What makes faith in the gospel the way of salvation?

Those who study to give answers are a dying breed of believers. The churches dedication to evangelism is diminishing at a steady rate because people do not want to gain knowledge and be effective to those who surround them in their everyday lives. Today there is more opportunity to give the gospel and yet there is less interest in wanting to give it.

Only those saved by the gospel can give the gospel to others. This is why it excludes Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Iglesia ni christo and the rest of the cult groups that have a zeal and dedication for what they believe in their particular group or church. One must have possession of eternal life, Christ living in them to offer Him to others. If one is still working to have salvation then it is obvious they are not a present possessor of it and cannot offer it to others.

Without the power and presence of the Holy Spirit we cannot be witnesses. This explains
the cults but universalism growing in the church. Why are people are doing nothing to spread the gospel which is the only hope for all people? Because there is no urgency from the Holy Spirit to move them to action. They don’t believe Jesus is the only way so they have no conviction to tell others He is.

Life is the battleground for accepting the way God has offered to man. We are all on the battlefield, some fight others wander as sheep gone astray. We have the choice of God’s only way or taking our own way to what we think is right.
Proverbs 14:12 &16:25: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” All roads lead to the same destination except one.

The Holy Spirit is at work prior to salvation convicting men of their sin and showing them who the savior is. John 16:8 “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” Our job is to work with him to help others understand their spiritual condition.

But He cannot regenerate without the believer exercising faith in the gospel. Jesus said one must believe the gospel to be born again - regenerated. God give the grace which is ever present as the word is delivered.
Salvation does not come by just believing in God but by believing in the Gospel. Believing in God makes one no longer an atheist, believing the gospel makes one born again. God has already done what is needed for us to enter into a relationship with Him; it was finished nearly 2,000 years ago.
We should never forget that the gospel; sending the Son to die for sin, is prompted by love from God’s mercy, He does not want to judge us. However, if the gospel is rejected He has no choice but to do so, because we have personally rejected His Son and the work done for us to be reconciled to the Father. Its like going to the doctor and finding out you have a fatal disease, but the doctor offers the cure, you just need accept it and faithfully take it otherwise the disease will overcome you.
Do we actually hear the gospel today?
Certainly some people think they are giving it when they teach on Jesus but the gospel is a specific message, it has to do with man’s sin and Jesus’ crucifixion. Its not about prosperity or physical healing or God meeting you needs. It is Christ crucified for your sins and resurrected for your right standing before God (justification)
When the Gospel in the Church is not accurately taught or explained, people end up NOT understanding the message of sin, repentance and saving faith. In its place will always surface a substitute message to fill the void. A message that may only concentrate on God’s love for us without mentioning the implications of one’s sin and the punishment for sin, the ramifications of rejecting him. This is an incomplete presentation that actually sends people to hell as if they heard no message at all. This can only makes Church members, not true converts because they have not clearly seen the offense of their sin toward God which is the reason Jesus was sent to die for us.

It is true the Son was sent because God loves us, but that is only a part of the Gospel. While we may not expect all the things pertaining to the Gospel to be proclaimed each time it is presented, they certainly need to be taught and understood afterwards. Without real discipleship we have newborn babies that never grow to maturity. Jesus said make disciples, not end with preaching.
A constant avoidance of mans sinful condition is the very opposite of the great preachers that resulted in revivals. What is barely mentioned is the resurrection not to mention “why” He died. Preaching has gone to the birds but the watch dogs still bark.
Jn.10:1, 8: My sheep hear MY voice; Jesus is the instructor, we are to hear His Word. Men’s words, philosophies, or the teachers of the world, business models will not nourish you. Only those who present Christ’s words can give you understanding to grow in your spiritual walk to maturity. Self must decrease for Jesus to increase and produce fruit. Many are in churches that teach human potential, positive thinking wrapped up in biblical principles for living. This has nothing to do with the gospel and is filled with unprofitable words for our spiritual growth. If we are increasing in our ways it eclipses Christ and we are choking out His Word. Many can still believe in Jesus but it has not affected them inwardly.

God’s word often searches the heart to expose the unknown sin hidden inside us so we can deal with them. God deals with our heart, which only the Spirit can reach and He uses the word, not programs. Heb. 4:12: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” God’s intent is to change us to be like Jesus, not give us a boost in self - confidence. God’s word gives us hope through His promises in Him who can do far beyond what we think or ask for. This is obtained by faith and nothing else. This is completely different than living based on a positive attitude that expects good things to happen.

Let us understand God’s part and mans part to understand the gospel. Before one can understand why there is a gospel, we need to comprehend what sin is. Once we understand salvation is impossible for us to accomplish on our own, that the Gospel is God’s way to deal with the fallen nature of man.

Man is meant to trust his maker. Eph 1:13 “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation”
Deut. 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.”

God is love, but he is more described as truth. A few clear statements on God as truth:

John 17:17 “Your word is truth” Ps. 119:160 “The entirety of Your word is truth” Everything about God is about truth. So when he tells us we are sinful and He loves us and is willing to freely give us the cure to our condition we should believe him, trust him.

We are given the promise:
Ps 145:18-19: “The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; he also will hear their cry and save them.”

Some think as long as he is confessed as the Son of God or called Lord this is acceptable. But this must be qualified in the Biblical sense. The gospel declares Jesus is Lord (Rom.10 :9-10) in the sense of being deity, the master of all.
Calling him the Son of God means that he is unique, the only one like this, in the Jewish sense is calling him deity in the flesh of man. He must be God to save all those through history.

We are told to open our heart and pray. So many say “pray these words.” Is this what Jesus requires for salvation? Certainly this is what may take place from ones salvation, but Jesus did not require prayer, he requires only one thing- Faith. To have faith in what He did for us. Faith is present to understand the message of sin and salvation in Christ.
Salvation is not about a prayer people pray. Salvation should not be reduced to only a prayer, as if this is a method. Getting is person to pray, to say the words to be saved is meaningless unless in their heart they actually have faith, they truly believe Jesus is the only way. Its not about walking forward; people do this after they exercised faith and are showing their commitment. It does not save them. Either one has genuine faith in their heart or none of this means ANYTHING.

They should come up with the prayer on their own and not have to repeat it. We cannot pray without faith. However, God looks at the inner man, the heart to see if it has faith, words are not necessary.

Acts 10:44-45: “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.’

Peter explains at the Jerusalem council what took place “brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. "So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us” (Acts 15:7-8)

The idea that a decision must always be expressed by prayer cannot be sustained by the Scripture. God asks for faith to be present to be saved; not prayer, we are to believe. We are to believe with all our heart in the message. The gospel must elicit a response as being the only way to God, not just convince one to accept it as historically true. It is a life decision because it involves repentance.

We call upon the Lord to be saved: For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? (Rom. 10:13-14). “Call on” Gr. epikaleomai- means to cry out, to invoke, as in a decision to receive salvation (1 Cor.1:2). If the word is not preached then what will produce faith? If the Gospel is not clearly understood by a mind that is darkened from sin, no prayer is going to work. The work of the Holy Spirit must be present to bring light. It is faith God is looking for and faith comes from hearing the word (Rom.10:17). This faith is in an object, the Lord Jesus Christ. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). But what does it mean to “believe”? It means knowing your condition, that you are a sinner, and that Christ died for sinners, for you personally. You believe on him ALONE to be saved, because of who He is.

We just may need to re-examine what we are doing in presenting the gospel. To require that you must confess Jesus publicly out-loud or walk forward, or that you must raise you hand, wink or do something physical so that the evangelist that gave the invitation can acknowledge your response to their message and pray along with you is again not necessary. One may do these actions but they are powerless without faith being present. The Bible simply says “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10).

The gospel is a simple message about God demonstrating His love for us as individuals. God loves you enough to tell you that you are a sinner. He loves you enough to have done something about it, it was a call to action which resulted in a sacrificed life.

The gospel is focused on the person Jesus, it does not involve any ritual or ceremony but the message of what He did for us. The Gospel is Christ crucified. The Gospel is the “power of God to salvation” (Rom. 1:16). The gospel is always a present invitation, a now proclamation, not a tomorrow one (the Scriptures declare that today IS THE DAY OF SALVATION).

The gospel that Paul delivered and we stand in is found in 1 Cor.15:1-4. It is centered on Christ dying for our sin and resurrecting. And Paul wrote in Eph. 2:8-10 how we receive it, by grace through faith.