The Content of Saving Faith

     Eternal salvation has always been by grace alone through faith alone; however, the content of faith (i.e., what is believed), has changed throughout the ages. According to Arnold Fruchtenbaum, “Indeed, there always was, always is, and always will be only one means of salvation: by grace through faith.”[1] Though grace and faith are constants, the content of faith has changed over time, depending on what God revealed to each person or generation, as divine revelation came in stages. William MacDonald sates, “From Adam to Christ, God saved those who put their faith in Him on the basis of whatever revelation He gave them. Abraham, for example, believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness (Gen 15:6).”[2] According to Norman Geisler, “the revealed content of the gospel varied from age to age in the progress of revelation.”[3] Charles Ryrie notes, “The basis of salvation is always the death of Christ; the means is always faith; the object is always God (though man’s understanding of God before and after the Incarnation is obviously different); but the content of faith depends on the particular revelation God was pleased to give at a certain time.”[4] Thomas Constable adds, “The basis of salvation is always the death of Christ. No one is saved except by what He accomplished at Calvary. The requirement for salvation is always faith. It is never works. The object of faith is always the Person of God. The content of faith is always a promise from God.”[5] The following examples demonstrate that the content of faith has changed over time.

     First, after the historic fall of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:1-7), the content of saving faith was God’s promise of an offspring of Eve who would crush the head of the serpent. In the presence of Adam and Eve, God told Satan, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel” (Gen 3:15). This is commonly regarded as the protoevangelium; that is, the first gospel message. The crushing of Satan’s head—a fatal blow—was accomplished by the Lord Jesus at the cross where He triumphed over sin and death. How much Adam and Eve understood about this prophecy is not known. However, it is assumed they trusted God at His word concerning the future offspring that would crush the serpent’s head. Shortly after giving the promises, God killed an animal, which meant shedding its blood,  and made clothes from its hide and gave it to them to wear (Gen 3:21). Arnold Fruchtenbaum notes, “The covering of animal skins, which required the shedding of blood to give them the atonement, replaced the covering of fig leaves. Then the verse states: and clothed them. Physically, He clothed their nakedness, but spiritually, He also covered their sin by making for them their atonement.”[6] And according to Charles Ryrie, “When Adam looked upon the coats of skins with which God had clothed him and his wife, he did not see what the believer today sees looking back on the cross of Calvary.”[7]We should not assume that Adam and Eve understood the death, burial, and resurrection of Messiah. What they understood was God’s promise of a future offspring who would crush the serpent, and then they witnessed God killing an animal, taking its skin, and making clothing for them. When they believed God’s promise and accepted His provision, it resulted in their salvation.

     Second, in the book of Genesis we have the record of Abraham’s salvation. Moses wrote that Abraham “believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6). The content of Abraham’s faith was the promise of God concerning the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 12:1-3), especially as it related to God giving him a biological descendant (Gen 15:1-6). Abraham accepted God’s promise as true and reliable, which meant he trusted in God Himself. And when Abraham believed in Yahweh, we’re told that God “reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6b).[8] Concerning Abraham’s faith in God, Arnold Fruchtenbaum states, “The content of his faith was the promises of God. The object of his faith was Jehovah.”[9] According to J. Carl Laney Jr., “God had just promised Abraham, an elderly man with a barren wife, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. In spite of the physical hindrances to the fulfillment of this promise, Abraham trusted God…Because Abraham accepted God’s word as true and reliable, God declared him righteous, and therefore acceptable.”[10] Paul cited Genesis 15:6 in Romans (Rom 4:3) and Galatians (Gal 3:6) when making his case that believers are justified by faith alone, and not by any works of the Law (Rom 4:4-5).

     Third, in the book of Ruth we find a good example of a Gentile who came to trust in the Lord. Ruth told her mother-in-law, Naomi, “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God” (Ruth 1:16). Here is an expression of faith in the Lord Himself. God directed Israel to serve as His witnesses (Isa 43:10), telling others, “I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me” (Isa 43:11). For a Gentile to be saved, it meant trusting in Yahweh alone and not pagan idols, of which there are none. It also meant not trusting in works, which is what pagan idolatry required. Concerning this verse, Warren Wiersbe states, “Ruth’s statement in Ruth 1:16-17 is one of the most magnificent confessions found anywhere in Scripture…[as] she confessed her faith in the true and living God and her decision to worship Him alone.”[11] And Arnold Fruchtenbaum notes, “Ruth invoked the name of God in her oath and not the name of Chemosh. This shows in whom she truly believed.”[12] What’s interesting is that after Ruth married Boaz (Ruth 4:13), she was brought into the family line that led to King David (Ruth 4:18-22), and the Messiah Himself (Matt 1:1, 5). Ruth was among the Gentiles in the OT who believed in Yahweh and were saved. Other Gentile believers include Melchizedek (Gen 14:18), Rahab (Matt 1:5; Heb 11:31), and likely the Queen of Sheba (1 Ki 10:1-13), Naaman the Aramean (2 Ki 5:15-19), the Ninevites (Jonah 3:5, 9-10), Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2:47; 3:29; 4:34-37),[13] and the Magi who came from the east to worship Messiah (Matt 2:1-2, 11).

Dr. Steven R. Cook

[1] Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Ariel’s Bible Commentary: The Book of Genesis, 1st ed. (San Antonio, TX: Ariel Ministries, 2008), 275.

[2] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1690.

[3] Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Four: Church, Last Things (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2005), 484.

[4] Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Dispensationalism, Rev. and expanded. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1995), 140.

[5] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ex 12:43.

[6] Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Ariel’s Bible Commentary: The Book of Genesis, 110.

[7] Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism, 134.

[8] In his commentary on Genesis, Allen Ross notes, “The text does not necessarily mean that Abram came to faith here. Hebrews 11:8 asserts that he left Ur by faith. Genesis 15:6 simply reports at this point the fact that Abram believed, and for that belief God had credited him with righteousness.” (Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998, 310).

[9] Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Ariel’s Bible Commentary: The Book of Genesis, 275.

[10] J. Carl Laney Jr., “Soteriology”, Understanding Christian Theology, 238–239.

[11] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Committed, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), 21.

[12] Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Ariel’s Bible Commentary: The Books of Judges and Ruth, 1st ed. (San Antonio, TX: Ariel Ministries, 2006), 300.

[13] It’s very likely that Nebuchadnezzar trusted God after being humbled by the Lord (see Daniel 4:1-37). Throughout the decades of Nebuchadnezzar’s life, he’d had interactions with Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, and the king gained knowledge about God. From his own mouth, Nebuchadnezzar said to Daniel, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings” (Dan 2:47), and to Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah he declared, “no other god is able to deliver in this way” (Dan 3:29). After the king had suffered for seven years, he eventually came to the place where he said, “I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever” (Dan 4:34), and “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven” (Dan 4:37). Though one cannot be dogmatic, Nebuchadnezzar’s final words strongly imply salvific faith in God—at least as he understood Him from his interactions with the Hebrews—and the result was one of worship to the Lord. If one accepts Nebuchadnezzar’s words as an expression of his conversion, it means he trusted in the God of Israel.