It’s Always Been Jesus

In a world that endlessly promises the next big thing a new strategy, experience, or spiritual path the gospel remains startlingly simple. It’s just Jesus.

That may sound unimpressive to ears trained to crave novelty or skeptical of old truths. But when we say just Jesus, we are echoing a declaration that has echoed through centuries, even millennia a declaration so powerful that it shook the medieval church and reoriented the world. Solus Christus Christ alone.

Christ Alone Then and Now

During the Reformation, this Latin phrase one of the five solas stood in sharp contrast to a religious system that had buried Jesus beneath layers of ritual, clerical mediation, and works-based righteousness. The church had bottled Christ like a commodity and hidden Him behind paywalls of penance and intercession.

The Reformers cracked those barriers open. They gave Christ back to the people not as an abstraction or a principle, but as the Savior who justifies sinners by grace through faith. And today, we need that same rediscovery. Because even in modern Christianity, we’re still tempted to reach for more than Jesus or settle for less than all of Him.

Jesus in Particular

There is no God behind the back of Jesus.

It’s not Jesus over here and God the Father over there, with the Spirit floating somewhere in between. No, Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3). When we look at Jesus, we are looking directly at God. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” Jesus said (John 14:9).

Christ alone means this specific man the one who walked with a particular stride, spoke with a particular tone, and lived in a particular moment in history is God incarnate. There’s no Christ apart from Jesus. There’s no abstract “universal Christ,” as some progressive theologies suggest. Christ is not a floating energy or a vague spiritual ideal. Christ is the eternal Son who became a man and remains forever the God-man.

As Colossians 1:19 declares, “In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” The church does not merely follow a wise teacher or moral example. We worship Jesus of Nazareth as Lord.

Only Jesus

This Jesus and only this Jesus can make us right with God. “There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Salvation is not a group project. There are no co-saviors, no assistant redeemers, no backup plans.

Still, we often smuggle in our own contributions. We know, doctrinally, that Jesus alone saves us for eternity. But functionally, we start building little self-salvation systems to make ourselves feel okay with God today. We think:

• God is pleased with me because I’m generous.

• I’m right with God because I’ve avoided “big sins.”

• Surely I’m accepted because I serve so faithfully.

But try inserting these into Ephesians 2 and see how hollow they sound:
“But God, when He saw your excellent work-life balance, raised you up with Christ.”
“But God, when He noticed your impressive Bible knowledge, seated you with Christ.”

It’s ridiculous and revealing.

There is no résumé impressive enough to stand before a holy God. Our confidence must rest entirely on Jesus. Every time we try to supplement Him, we subtract from His sufficiency.

All of Jesus

Christ alone doesn’t mean we get a part of Jesus or a slice of His benefits. It means we get all of Him. And in getting Him, we receive everything the Father has for us.

Paul celebrates this in 1 Corinthians 1:30:
“Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

And Ephesians 1 offers a breathtaking list of the blessings that flow from our union with Christ:

• Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places

• Being chosen before the foundation of the world

• Holiness and blamelessness before God

• Adoption as sons and daughters

• Redemption through His blood

• Forgiveness of sins

• Lavish grace poured out

• The mystery of God’s will revealed

• An eternal inheritance

• The indwelling of the Holy Spirit

This is not a generic spirituality. This is the riches of Jesus, fully given to every believer.

Why This Still Matters

If Christ alone feels like an outdated slogan, consider this: According to a 2022 Barna study, 52% of U.S. Christians believe that “a person can gain eternal salvation by being or doing good.” That means over half of professing Christians have lost the center of the gospel.

And in a culture where even churchgoers are tempted to view Jesus as a spiritual supplement instead of the Savior, we desperately need the shock and beauty of only Jesus again.

Jesus Is Enough Always

In a world full of distractions and distortions, Jesus remains the unchanging center. He is the blazing sun of our faith, around whom everything else must orbit. He’s not just the beginning of the Christian life He’s the whole of it. Not just the means of salvation but the substance of it.

No matter what you face doubt, sin, fear, failure Jesus is not merely part of the solution. He is the answer. He is the gift. He is the glory. And in Him, we have everything.

So yes, it’s “just Jesus.”

But what a staggering just that is.

If this helped renew your focus on Christ, share it with someone or subscribe to our newsletter for more gospel-centered encouragement.