The Gospel Message: Faith, Grace, And God's Gospel

The saints are supposed to contend for the faith once for all delivered to us, Jude 3. But what is this faith, and how does one appropriate it? And once appropriated, how does one retain it? Also, what is the outcome of this faith in the life of the believer? These questions will be pondered as we consider Jude’s admonition, and what is meant by that one little word, “faith.”

To put it very neatly, faith in Jude’s case is belief in the gospel. It is confident trust in the message given from the beginning, first by the Lord Jesus Christ, then His apostles, and then their successors, down through the ages unto us. The gospel, as defined by its chief proponent in his time, is related thus: “That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,” 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4. This is what Paul later refers to as the simplicity that is in Christ, 2 Corinthians 11:3. The gospel message is simple and sublime. It portrays our Savior, Jesus Christ. It relates what He has done, who He did it for, and why. Christ died (what He did), for our (who He did it for) sins, according to the Scriptures (why He did it). And if you believe this message, then you are born again, born from above, regenerated, adopted into the household of God.

The gospel’s simplicity often sounds absurd to the unsaved. It was so in Paul’s time, Acts 17:32, 1 Corinthians 1:18. But that is really all there is to it. We cannot be made worthy to be saved; in truth we are saved because we are unworthy and even adversarial toward God, Romans 5:10. Faith then is in the message given, and the One to whom the message reveals. Paul noted a differentiation between human wisdom and God’s power, 1 Corinthians 2:5. The gospel message was not man’s wisdom set on display, but God’s salvific power in full effect upon any and all who would heed the word. If you hear this message and believe, then you are saved. Christ is your Savior; He has saved you from sin and saved you for conformity to His will, for the good works appointed for you to do, Ephesians 2:10. But more on that later.

God’s grace saves in the fullest sense. We are, when we believe, justified. This theological term means to be saved from the judicial penalty God demands for being a sinner. Further, we are sanctified. This term means to be set apart for God’s use, or saved from sin’s power in our daily lives as we learn to be humbled and submit to God’s Holy Spirit indwelling us. Sanctification is a lifelong process, which will end only when the saint is brought into the Savior’s presence and sees Him as He is, 1 John 3:2. Finally, we are glorified, or saved from sin’s presence either by death or Rapture, meeting our Lord in Heaven and finally parting with the old man, the flesh that still carries the curse of sin in it. The apostle makes it abundantly clear that salvation is not a system of works, but a message of grace: God’s condescending love for fallen mankind, extended to the entire family of Adam without charge. The sole requisite is that one believes it, and thus believes in Christ as their Savior. Once more, Paul makes the differentiation between any system of works and the grace of God, Romans 4:4, 5.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith,” Romans 1:16, 17. Paul refers to the gospel as the power of God to salvation for every one that believes it. Further, he states that in the gospel God’s righteousness is revealed, quoting Habakkuk 2:4 that the just (or those who are justified) shall live by faith. As we referenced earlier when Paul juxtaposed works with faith, it is faith alone in the gospel message that saves. And that gospel message is about a Man; indeed, it is about God who took on the form of a Man to redeem fallen man from sin, John 1:1, 14, 3:16, 18. Works are antagonistic to faith; they are the opposite of it; they are faith’s substitute in human religion.

Religion, unlike Biblical faith in the gospel of Christ, puts forth works as a proxy to faith. If faith is like a prisoner being released from the dark confines of his cell, religion is a prison the unsuspecting are lured into and locked away in. The supposed shepherds of religious systems are wardens, who hold the keys of one’s release, jangling them tantalizingly while mocking the prisoners that if they only perform more or better, they might earn their freedom through their effort, or their works. This is a fraud. Christianity is about being set free, not bound by the rules, regulations, traditions and sacraments of human institutions void of true spiritual power. Christ promised freedom, John 8:36. He further promised rest for the soul, Matthew 11:29. Every system of works is built upon the promise of unrelenting effort on the part of those ensnared by it. There is no rest or spiritual peace, and there is certainly no joy; not without any joy being tainted by fear of not having done enough, or as well as one’s neighbor. Works systems devolve into competitions between warring factions, because no matter the ulterior motives involved, it will always have a focus on self preservation as one seeks to curry God’s favor.

Paul condemned mingling grace or faith with works in no uncertain terms, Galatians 1:8. The Pharisees championed a deviant gospel that commingled Mosaic Law with grace, Acts 15:1, 5. Paul explains to the Galatian church that these men were false brethren, Galatians 2:4, who wanted to exchange the liberty that was in Christ for the bondage of works salvation; which may be defined as any system of religion that compels the adherent to earn or work for the salvation God offers. This is one type of bastardized gospel that Paul stoutly condemned. It was of course in fact a new gospel, a different gospel than the one Paul received directly by revelation of Jesus Christ, Galatians 1:11, 12. Having met the living Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul was charged to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and being intimately familiar with the genuine article, he could easily spot a forgery. As can we, so long as we adhere to Scripture in regards to the truth of the gospel as it is found in Jesus.

I summarize the first part of this post by stating that salvation is by grace through faith in the person of Jesus Christ alone, divorced from all human effort and endeavor, Acts 4:12, 16:31, Romans 10:9-11, 17, Ephesians 2:8, 9, Titus 3:7, etc. The message of what Jesus has done for us is imparted through what Christians refer to as the gospel. It is known as the “gospel of the grace of God,” Acts 20:24. It is the “gospel of [God’s] Son,” Romans 1:9. It is both, “the gospel of God,” and, “the gospel of Christ,” Romans 15:16, 19. Paul was so intimate with its message and the subject of it that he called it, “my gospel,” Romans 16:25. To emphasize the primacy this wondrous message has, it is also referred to as, “the gospel of your salvation,” Ephesians 1:13. It is “the gospel of peace,” Ephesians 6:15. Religion provides works. Works do not produce peace naturally; they produce pride and fear, but not peace. Jesus alone gives peace, John 14:27. Finally we are told that this gospel is the everlasting gospel, Revelation 14:6. It is the gospel Abraham heard, Galatians 3:8. It is the only gospel that saves, and saves to the uttermost, because it is the only message that reveals the person of Jesus Christ, God who came in the flesh to die for the sins of mankind. We will pick up with our second question in the next part of this post, God willing.