The Power of God unto Salvation

Romans 1:16-17

¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is (the)power of God to salvation to every (one)believing, both to Jew first, and to Greek;

17 for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; even as it is written, “But the just one shall live by faith.” Hab. 2:4

The Gospel is (the) Power of God unto salvation to every (one) believing. The believing know the Gospel is what saves. The Gospel is not the power of God unto salvation to every (one) unbelieving.

The Believing (one) is also a reflection of God’s Power through His Sovereign Act from above in generating in His people represented a new heart and new spirit unto belief of The Gospel; that the salvation of His people is demanded and ensured conditioned solely on the shed blood of the perfect substitutionary sacrifice, Jesus Christ and His imputed righteousness. Salvation is all of God’s work through the faith of Jesus Christ providing propitiation, justification, and redemption for His people represented. Salvation is the work of God from regeneration to final glorification of His people He represented and promised to save.

This is the righteousness of God in the Gospel through the faith of Jesus Christ providing reconciliation to God for His people without any effort from His promised people that He represented through His becoming the perfect substitutionary sacrifice through a perfect life lived

The natural man must be acted upon by God in order to believe the Gospel because he thinks spiritual things including the effectual and efficacious work of the cross of Christ is foolishness and he doesn’t realize he doesn’t have any righteousness of his own to satisfy God’s just requirement of perfect righteousness in thought, word, and deed.

Matthew 1:21 John 3:3,5,8 Mark 16:16 John 6:29 Romans 3:10-12 Psalms 14:1-3 Isaiah 64:6 Galatians 2:16 Romans 3:20 1 Corinthians 2:14 2 Corinthians 4:6 1 Corinthians 1:18 1 Corinthians 1:21 Luke 18:13 Luke 23:42-43 Ephesians 2:8-10 Romans 3 Romans 4 Romans 8 Romans 9 Romans 10 John 6:44 John 6:65 John 10:26 John 6:37-44

The Tax collector and The Thief on the cross knew they were at the Sovereign Mercy of God to be saved and “Free” Will wouldn’t save them. They knew they did not have a righteousness to satisfy God’s Law and both knew they were at the Totally Sovereign Mercy of God and His Righteousness. They both were regenerated with a new heart and spirit unto belief of the Gospel of salvation by Grace alone conditioned on the atoning shed blood of Christ and His imputed righteousness alone without any effort or conditions met by the ones he represented in His death and perfect life lived. They knew God would have mercy on whom He chooses. Romans 9:15, 18

Luke 18:13

And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not even lift up his eyes to Heaven, but smote on his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner!

Luke 23:42-43

And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come in Your kingdom.

43 And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you will be with Me in Paradise.

The Thief on the cross that changed his mind knew he was going to die that day. The Thief knew Jesus was going to die that day.

Consequently, there wasn’t any possible way for the thief to say: And he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come in Your kingdom” unless God had regenerated him unto belief of the Gospel of Christ and caused him to pass from death to life John 5:24 God had shined into their hearts to give the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Corinthians 4:6

2 Corinthians 4:6

Because it is God who said, “Out of darkness Light shall shine,” the One who shone in our hearts to give the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Isa. 42:6, 7, 16

Highlights, italics and parentheses added for emphasis

All Scripture taken from KJ 3 literal translation sgpbooks.com Read KJ3 online