were repairing the temple. And it brought about a huge change, revival. Even if it didn't last very long, it brought about a severe change in Israel.

4:30Just as years of neglect brought about formalism, superstition, and outright paganism in Israel's time, so it did in the history of the church as well. The church, by neglecting the scripture for centuries, it caused the church to slip into a formalism, superstition, and even gross error. The church-state superstructure had become large, it had become complicated and corrupted. And that's what happens when you marry church and state, by the way. When the church becomes an avenue of political power, corruption is sure to be close.

5:18And there were these great barriers between the average churchgoer and the Bible. There was the language barrier, right? Needed to be in Latin, right? There was a tradition barrier that so obscured the plain, simple meaning of the text and ladened it down with all these kinds of traditions. And then there was the clergy ignorance barrier. And all of this kept the general population of Europe isolated from the simple truth of God's word. And then the Protestant Reformation.

5:57I want to, you've heard me say this. Before, I want you to understand what the vision of Protestantism is. Biblical Protestantism. Now, I know there's been a lot of, everything goes under the umbrella, and there's a lot of defectors, and it could be, but at its core, what is the vision of Protestantism? I've likened it to a painter with a palette of paints. You've heard me make this analogy before. With a painter, with the colors of Scripture alone, the biblical authors and the picture of God that is painted from such a palette is driven by the authors and the texture and the color. All of that is it gives a picture of God, gives a picture of man, gives a picture of Christ, the Christ of Scripture. And the vision was: let us understand what the Bible has to say about God and about his Christ without the colors and without the taints of church tradition or modern science or popular political correctness or you just name it.

7:09We wanted a picture that Scripture alone paints of God, His Christ, our real problem. That's the vision. And it's a good vision. It is a good vision. And this is that vision called Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone as the final authority. Let us understand our world through the Scriptures. And if there is a competition between modern science and scripture, we'll let Scripture have authority and we'll let science bow. When there's a conflict between the hyper inclusionism of our day, we will let that inclusionism bow. We will let the political, correct Christ of our generation bow to the clear Christ revealed in Scripture. That's the vision.

8:11Well, prior to Luther, there were a number of men, such as John Huss, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, who sought to reform the church through teaching, through preaching, through translating the Word of God, through putting the Word of God into the hands of the common person. But it is Martin Luther that is widely acknowledged for having started the Reformation in 1517, 500 years ago. At the issue was his insistence that the Pope had no authority over purgatory. Purgatory is this idea that after we die, we all got to go through some kind of fire, at least for some cleansing fire for some period of time until the rest of our sins can be purged and we're welcomed into heaven. Get kind of Like a one more thing, Christ didn't get it all out, not all. We've got to get some more work on that idea. And there is particularly this idea of indulgence, indulgences, that the Pope claimed authority over, which indulgence was basically a way to reduce the amount of punishment one had to undergo in purgatory for their sins. And Martin Luther basically said, No, the Pope, you don't have authority in such matters. And if you did have authority, you shouldn't be charging for it anyway. And that was kind of at the heart of this. And so, often, often, this is how it gets started with the pounding of the nails, the 95 theses upon the walls of Wittenberg.

9:57And so often, the Protestant movement has been characterized by that. But I want to submit to you today: there's something far more profound that took place, something far more profound that is taking place with those who continue this idea, this thought, this commitment, this vision. Let us understand God through Scripture alone. Let us proclaim the Christ of Scripture alone. And it comes out of hearts that have been transformed. By the beauty of Christ, something far more profound. Not a bunch of angry protesters, but a bunch of transformed sinners who are enraptured with the glory and beauty of God. That's what's taking place.

10:45Well, the primary emphasis of the whole Reformation, it wasn't about eschatology, that is, the study of the future events, really wasn't dealing with that. It really wasn't even dealing with ecclesiology, that is, the nature of the church. May have touched on some of that. Really, it wasn't about pneumatology, the study of the Holy Spirit's work. Really wasn't about that. It was about soteriology, as they call it in systematic theology. The study of salvation, the news about salvation. It was about the doctrine of salvation. And that's what the Reformation was about. And sure, it touched on issues of bibliology, that is, what authority do we have to speak on? That's scripture, touches on biblical anthropology, the biblical doctrine of sin, Christology and theology proper, all of that. But at its core, it's salvation. And this is what sparked it. Pope, you have no authority to be taking money and springing people from purgatory. You don't have that authority. It's a sham. It's a hoax. And whenever you cut into the money stream of a church straight structure so powerful like that, you can expect a lot of fallout. Welcome to the 16th century Reformation and the world of Martin Luther and those that came after him. But like I said, long before Luther ever stepped on the scene, there was John chapter 3.

12:31And just as we've studied these past couple of months, it's not hard to see where the Reformers got their ideas about the nature of salvation. Straight out of this passage come all the major tenets of the doctrine of salvation from the mouth of Jesus himself. And I just want you to see those this morning so that you will embrace and proclaim the salvation that he taught. So that you will embrace and proclaim the Christ of scriptures. All other Christs are completely impotent to save.

13:11So, first of all, just as we get started, I want to talk to you about the need of salvation, the need of salvation. Obviously, if we're talking about being saved, there must be a need. And just to recall and bring your minds back to the need of salvation, there's two questions that need to be answered. And I'll be doing it from these first 21 verses in John chapter 3. And I'll bounce around a little bit, but I plan on covering them all just as a summary of where we've been. But two questions need to be answered. The first is: what does man need to be saved from? What does man need to be saved from? Well, first of all, man needs to be saved from his condemned state. That's clear in verse 17: for God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, that is, or to condemn the world, is a better word there, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged, or not condemned, but he who does not believe has been condemned already. And we spent some time looking at the idea of condemned is like a building that is beyond repair, that nobody is willing to take upon the cost and bring the know-how and the cost and the time to take an old dilapidated building and bring it up to code, and it's condemned, ready to just fall down. No one's going to take the time, effort, and energy. That's the idea. Or it's like a prisoner on death row. That's condemned. And the man, because of his fallenness and his choice of sin, his preference of sin, his love, he is in a condemned state. So, Christ, we need to be saved from that statement.

15:00Stamp of condemnation, which the whole world is shun under. So, man needs to be saved from his condemned state. Second thing, man needs to be saved from his love of the darkness and his hatred of the light. Look in verse 19. This is the judgment that the light has come. You know, God in verse 16 has already said, God has agoped the world. The light has come into the world. And men loved the darkness. They agopaid the darkness rather than the light. For their deeds were evil. You see, love comes out of a heart. The love for the darkness comes out of a heart for the darkness.

15:43And I want to talk to you a little bit about a current issue going on just this week. Obviously, if you've been around, some of you probably aren't paying attention unless you have kids. Walt Disney has released another movie out, and it's Beauty and the Beast. And I want you to read, I want to read to you a little bit about this that has just happened. Last week, it brought in an estimated $170 million. And it is set, get this, a new high mark for family movies. So now this is the new standard, new high mark, greatest success of family movies. And if those of you who are aware, That Disney has included what they are openly calling their first openly gay character. So their open homosexuality is displayed. It's no secret, it's no accusation, it's their admission to the praise of a lot of people in the community there in California and Hollywood that says, well, it's a long time. It's about time this has come out. The tickets now are predicted to top 1 billion globally. Okay, so that's it, the new Disney character.

17:12It's a time they are openly celebrating homosexuality and making it mainstream. They're unapologetic about that. That shouldn't surprise anybody. That doesn't surprise me. They're living out their worldview. They're proclaiming their message. They are not biblicists. They never claim to be biblicists. Now, I know in the church, many go and they watch it. That doesn't surprise me either. There's a lot of people that will go, they'll give their money. A lot of people don't really even know what's going on, so there's huge droves will go in there. That doesn't surprise me. This is what's kind of interesting. What I find fascinating is the scorn of. On those who opt not to go.

18:04And scorn that comes from within the body of Christianity. That's what I find a little bit more interesting. Those who opt not to go. Now remember, Disney's placed this out, and as a response, some don't go, opt not to go. Foul ball, not going to go, not going to support. And they are labeled judgmental, overreacting, protesters. Bunch of thumping protesters. That's what you are, right? Let me read to you a couple of blogs of, and I'm talking within a Christian, homeschool, conservative environment.

18:55By the way, all of my kids opted not to watch the movie. The older ones opted out of their choice. It was their choice. They did not go to see. The younger ones, also out of choice, opted not to see it. My choice, okay? But here's a couple of interesting things. This is just some blogs. This is real. This is hot off the press, right? Here's a young Christian, homeschooled, conservative. A guy that says, Well, I watched it speaking about the gay part. It was very minor. Yes, it exists, but let's not overreact. Okay?

19:43Then another one says, This: Look, gay people exist. So, of course, they're going to pop up in some movie, like they pop up at your work, friend, group, or even family. Instead of going a wee bit too crazy over a fantastically made film, how about we use passion in a more loving way towards pressing issues that are actually worth it? So, in other words, you're getting overcore, let's use our passion, let's direct ourselves to really a more important issue. Well, this is a very important issue. Our culture is changing fast.

20:20Let me tell you about a conversation. I'm going to bring it more close to home in our fellowship hall during last week's PGM homeschool choir time. If you've ever been up here, a couple hundred kids, I mean, people running around, conversations happening. I mean, it's wild, it's good, and it's a blessing. I'm going to tell you about a conversation that happened with a family that went to see it and a family that did not. At ease, none of your kids are here. You guys are all, it's nobody in this room, okay?

20:56One of the older siblings had. Was talking about the movie and said, Yeah, I can't believe there were so many people getting upset about going, about going to this movie. In fact, they were kind of overreacting. And then this four-year-old little girl looked up and said, Yes, those two men really loved each other. That's the way the open homosexual gets his message across to a four-year-old conservative, Bible-believing family. And the parents pay for it. That's how it happens. Disney put it out there. And yet, those who opt not are the bad guy. Those who opt out are the bad guys, right?

21:58They opt out. It is, and so all of a sudden, the person who shines light, who testifies with Christ that the deeds of this world are evil, all of a sudden, they are hated. It's the spirit of Cain rising up against Abel. I hope I haven't offended any of you, so that I hope you come back. Don't touch beauty and the beast, right? But man needs to be saved. From his love of darkness. And I hope none of you are right now taking offense at what I just said and creating all these philosophical fig leaf coverings.

22:44Let me tell you, there is an iron tyranny coming upon this land. The likes of the United States has never seen before. It is a homosexual tyranny that is as ruthless and as brutal and will not tolerate insult. We talk about some of the radical extreme Islam, right? They will not tolerate insulting Islam. We have the same thing going on here. And what's going to happen is there's going to be more like this. In fact, there's not just going to be more, there's going to be a demand for more. And then what's going to happen is that you're going to be intolerant if it's not included. That's where this is going. Maybe we ought to be done with this sola scriptura stuff.

23:40I mean, it's going to be hard in our generation to stand up on the biblical morality that's laid out in Scripture. Martin Luther was tempted to do the same, to take on the superstructure of his day based upon the word of God alone. Out of principle alone. Listen, the politically correct Jesus today leaves you in sin. He doesn't want to speak against your sin. He tolerates it. That Christ doesn't save. He's not the Christ of Scripture.

24:21So man needs to be saved from his condemned state. And I'm going to move on. There's a lot more to say. I can say you just can't finish out of this text. Man must be saved from his love of the darkness, and man must be saved from his chronic unbelief. Verse 18, he who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed. That's the problem. You don't believe God, so you run from God. You create these philosophical fig leaves and run from God because you don't believe in him. You don't see the God of Scripture. You don't see his goodness and his kindness and his mercy and his love and his holiness and his justice and how he takes care of all of that in his pursuit and love of you. So the second question, first of all, the need of salvation. What does man need to be saved from? Answered that one. Second one, what does Jesus teach about the need for salvation? What does Jesus teach? Jesus answered to Nicodemus in verse 3.3, Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So, Jesus says you need salvation in order to see the kingdom of God. One cannot see the kingdom of God, cannot understand the kingdom of God unless he is born from above, unless a work of grace has taken place. And then, second, he says one cannot enter the kingdom of God. Look at verse five. Truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. You need a work of grace to be able to see, to understand, and to be able to enter. Well, that's kind of my introduction. Now that we have looked at what Jesus taught about the need of salvation, we're ready to look at what Jesus taught about the nature of salvation, the nature of salvation. And it is specifically the four solas, what I call the four solas of the Reformation, which really, it's not really the four solas of the Reformation, it's the four solas of John chapter three, because John chapter three drove the minds of the Reformers.

26:33So I want to look at them. But let me, just before we even look at that, I want to emphasize that the Protestant message is the biblical message. The message of Scripture alone. Only the message of Scripture cologne can give the biblical message. And it's entirely good news. That's what it's about. It's a message of hope, it's a message of peace. Listen, there is going to come a time when you're going to be so tired of your sin.

27:09There's going to be a time when many in this nation are going to run down the path of sin and they're going to get to the end and they're going to find it empty. They're going to find that it doesn't satisfy, that it leads to a brokenness, isolation, and deep guilt. Deep guilt. And that's where the message of the good news comes through. And that's what we preserve. There's going to be those that think they've gone way too far, that God could never bring them back. And the good news of the gospel is yes. Yes. Salvation is, first and foremost, by grace alone. By grace alone. Look at verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. God gave his son in verse 17 that the world might be saved through him.

28:09Notice again the verbs: he loved and he gave. The motivation behind man's salvation is the Father's love. The motivation for Christ coming into the world is the love of the Father for you. He didn't have to come into the world to condemn the world, it was already condemned. He came into the world because he loved the world. So, salvation, and this is good news. This is good news. It's by grace alone. That is, it is not the loveliness in the world or the loveliness of individuals in the world that moved God to salvation, to sending his son. It was the pure goodness of God that wasn't content with the world with condemned marked across it. He wasn't condemned with your life having the stamp of condemned stamped across it. It is the wonderful goodness of God. This means the good news is that salvation is in the reach of all because it's not based upon the beauty intrinsic in any one of us. That puts us all on the same level. And that's good news, especially if you really botched it. But if you think you haven't really botched it, you've really botched it. So it's good news for you, too.

29:33Second, salvation is through faith alone. Look back at verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever, whoever believes, that is, whoever is believing in him shall not perish. Verse 18, he who is believing in him is not condemned. You see, look, you understand a lunar eclipse. You know how that works, right? The moon is to reflect the light of the sun onto the earth, where to see it. Every once in a while, the moon goes behind the earth's shadow, goes into the dark side, right? And then it kind of changes. You can still see it, but we call it a blood moon, but it looks very different, right? Well, this is what man does: he goes into the darkness, he tries to hide from God, hide in the shadow, and he becomes very different. He looks very different. But the image, as image-bearers of God, we are to believe him. We are to be in the light and so reflect that light. That's the whole purpose of humanity, to be his image-bearers.

30:44And we bear his image by believing. When we shut ourselves out to his light, when we run to the darkness, we become distorted and disfigured and very, very different. So it is through faith alone. It is in Christ alone. Salvation is not only by grace alone, through faith alone, but it is in Christ alone. Look at verse 15, and I'll just, whoever believes and just highlight these words, in him will have eternal life. Verse 16, whoever believes in him shall not perish. Verse 18, he who believes in him is not judged. You get this over and over. Jesus is the object of saving faith. Christ alone. Is that object? It's not man. That's not the object of saving faith. It's not yourself. You don't look to yourself. That's not going to transform you anywhere upward. You know, you can navel gaze at your failures all day long, and that's not going to change you.

31:47You have to look to Christ. It's not the government. That's not going to help you for sure. It's not even the church. The transforming power is by looking to Christ alone. That is the object of faith. All others are weak, distraction, and not the Christ of Scripture. But he gives a very important illustration, Jesus does. We've looked at this, we've studied it in depth. But in verse 14, this is the illustration that Jesus Himself gives of salvation being by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It's a summary illustration. In verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. And the whole idea of being lifted up here is clearly without question in John's Gospel a reference to the crucifixion. But he hearkens back to that time in the wilderness. And you remember the problem in the wilderness? There's a threefold problem, at least. But first of all, the people did not trust God. That was the first problem. There was this condition of unbelief, this constant unbelief. People did not trust God. Second, the people despised his provision. They didn't like what he provided for them. And third, the people did not want to follow his appointed leader. That was really the issue of Numbers 21, verses 4 and 5. So, what was the solution in the wilderness? You remember. You remember first in verse 6, that first God gave a death sentence. You can't continue like this. He gave him a death sentence. Remember, verse 6, the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died.

33:45The second solution in the wilderness was that there was a merciful God, grace alone. People came to Moses in verse 7 and said, We have sinned because we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord that he may remove the serpents from us. And he did. Or this is what happens. Third solution in the wilderness was a look to the object of salvation. This speaks of faith alone, in Christ alone. There's the merciful God who moves out of mercy upon the people, out of grace alone, and he raises up a standard with the serpent on it. And he says in verse 8.

34:30Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard, and it shall come about that everyone who is bitten when he looks at it, he will live. And so Moses made a bronze serpent, and he set it on the standard, and it came about that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. So the solution, God sent a death sentence, but out of grace alone, a merciful God also set up an object of salvation that through faith alone, through a look alone, a real salvation would take place. And that real salvation would be a change in the sentence, no more condemnation, a change in the condition, no more unbelief.

35:15Not only did they get rid of the poison, they got rid of their unbelief and learned to trust in God and a changed inheritance. This was the generation that was able to go into the land of Canaan. Well, this likewise, this is that image, that illustration that Jesus gives of himself so that we will understand the nature of saving faith. It is by grace alone. It is through faith alone in Christ alone. Just a look to the Christ of Scripture is completely transforming. That's our message to the world that is lost, that is running after things that do not satisfy it, and in the end they're going to. Feel very guilty for and be isolated for. And the message is: look to Christ.

36:08And he will transform. He is so beautiful, so wonderful, that just a look, a constant gaze at him will continue to transform the look of. That's the power of the Christ in Scripture. The politically correct Jesus cannot save. The Jesus who needs you to help him cannot save. The Jesus, this is the Jesus of Scripture. You know, the real gospel is that a sinful beast can look upon the beauty of the Christ of Scripture and be utterly transformed into a beautiful bride. That's the real story of beauty in the beast.

36:53Right? A sinful beast, mangled and disfigured by willful sin, can look upon the glorious beauty of the Christ of Scripture and be transformed, spotless, pure, and beautiful, so that Christ is not ashamed. This is my bride. That's the transforming power that's in Christ alone. So, salvation from Jesus' own mouth is by Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And the fourth sola of the Reformation and of John chapter 3 is salvation is to the glory of God alone.

37:44And I'll be brief. Salvation is motivated by the Father's love. We see that. I've already looked at that. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. This is the fountainhead of salvation. God, the Father, motivated by love, sends his Son. So salvation is the work of a triune God. It is the Father's love. Second, it is the Son's sacrifice. That's what accomplished it. It was motivated by the Father's love, and it was accomplished by the Son's sacrifice. It was the Son who gave himself in obedience to the Father, who became that ugly, bloody mess that was lifted up so that we could look and know my sins have been justly dealt with.

38:47And he accomplished that. And then he came out of the tomb as if to say, God has accepted your sacrifice, your sacrifice. Is Christ alone. And coming forth from the tomb, he declared with power, God has accepted your sacrifice if you are in him. That's the good news of the gospel. Wow. But third, it's not only motivated by the Father's love and accomplished by the Son's sacrifice, it is applied by the Spirit's regenerating work. That's how the salvation gets to your doorpost, to your house. It is the work of the Spirit. And that's what this whole section is about, the new birth. Verse 6, Jesus says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. In other words, the kind of faith that you're going to come up with out of a flesh. Flesh is going to have a characteristic of being self-preservation. It's not going to be the kind of faith that Jesus has faith in. But that which is born in the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from, where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Look, there's a mystery here. I can't fully explain it. But this is what Jesus is saying: it is a work of God.

40:25It is motivated by the Father's love, it is accomplished. By the Son's sacrifice, and it is applied by the regenerating work of the Spirit of God. Now, you understand why you must be born again. You must be born again. And this is to God's glory. Listen, salvation is the triune God undoing all the effects of death, all the effects of the curse, all that has taken a toll on humanity since the fall. That is the work of the triune God. Listen to what Linsky says.

41:09Death is not merely destroyed so that it cannot do further harm while all of the harm which it has wrought on God's children remains. The tornado is not merely checked so that no additional homes are wrecked while those who were wrecked still lie in ruin. Death and all its apparent victories are undone for God's children. What looks like a victory for death and like a defeat for us when our bodies die and decay shall be utterly reversed so that death dies in absolute defeat and our bodies live again in absolute victory.

41:51God does all that for his glory. But it's not just because he's some egocentric God. He does that so that he He can share his glory with us so that you can see his glory and so enjoy that glory forever. That is salvation. It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. And this is the biblical message. And we need it, right? If you do not think you have sin, listen to me. If you think you do not have sin, you will never enter heaven.

42:36If you try to excuse your sin, you will never enter heaven. If you try to challenge God on the definition of sin, you will never enter heaven. We must agree with the God of Scripture and the Christ of Scripture and the salvation that is offered in Scripture and the heaven that is offered in Scripture. It's Christ alone. So where does all this take us? Where does all this take us? Look down at verse 21. Verse 21.

43:18But he who practices the truth comes to the light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. So this takes us to one point. Let us be believing. Let us come into the light. Friend, there is no reason not to. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for the magnificent salvation that is offered to us, that you have shown to us in Scriptures, that you yourself, while you walked upon this earth, spoke to us, and that your Spirit left a record. That here we can be 2,000 years later, and we can look upon these things and marvel. Father, help us to be believing in the Christ that you revealed to us in Scripture. Father, forgive us for trying to make you into our image and make you do the things that we think you ought to do. Thank you, Father. Thank you for forgiving us. And I pray now that you would do your work in our hearts, in each one here today, that Jesus may be exalted and become the supreme object, not only of our saving faith, but of our sanctifying faith. In Jesus' name, amen.