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Why The Gospel Is
God's Power Unto Salvation |
By R.L. Whiteside
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth..." (Rom. 1:16a).
In many sermons and articles emphasis is placed on "the" before
"power," as if it were the deciding word in this sentence, whereas
it is not in the Greek text. It seems odd that we should emphasize a
word that Paul could have used at that place, but did not. Perhaps
Paul's emphasis may better be seen by reading as follows: "I am not
ashamed of the gospel, for it is God's power unto salvation." Paul
emphasizes the idea that the gospel is God's power for saving
men—not his creative power, but his saving power; not the power by
which he created man, but the power by which he saves men. If men
are saved at all, God must do it; and if God saves man, he does it
by his own power—by his power for saving man. Paul affirms that His
power for saving man is the gospel. That cuts off any other power or
means for regenerating, or saving, man.
If, then, you would contribute anything toward saving men, bring
God's power to bear on them. You are only an agent that God would
use in bringing to bear on men his power for saving them. He would
not have you to mix or dilute his power, nor to obstruct its full
flow. You may enhance your standing with men by flattery, cajolery,
and intrigue, and by such small talk and conduct, succeed in
baptizing some that you would not otherwise baptize; but all such
converts have you in mind rather than the Lord. They have fallen in
love with you and your power to attract people instead of falling in
love with the Lord and his power to save, and they will not be worth
a fig in any effort the church makes till they come around again.
Any preacher should be ashamed of himself for making such converts,
for he has impressed himself, instead of the Lord, on the hearts of
his converts.
"For our exhortation is not of error, nor uncleanness, nor in guile:
but even as we have been approved of God to be entrusted with the
gospel, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our
hearts. For neither at any time were we found using words of
flattery, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness;
nor seeking glory of man, neither from you nor from others, when we
might have claimed authority as apostles of Christ" (1 Thess. 2:3-6).
Paul used no flattery and practiced no deceit; he was not trying to
build up a big admiration society. Flattery may be effectually used
to cover up the speaker's covetousness, but it accomplishes nothing
in the salvation of people. Only the gospel is God's power to save,
and on that the preacher should rely.
"And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of
speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I
determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in
much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not in
persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and
of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but
in the power of God." (1 Cor. 2:1-5).
But why is the gospel God's power to save? Paul assigns the reason:
"For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto
faith” (Rom. 1:17). The gospel is the power of God unto salvation,
because in it is revealed a righteousness by faith in order to
faith. Why this is true will be clearly seen, if we get a clear view
of Paul's use of the phrase, "the righteousness of God." By this
expression, he does not refer to the righteousness of God as a
person. That attribute of God had been known of old, for it had
clearly been revealed in the law. "The righteousness of God" may
refer either to God's plan of righteousness or to the righteousness
to which we attain through that plan. "For being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not
subject themselves to the righteousness of God." (Rom. 10:3). Paul
did not mean that the Jews were ignorant of the fact that God is a
righteous being, nor that they were trying to prove themselves to be
righteous. The righteousness of God was something to which they
could subject themselves and to which they had not brought
themselves into subjection. They were ignorant of the gospel, God's
plan of righteousness, and were going about to establish a plan of
their own. Hence, they had not submitted to the gospel—God's plan of
righteousness. The righteousness to which we attain through this
plan of righteousness is referred to by Paul as "the righteousness .
. . of faith" (Rom. 10:6).
There are only two conceivable ways by which men can be righteous.
If a man were to live absolutely perfect, he would be righteous in
his own right and by his own works; but no mere man has ever been
righteous by the perfection of his own works—all have sinned. As all
are unrighteous, and as only the righteous can be saved, what hope
is there for any man?
Some plan must be adopted by which guilty sinners can be made
righteous, or there is no hope. God has graciously provided that
plan. In the gospel, God's plan of righteousness, provision is made
for the cleansing and the forgiveness of the sinner. The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. Sins are forgiven, guilt from
sin is removed; and the person thus cleansed stands in God's sight
as if he never had sinned. He is righteous, and this righteousness
is attained to by faith.
The denominational idea, expressed in their creeds and standard
works, that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the sinner,
while the sinner's corruption still remains with him, makes God's
plan of righteousness weak and ineffective. The creed makers would
have us believe that the sinner is not only made righteous, but is
only, in some mystical way, clothed with the clean garments of
Christ's righteousness, and made to appear clean, though beneath
these borrowed garments he is still filthy and sinful. The marvel is
that any one could ever believe such perversion. It makes the gospel
a very ineffective cleansing agent, discredits the blood of Christ,
and puts God in an unfavorable light, for it represents him as
counting the filthy man as clean simply because he has dressed him
up in clean clothes. No, the gospel is not so ineffective as that;
neither does God carry on such a pretense as they would have us
believe.
There are two ways for your handkerchief to be clean: one is, for it
never to be soiled; the other is, for it, having become soiled, to
be carried through a process of cleansing and made clean. Not that
the cleanliness of the washerwoman is imputed to it, but she has
carried it through a process of cleansing that makes it as clean as
if it had never been soiled. The abuse and wear you gave it may have
weakened its fabric, but it is clean. Just so with man. If he never
became soiled with sin, he would be clean; but since he has become
soiled by sin, our Lord can take him through a process of cleansing
that makes him as clean as if he never had sinned. The fabric of his
moral nature may be weakened by sin, but he is clean; and, like the
handkerchief, he may become soiled again, but that does not destroy
the fact that he was once made clean and righteous.
Because the gospel thus cleanses from sin and makes us righteous, it
is the power of God unto salvation. That is the reason which Paul
assigns; and if it did not thus make sinners righteous, we see not
how it could be God's power to save. On our part, this righteousness
is attained by a living faith. Not only so, but the fact that it
does provide a way for guilty men to become righteous is an
inducement for sin-burdened men to believe. Hence, I am not ashamed
of the gospel, for it is God's power to save man; and it is God's
power of save man because it is God's way of making men righteous by
faith. This plan of righteousness by faith is revealed that men may
believe. ~
Editor’s note: I didn’t know brother Whiteside (he died in 1951,
four years after I was born), but I sure wish I had. Were he still
alive, I’d like to sit at his feet for as long as he would want to
preach. Preach on, brother!
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