James Quiggle
Someone made this heretical statement: “Faith was always preached, but not grace by faith alone.” Is that true? Is the “Christian” message of salvation, “saved by grace through faith,” not the same message preached from the days of Adam to this present age?
The message preached today corresponds to the completed revelation given from the Book of Genesis to the end of the Book of Revelation. That message is the accusation of sin with the proclamation of Jesus the only Savior. We might also summarize the message as faith in the crucified and risen Jesus. It is the message of sin, the Savior, and salvation.
But more basic than the above, the “good news of salvation” is always, even today, the message of faith in God and God’s testimony as to the way (means) of salvation, whether that testimony was faith in coming judgment (Noah), faith in a promised heir (Abraham), faith in a sacrifice for sin (the Law, the NT Church), or faith in the soon-to-appear Messiah-King and Redeemer (the Tribulation).
Let us not be children and require the message of salvation must always use the exact same words. Faith in God and God’s testimony is what is required. The testimony changes according to the content of the revelation God has given in any particular historical age, but the object of saving faith is always God who gave the testimony, and the content of saving faith may always be characterized as God’s testimony as to the means by which God’s grace in salvation may be accessed.
There never was, nor will there ever be, salvation except by God’s grace through the believer’s faith. You cannot show one instance in the Bible where salvation was not by grace through faith. This is a core doctrine of every biblically-based theology. The denial of salvation by grace through faith is heretical. Salvation is always by the believer’s faith in God and God’s testimony, accepted by God in grace. Without grace by faith there is no salvation.
Need examples? Noah was saved by faith, not by works. Noah’s work on the ark was the demonstration of his faith. What did Noah believe? God’s testimony, “The end of all flesh has come before me . . . make yourself an ark . . . I am bringing floodwaters on the earth to destroy all flesh . . . but I will establish my covenant with you,” Genesis 6:1, 17, 18 Why did Noah have faith? Because he received from God the gift of God, the gift of grace-faith-salvation, Ephesians 2:8, 9 “For by grace through faith you are saved, not of yourselves, not by your works.” No sinner has ever been saved apart from God’s grace. No sinner can boast, “I saved myself,” Ephesians 2:9.
Was Abraham saved by works? No, Romans 4:1–4. “Abraham believed God.” What did Abraham believe? Genesis 15:4, 5, “One who will come from your own body will be your heir . . . and Abram believed in YHWH, and YHWH accounted it to him for righteousness.” Why did Abraham have faith? Because he received from God the gift of God, the gift of grace-faith-salvation, Ephesians 2:8. No sinner has ever been saved apart from God’s grace. “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God . . . now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace . . . but to him who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted as righteousness.”
How were sinners saved during the time of the Mosaic Law? Not by works. Not by merely bringing a sacrifice. The sinner under the Law was saved through faith in God and God’s testimony that offering the proper sacrifice with repentance from sin resulted in forgiveness of sin. Offering the sacrifice by faith was the demonstration of their faith in God and God’s testimony. The source of the saving merit of the sacrifice under the Law was Christ’s propitiation, which had been declared by God from eternity past as the only merit that saves, Ephesians 1:4 (cf. Romans 4:17). What was the source of the sinner’s saving faith under the Law? God’s gift of grace-faith-salvation, Ephesians 2:8. No sinner has ever been saved apart from God’s grace. To believe otherwise is heretical.
How are sinners saved today, in this NT church age? Through faith in God and God’s testimony that offering the proper sacrifice with repentance from sin results in forgiveness of sin. Sounds like the Law, doesn’t it? But isn’t that God’s testimony? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” Well, believe what about Jesus Christ? Believe God’s testimony that Jesus was the proper sacrifice for sin; that faith in Jesus crucified (sacrificed) with repentance from sin saves from sin. What is the source of the sinner’s saving faith in Jesus? God’s gift of grace-faith-salvation, Ephesians 2:8. No sinner has ever been saved apart from God’s grace.
Will the future be different? No, Christ crucified has always been the only merit that saves. God has always been the object of saving faith. God’s testimony will change. The Messiah-King-Redeemer is about to appear, believe on him and be saved, Revelation 7:14, “they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 12:10, “Now salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ have come.”
The times of the Tribulation will become so desperate God will send an angel with the gospel (the only time this ever occurs), “Fear [reverence-worship] God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him [the Creator] who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water,” Revelation 14:7. The object of that faith is God. The content of that faith is God’s testimony, proclaimed by the angel. What is the source of the sinner’s saving faith during the Tribulation? God’s gift of grace-faith-salvation, Ephesians 2:8.
No sinner has ever been saved apart from God’s grace. To believe or teach otherwise is heretical.