At the Heart of the Gospel lies one of the central themes that underline that goes beneath the entirety of the Bible, is the theme of Justification by Faith. As all things in the Bible, it lies beneath the core/roots of scripture and thus goes back to the Old Testament, as seen in the following in Genesis 22:
1After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." 2He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." 3So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy[a] will go over there and worship and come again to you." 6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" 8Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.This account of Abraham being obedient to God, taking up his only son (Like God took up His only Son Jesus for us) and God instructed him as a test to see if he would sacrifice up to him, as by Faith Abraham believed in God's promise, and if you look down you will see in verse 13 that God provided a Ram because of His Faith God delivered him, and another picture of the Gospel that God then is the Author of Salvation in that He will provide for us (in this case a picture of Redemption)
9When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." 12He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." 13And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide";[b] as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."[c]
There are many more examples of this, where God delivers, and because of that person's Faith, God will always be faithful to His promise to us.
Today in a Bible study I went to today actually talks about this very theme, of justification by Faith as seen in a passage from Galations Chapter 2:
11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?"This passage provides the Groundwork for the theme that is Central to the Gospel, for without this very theme of Justification by Faith there would be no Christianity.
Justified by Faith
15We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16yet we know that a person is not justified[a] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 17But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness[b] were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
As followers of Christ, we are not held by the old traditions of the Law (as the Jews of the Old Testament were) because of what Christ did on our Behalf, dying for our sins and rising again, we can have Faith in Christ and be justified before God.
It's funny how some of us try to make a Laundry list of things to do that we can do Spiritually, however no matter how you stack the deck, you will always fall short of God's Standard. I found the same thing also in my own life, such as I figured I could be more "good" to God by praying, reading the Bible and things like that.
Now don't get me wrong doing those things in themselves can yield a good spiritual benefit if they are done in their appropriate place.
However I am not saved by my Bible reading, by how much I give to the Church Missions, or how often I pray, or how often I praise God, or how many times I go to church or any of those things.
Our Salvation is purely Wrought in the person and Works of Jesus Christ on our behalf, we believe by Faith in the Gospel of our salvation, the person and Work of Christ, and we are saved. Paul makes this clear in Romans 3:
The Righteousness of God Through Faith
21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
This also is another passage in Scripture that points out the Centrality of being Justified by Faith in Christ, rather than the keeping of the law.
The Centrality of the Gospel is Justification by Faith in Christ, who took upon Himself our Sins, and according to Romans 3, because of What Christ did, we then also receive Christ's perfect Record on our Behalf. This is what Theologians call "Double Imputation."
If you want more on the study of this subject I would recommend R.C. Sproul, whom I have listened to a few of his messages on his website, who is a Reformed Theologian on Double Imputation:
In Conclusion, Justification by Faith lies as the Heart of the Christian Gospel, and is the "Heart beat" as it were of the Christian Faith.
Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)
