The Message
Attitudes of Faith
  
 
Ever notice that the first three gospels (the synoptic gospels) never explicitly speak of salvation through faith in Christ (except for Mark 16:16). In fact in those gospels when Jesus is asked the question, "What must I do to have eternal life?" he responds with the Law - a performance based concept of righteousness. But in the gospel of John Jesus speaks explicitly of the gospel of grace which is a faith based righteousness, which is also found in Paul's writings as in Romans. Why the difference?

It is not that the synoptics are contrary to the gospel of grace as clealy laid by John and Paul. For consider that Luke, who was one of the writers of the synoptics was Paul's traveling companion and was devoted to him all the way to the end. (2Tim 4:11) The synoptic gospels were primarily to prepare people to hear the gospel of grace, rather than actually presenting the gospel message explicitly. They were focussed on the attitudes and applications of Biblical faith so that when salvation through faith in Christ was presented, people would understand what was meant by "faith". They would understand and be prepared to exercise the quality of faith that saves.

The Stumbling Block of Calvinism

This idea of preparing people to receive the gospel of grace has been largely neglected in much of historic post-Biblical Christianity even up to the present. Part of this neglect has been due to the Calvinistic theology that man in an unredeemed state cannot receive spiritual truth and that no cooperation is involved on the part of the unredeemed to be saved. This in contrast with, for example:
John 6:45 "Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me."
But rather they propose that God in puppet-like fashion simply causes people to believe - there being no actual "choice" involved on their part. This the Calvinists label "irresistable grace". But if this is the case, then there is also no prolonged process of conversion. For if we are but puppets, then immediately upon the Holy Spirit leading us, we believe. I've had Calvinists tell me that one is first born of God and then believes. The idea being that one must first become regenerate to receive spiritual truth (the gospel) before one can believe it. But the Bible speaks of belief coming first.
"To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12
One does not even receive the right to become a child of God until one believes.
"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit." Eph 1:13
Notice "having believed" - you then received the Holy Spirit.

When I pressed some on this point with these kind of verses, they propose that everything is simultaneous. This being the case, there is no gradual process of believing. Thus those with a Calvinistic theology tend to make very little effort at preparing people to receive the gospel of grace.

Evangelical Easy-Believism

This has spilled over to evangelical circles in which the gospel has been condensed down to "4 spiritual laws" or "The bridge illustration". And while these are useful in presenting the gospel of grace clearly, these tend to be the only thing presented even in a first-contact situation. Jesus didn't do that. It is unlikely for a person who knows nothing of Christ, that you can save that person in five minutes though a simple gospel presentation. This is the presumption of much of modern Evangelicalism. What you end up having is a bunch of nominal Christians, some of whom go on to be saved as they learn more of Christ, and others fall away.

The truth is that those who are products of the gospel of "easy-believism" have not necessarily ever been born of God, never having accepted nor even understood the complete gospel. For example, they may have accepted Christ as Savior, but not as Lord. They may have misunderstood the faith that saves to be merely superficial. They thought all there was to it was simply a matter of technique - like "praying to receive Christ". But believing in Christ the way the Bible speaks of it is not the same as going through the mechanics of praying to receive Christ - as if in some experimental fashion. I myself had "prayed to receive Christ" after a simple gospel presentation. But I don't perceive that I understood the significance of the gospel (let alone believe it) until about a year later, even though having been brought up in a Catholic background I had knowledge of the basics. Realize that Jesus was even speaking to "pre-churched" people in a sense. For these were Jews raised on the scriptures, having knowledge of God. Yet he didn't give them a simple presentation. He had to break down their theological presumptions and he often spoken in allegorical forms - as parables - so as to forced people to infer what he was saying with their spirit. He didn't make it easy for people to understand. One reason he did this was to filter out those who were not serious. In fact if you were to ask the apostle John what the Gospel is, he may go on for 21 chapters.

When you present the gospel, realize that God wants converts who have more than simply an understanding of the gospel. For many today say that they believe whereas they really mean that they understand. Make sure that people get the complete picture. Biblical "belief" is not a trivial thing, as many treat it today. Jesus was not interested in producing "nominal" believers, but rather disciples whose convictions dominated their lifestyle.

 

Christ's Presentation

How does Christ present the gospel? How is it presented in the Bible? Much differently than in the "easy-believistic" fashion of Modern Evangelicalism. Leading people to Christ is not a trivial process. In the synoptic gospels, Christ speaks much about "attitudes", not dealing so much with the object of faith, but rather with the manner in which (or attiutude with which) one should believe. The following is a list of some of the attitudes and ideas which dominate Christ's teachings particularly in the synoptic gospels. While substantive of themselves, the primary purpose of these is to prepare one to respond properly to the gospel of grace.

Prerequisite Character Qualities

Humility - This is the most essential of character qualities particularly because it does two things.
  • It tends to make one evaluate oneself honestly - leading to conviction of sin
  • It tends to make one listen - putting God's Word above one's own opinions

Conviction of Sin
Through the Righteousness of the Law

Standards of legal righteousness - such as the Sermon on the Mount

Fulfilling the law - such as the parable of the good Samaritan

  • Jesus speaks of the Law in the same manner Paul does in the early chapters of Romans. They both use the Law to bring people to conviction of sin.

    • Humilating the Proud - Jesus speaks of the hypocrisy of the "religious elite" and their failure to follow the Law, in the same manner in which Paul does in Romans 2. Such humiliation was meant to instill humility in such people so as to prepare them to receive the gospel of grace. Similarly with rich young ruler who thought he was a "good" person. To the proud and self-righteous, Jesus gives the Law so as to humilate them.

Qualities of Saving Faith

Application Oriented Faith - "Belief" without any outworking is not a belief, but an opinion or an idea.
Commitment - Biblical Faith is a conviction. It takes its belief seriously. Inherent in this is also the idea of "counting the cost" of following Jesus. This is not paying for salvation, but rather it is simply a readjustment of one's priorities. If I sell all I have to buy the pearl of great price, I've actually lost nothing. I've simply transfered my account from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. In this sense eternal life is free even though it costs you everything you have.
Endurance of Faith - "He who believes to the end will be saved." This is not a requirement for continued salvation as if salvation can be lost once gained. Rather it is a description of the quality of faith of the redeemed. By its very nature - convictions are those things which endure your whole life. This is a characteristic of Biblical Faith.
Submission & Obedience - Lordship of Christ
Gratitude as a result of the revelation of God's grace
Placing Value on Eternal Things - We see this in such parables as the pearl of great price, the rich fool, the hidden treasure, as well as Jesus' many promises concerning rewards for following him. (as in Heb 11:6)

Warnings

Against Nominalism - Jesus warns of not being too presumptuous about your salvation status
Against Idols - such as money
The urgency to diligently practice the faith in view of Christ's Return and the coming judgment

Attitude towards the Word of God

The Necessity of hearing and listening - Jesus often uses the phrase "he who has ears, let them hear" provoking people to listen carefully and making correct inferences from his teachings. In the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man he makes response to the written Word being more essential than a Charismatic reliance on miracles to lead others to Christ. And in the parable of the Growing Seed he speaks of God at work through His Word. Responding properly to the Word of God - the message itself - is essential for salvation.
Fruitfulness in response to the Word of God

Attributes of God

Holy
Gracious
  • In answering prayer
  • In forgiving sin
  • In his concern for the lost
Just - calling people to account for themselves
 

Summary & Application

This list is not comprehensive, but gives you the sense of the content of Jesus' message. These can be contrasted with the manner in which the gospel is generally presented by Christians today. But from this list let's attempt to summarize what kinds of things we should think of sharing with people before - or in addition to - sharing with them the basic gospel message. We need to prepare people to hear the gospel of grace by getting them to know about God and about their present relationship with God. Before they can have a right relationship with God, they must get to know God first.

God's Attributes

  • God is just. He hates sin. Unless your sins have been payed for, you cannot have a right relationship with God.
  • God is holy. He hates sinfulness. He does not prefer relationships with sinful people. To be completely reconciled to God, your sinfulness must be removed.
  • God is gracious. He forgives sins and answers prayers of the humble, but holds the proud in contempt.
God's Judgment
  • God has standards of righteousness as described in the Law and will call everyone to account for themselves resulting in rewards and punishments.
God's Message
  • How do you know God has spoken? Miracles
  • The humble take the Bible seriously
  • One should approach God and God's Word with an application oriented mindset and an attitude of submission and obedience. God desires the message to be received with thankfulness and to produce fruitfulness.
    • God doesn't owe us anything. He wasn't obligated to save anyone. He graciously gives us what we don't deserve to save us from what we do deserve. Thus the outworkings of our faith should be done with an attitude of gratefulness.
Attributes of Biblical Faith - the faith that God requires
  • We need to have an attitude of humility characterized by submission and obedience. But serving not reluctantly but out of gratefulness.
  • We need to have a faith that is application oriented.
  • We need to put God first, being fully committed to seeking Him, valuing eternal things higher than things of this earth, and continuing to do so the rest of our lives.
Hinderances to Biblical Faith
  • Idols such as money or worldly ambitions
  • Pride and Bitterness resulting in an unforgiving attitude towards others.
  • A lack of zeal or sense of urgency in applying one's faith.