Is “Faith” an element of the Gospel?
It’s funny, I can’t seem to find the time to write the blog-articles I have on my list. But here I go tweeting a reply thread that turned into a blog. Picture the emoji with the hand palming the face. That’s me right about now.
So what tweet got me riled up that I end up writing a reply until well past midnight that turned into a blog? It was a tweet by a brother named Matthew Bates. He tweeted his article, “Good News? Are T4G/TGC Leaders Starting To Change Their Gospel?”.
As you can see, his tweet wasn’t provocative. But his article sure did light a fire in me that I couldn’t go to sleep with. It wasn’t in defense for T4G/TGC or even the people he named that I admire. It was Bates’ claim that faith is not an element of the gospel. More specifically, he wrote, “the Bible never says that our justification by faith is even part of the gospel”. His claim I could not disagree with more because it presents an incomplete gospel.
So let’s briefly explore is faith an element of the gospel.
Bates’ argument is
Scripture does not teach that “faith” is *part of the gospel*
but rather that faith is “a benefit of the gospel”, it’s “how we respond to the gospel of Jesus’s kingship, so its saving benefits are actualized”;
therefore, those who preach justification by faith is the gospel are wrong.
This makes me believe Bates and others have a misunderstanding about the relationship of “faith” and “the gospel”; which, the same can be said about those who do emphasize that justification by faith is *the center/heart* of the gospel of God, because this is an overstatement.
Regarding what the gospel is, here are 2 of Bates’ statements I agree with:
“The gospel proper is what the king has done for us apart from whether you or I have responded…”
“In Scripture the gospel is the narrative of how Jesus came to be enthroned as the saving king.”
In those 2 statements Bates’ gives an abridged version of the good news of Jesus (the gospel). But to somehow believe “faith” is not included in this good news—either in “what the king has done” or “the narrative of how Jesus came to be enthroned as the saving king”—is a shocking omission by a scholar.
Scripture is pretty clear that what is also contained in the good news is that this “saving king” extends His salvation by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9), extends His justification by faith not of works (Rom. 4:4-5), and so on. So the “faith” Bates reduces and simply calls “a benefit” of the gospel—the reception of what Christ has provided—is also an element of the gospel proper that precedes being a benefit of the gospel. His explanation of the relationship between faith and the gospel is both correct and incomplete. There appears to be a piece missing that he and others aren’t getting.
Now, I do agree with him, the *exercising of our faith* (our pistis—allegiance to what Christ has done) is not the gospel. However,
the fact that King Jesus did the work that man could not do
so that only faith is required now to experience what Christ has done for man
is an essential element of His good news.
This availability of it now being *only faith* man has to have to experience what Christ has done on their behalf would be contained in how “the gospel is *the narrative* of how Jesus came to be enthroned as the saving king.”
Jesus Himself described “faith” as part of this “narrative” in John 3:11-17; 6:29, 37-40, 44-58; 10:37-38; 11:25-26; 12:44-50; 17:1-7. Apostle Paul highlights some of “the narrative” of this same good news of how God *removed the work* and *replaced it with faith in Christ* in Romans 3:21-36 and Galatians 3:7-29. Shucks, in Gal. 3:7-9, Paul says this gospel was preached to Abraham and mentions “faith” as an inclusion in the gospel, and then again in 3:22 he includes “faith” with the promise—which then the promise is extended to those who believe.
“7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
“22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, *so that* the promise by faith in Jesus Christ *might be given* to those who believe.”
(ESV)
The availability of *only faith* is contained in the work of Christ before it can be actualized by *the exercising of a person’s faith*. Because of His work there is a *procured faith* within the gospel that makes the *exercising of faith* in His gospel for salvation available. The procurement of *only faith no longer of works* is part of Christ’s work—therefore part of the gospel—and this is what makes the personal exercising of faith for salvation available. So yes, the *exercising of faith* is not the gospel. But *the replacement of works with faith* is an element of this good news. Think about it. What makes the good news such good news is the King has come and done for His people the work His people couldn’t do themselves so His people, by faith, now have unfettered access to Him & His Kingdom apart from their work (Eph. 2:11-22, Col. 2:11-15, Heb. 2:9-18; 4:14-16; 12:28).
To deny as an element within the gospel “the faith” Jesus procures to make salvation available “by grace through faith” is to not hold to the complete gospel of Christ because an element is missing. Faith is most certainly an element of the gospel. It’s just understanding the relationship of the element of faith within the gospel that I believe some are missing.
I hope this reinforced those who agree. I hope this provided clarity for those who were unsure. And I hope this provided the missing puzzle piece for those who believed that faith is not part of the gospel but simply a benefit of it.
May the Spirit of truth bless us and lead us as we seek to properly understand what God has revealed in His Word.