The Reformation was God’s gospel recovery mission. As with any pivotal history, the vast body of information that surrounds and details its occasion can all too easily move the mind to miss the heart. The central grandeur of the Reformation is exclusively the recovery of the one and only God-, grace-, glory-filled gospel.

The gospel has always been by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. And ever since the time of the apostles, the purity and authority of the gospel rests in Scripture alone. Here the battle-cries of the Reformation point emphatically to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

By Grace Alone

The word gospel means “good news.” News is not something that the hearer contributes to or achieves. Rather, it announces realities outside of the hearer. This is emphatically true of the gospel. It proclaims what God has achieved through a singular culminated event in history. That event is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Salvation is offered to sinners in the announcement of this good news. It broadcasts the only way to be forgiven. It heralds the only hope of reconciliation with a holy God. Because every human being since Adam is naturally “darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (Ephesians 4:18). Bent away from God, they are “alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds” (Colossians 1:21). “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32). Indeed, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Consequently, “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1–2).

Being dead in sin means that salvation is entirely a work of grace alone. This is precisely what Paul explains, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Thus, “if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:6). Such is emphatically stated, “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). In summary, God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:9). Salvation is first by grace alone.

Through Faith Alone

If the gospel announces the good news of redemption accomplished, it also solicits belief in it for the sake of redemption applied. If it is accomplished by grace, it can only be applied through faith (Ephesians 2:8). The pivotal exchange of counting the unrighteous as righteous by faith in Christ crucified and risen, is a transaction known as justification. To justify is to declare one “just” or “righteous” or “right with” God.

It is the proud tendency of man to seek to be right with God by his own obedience to God’s law. But the gospel explicitly denies such legalism: “one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28); “no one is justified before God by the law” (Galatians 3:11); “a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16); “to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works” (Romans 4:4–6). Paul articulates the gospel of justification by faith alone through his own personal testimony: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:8–9). The grace of redemption is received through faith alone.

In Christ Alone

Christ died for your sins to reconcile you to God (1 Peter 3:18). The gospel declares that a substitution has taken place (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Lamb of God has been sacrificed to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The only perfect, sinless human being has suffered the penalty of sin, fully absorbing the mighty judgment of a holy God in the place of the one who by faith alone trusts in His person and work (Romans 10:9). He is both Son of God and Lamb of God (John 20:31; Revelation 5:6-9), the only God-man (John 1:1; Romans 9:5) and savior of sinners (Luke 2:11; John 4:42; 1 John 4:14).

Above all, the gospel proclaims a person (John 17:3), a Mediator, Redeemer, Savior: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). The work of the gospel is singularly accomplished in this one God-man. This exclusivity is emphatically proclaimed in the gospel: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Christ Himself announces, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Salvation is emphatically in Christ alone.

To God’s Glory Alone

Understanding the end purpose of redemption purifies its message. The best way to guard the gospel is not by surrounding it or qualifying it with laws. Rather, the best way to guard the gospel is by rejoicing in its goal, namely, to glorify God. Only this end corresponds to the beginning. God’s purposes in redemption are, as in creation, to the praise of His glory. And this means that the gospel that announces reconciliation to God through Christ is a work of God, not the creature, for the glory of God, not man. God’s majesty of power, wisdom, generosity, care, beauty, and delight are all displayed in His genius of creation. But His majesty of mercy, grace, forbearance, kindness, and love are supremely manifest in His genius of redemption. Both are to the praise of His glory.

This purifies our understanding of the gospel. Redemption does not rest on us. Because redemption’s end is exclusively to God’s glory, we have no claim or boast in its accomplishment or application. Grace must be the only means if God’s glory is the only end. This, again, we learn from Scripture: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). “So that no one may boast” is a safeguard of the gospel. This is what stands behind statements like: “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power” (Psalm 106:8); “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other” (Isaiah 42:8); “I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11). The great punctuation to the gospel is that it is all from Him and through Him and to Him—to God alone be all the glory forever. Amen! (Romans 11:36). Salvation is finally to God’s glory alone.

The gospel is not simply for academic or historical analysis. It is deeply personal. It is our greatest and most urgent need in this very hour. If you should have any questions regarding the gospel of your personal salvation, please contact the church office.