Kingdom ways

LESSON 12: Faith for Salvation

We have so far considered faith in the widest and most general sense as related to all statements and promises of God in the Bible. But there is one part of the Bibles message which is of the greatest importance because it decides the eternal destiny of every human soul. This part is called the gospel, and it reveals the way of salvation from sin and its consequences. Very often people think of the gospel as something of a vague and emotional nature which is impossible to explain in a rational way. Even in the preaching of the the gospel there is often so much emphasis on an emotional response that the impression is created than the whole of salvation consists of an emotional experience. Yet this is incorrect and misleading. The actual gospel message, as stated in the bible, consists of definite facts, and salvation consists of knowing, believing and acting on these facts.

The Four Basic Facts of the Gospel

What are these facts which constitute the gospel? For an answer to this question we may turn to two passages in the writings of Paul: Romans 4:24-25 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. In Romans 4 Paul set forth Abrahams faith as an example to be followed by all Christian believers, here Abraham was not justified by his works before God , but that his faith was imputed to him for righteousness. Then in verse 23-25 Paul directly applies this example of Abraham to us as believers in Christ. The gospel, as here stated by Paul, contains 3 definite facts: 1) Jesus was delivered to the punishment of death for our offenses; 2) God raised Jesus up again from the dead; 3) if we believe this record of the death and resurrection of Jesus on our behalf, we shall be justified or accepted as righteous before God. In 1Corithains 15:1-4 Paul reminds the Christians at Corinth of the gospel message which he had preached to them and through which they had been saved, and he again set forth for them the basic facts of the message in 1Cor.15:1-4. Again we see that the gospel consists of 3 definite facts: 1) Christ died for our sins, 2) He was buried, 3) He rose again the third day. If we set the teaching of these two passages from Pauls epistles side by side - Romans 4:24-25 and 1Corithains 15:1-4 it is possible determine the basic facts which constitute the gospel. These facts all centre exclusively in the Person of Christ Himself not in His earthly life and teaching, but in His death and resurrection. Here are the four basic facts: 1) Christ was delivered by God the Father to the punishment of death on account of our sins; 2) Christ was buried; 3) God raised Him from the dead on the third day; 4) righteousness is received from God through believing these facts.

The Simple Act of Appropriation

There is a vital difference between faith in the mind, which is nothing more than the intellectual acceptance of the facts of the gospel, and faith in the heart, which always results in a positive response to the facts. The New Testament makes it plain that the experience of salvation comes to each soul only as a result of this personal response to the gospel. Various different words are used in the New Testament to describe this personal response to the gospel. All the words used thus have one essential point in common: They all denote simple, familiar acts which anybody can understand and carry out. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, Rom.10:13. 1

Here the simple act which brings with it the experience of salvation is that of calling upon the name of the Lord; that is asking God out loud for salvation in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew 11:28 Christ uses the simple word come to describe the response which He requires to the gospel invitation. And He adds to this invitation a very gracious and assuring promise in John 6:37. Speaking to the Samaritan woman at Jacobs well , Christ uses the simple act of drinking, which was appropriate to that particular situation, to express the necessary response to the gospel (John 4:14). In John 1:11-13 the word used to denote this active response to the gospel is receive. We have seen that in each case where the gospel is presented, faith is required to make a simple, personal response. The word used to describe this response may vary, but the essential nature of the response is always the same. In the cases which we have considered, the following words are used to describe this response: to call; to come; to drink; to receive. As we have pointed out, each of these denotes a simple, familiar act such as anybody can understand and carry out. There is one vital important feature which is common to all these acts: Each is an act that the person must do for himself; no one can perform any of these acts on behalf of another person. Each person must call for himself; each person must come for himself; each person must drink for himself; each person must receive for himself. So it is with the response to the gospel. Each person must make his own response; no person can make the response required from another. Each person will be either saved or lost solely by his own response. It is the duty of every responsible Christian - whether minister or layman to be thoroughly acquainted with these simple facts of the gospel and also with the various ways in which the New Testament presents the need for a personal response to the gospel from each soul. The work of Christs kingdom would be greatly benefitted if every minister would continually include these facts into the sermons he preaches. The supreme purpose of every true Christian church, the chief duty of every Christian minister, the main responsibility of every Christian layman, is to present to all who may be reached, in the clearest and most forceful way, the basic facts of the gospel of Christ and to urge all who hear to make the definite, personal response to these facts which God requires. To this, the supreme task, every other duty and activity of the church must be secondary and subsidiary. Let state now once again these basic facts of the gospel and the response which each person is required to make. 1. Christ was delivered by God the Father to the punishment of death on account of our sins. 2. Christ was buried. 3. God raised Him from the dead on the third day. 4. Righteousness is received from God through believing these facts. In order to receive salvation, each individual soul must make a direct, personal response to Christ. This response can be described in any of the following ways: calling upon the name of Christ as Lord; coming to the Christ; receiving Christ; drinking of the water of life which Christ alone can give. To every person who has read this far I would ask this question: Have you believed these facts? Have you made this definite, personal response? If not, I urge you to do it now. Pray with me these words: I now repent of my sins and come to You for mercy and forgiveness. Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You died for my sins; that You were buried; that You rose again the third day. By faith in Your promise, I confess You as my Lord and receive You personally as my Saviour. Come into my heart, give me eternal life and make me a child of God. Amen!