The Saving Power of the Gospel
By John A. Brunson
“I AM not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; . . . for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” Rom. 1:16, 17. Observe what the gospel is: it is power. Whose power?—God’s. Not the power of angels “that excel in strength;” not the power of church, council, or conference; not the power of pope, prelate, or priest. It is the power of God. “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.” “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Observe, further, that in the gospel God’s power is exercised for the successful accomplishment of a specific work; namely, salvation. Do not fail to give this fact due consideration. Primarily the gospel is not God’s power unto education, though in fact it is the only true educator. Neither is it the power of God unto civilization, albeit true and permanent civilization is promoted by the gospel alone. But it must not be forgotten that the real object of the gospel is salvation, both present and eternal. Salvation from what?—From sin, of course; for the record is, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.” When shall He save them?—Both now and forever, from its guilt and its power; for the injunction is, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Mark well the expression, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body.” It says not, in your immortal body. Salvation from the power of sin now, while we are in our mortal bodies, is a possibility of the gospel. Through the gospel the life of Christ can be made manifest in our mortal flesh; and by the power of this inward life, the natural propensities of the human heart can be so subdued that one will be saved not only from sin, but from sinning; “for sin shall not have dominion over you,” for “He is able also to save them to the uttermost [“all completeness,” Greek] that come unto God by Him.” We conclude, then, that all power is not gospel, but that all gospel is power, God’s power; God’s power unto salvation; God’s power unto salvation from sin, both now and forever,—a salvation present and eternal, glorious in its completeness, and complete in its glory. But it must not be forgotten that such a salvation is realized now only by him who believes that it is possible now. The gospel is God’s power “unto salvation to every one that believeth.” He who does not believe that Christ, by the power of His Holy Spirit, is both able and anxious to keep him moment by moment, controlling, guiding, restraining, constraining, can never, so long as he remains in that state of unbelief, experience the fullness and completeness of salvation. Unbelief erects an insurmountable barrier to freedom in Christ, because it places a limit upon God’s power. This was the predominant sin of ancient Israel, whose experiences “were written for our learning.” The record in the seventy-eighth Psalm is, “A fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; because they believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation.” “They turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” “According to your faith be it unto you,” is God’s method of procedure. God has made provision for a complete, present salvation, and has revealed it unto us in precept and promise. He who believes that this salvation is for him now, and staggers “not at the promise of God through unbelief,” but is “strong in faith, giving glory to God,” being fully persuaded that, what He has promised, He is able also to perform, will surely be inducted by the Spirit into a realization of its blessed fullness. O that God’s children would cease to limit His power by their unbelief, and to measure His ability to save by their meager experiences! Be careful not to make your limited, inadequate experience the criterion of God’s word, but, on the contrary, make His infallible word the criterion of your experience. Do not attempt to reduce the fullness of God’s love and power to the measure of your restricted capacity, but earnestly pray that your narrow conceptions may be enlarged and liberalized, that you may “be filled with all the fullness of God,” for He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” Righteousness the Power of the Gospel
Having seen that the gospel is God’s power unto salvation, present and eternal, full and complete, let us next observe why it is such. The text says that it is the power of God unto salvation, “for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” Negatively expressed, the gospel would not be God’s power unto salvation if it did not reveal the righteousness of God which is from faith to faith. Let us glance, then, at this righteousness which the gospel reveals, and without which it would not manifest the saving power of God. Paul more fully describes it in the third chapter of Romans, in the following language: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” Now carefully note what is here predicated of this righteousness. Let us enumerate the statements in order: (1) This righteousness is not the result of obedience to law, for “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight;” or more literally translated, “by works of law no flesh will be made right before Him;” (2) it is manifested apart from law. “Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth;” (3) it is witnessed by the law and the prophets. That is to say, although this righteousness is not the result of obedience to law, but is given by God apart from law, yet the law bears witness to it, and acknowledges that it is genuine and satisfactory, and ceases to condemn him upon whom it is conferred. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus;” (4) it is the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ; (5) it is unto all that believe. Paul mentions this same righteousness when, in the third of Philippians, he relates his experience. His language is, “Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” A careful consideration of these facts, which are affirmed by the Holy Spirit to be true of the righteousness which is revealed in the gospel, yields the conclusion that that righteousness is righteousness by faith, the righteousness which is offered in the Laodicean message as the one and only antidote for the spiritual lethargy, weakness, and poverty of the people. Now with this thought in mind, let us read Rom. 1:16, 17, again: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; . . . for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” This text plainly declares that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation, because it reveals something, and that something is “the righteousness of God,” which is “from faith to faith.” But we have just concluded that that righteousness is righteousness by faith. Therefore we must further conclude that the gospel is God’s power to save sinners, solely because it reveals righteousness by faith. In other words, it reveals to us the only possible plan whereby the righteous God can maintain His own righteousness, and at the same time make a poor, ungodly rebel right in His sight in Christ Jesus. Righteousness the One Thing Necessary
Then what are we to conclude?—That righteousness is the one thing required by God,—the one thing without which no man can enter the kingdom of God,—the one thing with which no man will be excluded therefrom. “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” “Thy people also shall be all righteous.” “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Let it be repeated again and again, with ever-increasing emphasis, that righteousness is the condition of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. The primal significance of the Greek word which is translated by the word “justify,” is, “to make right.” Hence, when we say, God justifies a sinner, we mean that God adjudges him to be right, and treats him as if he were right, not imputing his trespasses unto him. Then, of course, the sinner, penitent and believing, having been adjudged right by God himself, is relieved of the oppressive sense of guilt and condemnation, for “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” He is saved from sin. God has laid his sins upon another, even Christ, who bore them in His own body upon the tree, and in consequence has acquitted the trembling, convicted sinner who believes. He adjudges him to be right, and the sinner, believing God’s word, rejoices in His acquittal. The gospel reveals this glorious fact, and hence is God’s power unto salvation to every one that believes. Righteousness by faith, then, is the central thought of the message. It must not be neglected, for without it there is no salvation. The truths of the sanctuary, the Sabbath, the second advent, all find a common center in this great, cardinal truth, and can never be proclaimed in their fullness until their relation thereto is recognized and properly appreciated. Righteousness lies at the basis of Christian life. Righteousness is not simply right doing: it is right being. It is the state of being right before God; and right doing, or commandment-keeping, follows as a natural consequence. One does not do right in order to be made right, but because he has been made right. He does not keep the commandments of God in order to escape the guilt of sin, but because the guilt has been removed. In other words, right doing is the consequence of right being, not the cause thereof. And it is through faith in Christ that one is initiated into this state of being right with God. Therefore let all, preachers, teachers, Bible readers, canvassers, physicians, seek to understand this truth, that they may preach the gospel of salvation in its fullness, and thus help to usher in the loud cry.