The Preached Gospel Summons Us to Faith in Christ

An excerpt from “Not Ashamed of the Gospel” Season Five/Episode Five (Romans 1:16-17)

The message of the cross is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel summons all who hear it to faith in Jesus Christ. Those who believe when the gospel is preached to them manifest what Paul calls the “obedience of faith.” The gospel saves those, but only those, who believe [trust] in Jesus Christ. Paul is not addressing the exceptional cases here–for example, such as what happens to children of believers who die before coming to faith, or the thief on the cross, and so on. Paul’s point is that the gospel summons us to believe it when we hear it. Those who obey that call and believe are “saved,” while those who are summoned but who do not believe will face the wrath of God on the day of judgment. It is correct to say that those who reject the gospel when it is preached to them, disobey God and remain under his judgment unless and until they trust in Christ.

In his wonderful little commentary on Romans, Anders Nygren, makes a very important point, well worth our consideration.

The gospel and faith belong together inseparably. Therefore we may not speak of faith as something which could exist apart from the gospel. Faith is not a state of the soul which man must have, that by its aid he may receive the gospel. It is the gospel which is primary, which creates faith and awakens it in us. When one hears the gospel and is conquered by it, that is faith. Faith is not prior to the gospel and independent of it. It [faith] arises only through one’s meeting with the gospel [1].

Nygren’s point is that saving faith arises only in connection to the preaching of the gospel. Faith is not our contribution to our salvation, nor is faith the one work God requires of us in order to be saved. Rather, as a demonstration of his power, God creates faith in our hearts through the preaching the gospel just as when he created the universe from nothing. While God creates faith through the hearing of the gospel (cf. Romans 10:17), at the very same time, faith is our own genuine and intensely personal response to God’s promise of deliverance from his wrath, because of the genuine freedom which God restores to us through the power of the gospel.[2] Faith is not a human work. Faith does not contribute anything. It is not a vague religious sentiment or emotion–the common meaning today. Rather, faith receives what God freely offers to us in Christ. Faith receives (trusts) the saving benefits of Jesus Christ. To have faith in Jesus Christ is to trust (believe) in Christ’s power to save us from our sins. B. B. Warfield points out,

It is accordingly, solely from its object that faith derives its value . . . . The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the Almighty Savior on whom it rests . . . . It is not strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power of faith resides exclusively, not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith or the nature of faith, but in the object of faith; and in this the whole biblical representation centers, so that we could not more radically misconceive it than by transferring to faith even the smallest fraction of that saving energy which is attributed in the Scriptures solely to Christ Himself [3].

Salvation is promised to all who believe–the “all” ( παντíς) emphasizing the fact that there are no ethnic distinctions when it comes to God’s salvation. Paul quickly reminds us of an important redemptive historical reality. The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, “to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Based upon the prior course of the history of salvation, it is undeniable that the Jew has distinct priority in God’s plan. God did not choose the Incas, the Aztecs, the Mongols, the Chinese, the Normans, Franks, or Saxons to receive the Scriptures and secure the birth of the Messiah. God chose the Jews to be that people through whom salvation would come to the Gentile nations.

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[1] Nygren, Commentary on Romans, 78.

[2] Cranfield, Commentary on Romans, I.90.

[3] B. B. Warfield, "The Biblical Conception of Faith" in Biblical Doctrines (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981), 502-04.