The Way of Salvation

I'm halfway through The Way of Salvation by K.C. Moser and I have to say that I'm enjoying the book. I'm not sure I agree with everything he says (his concept of faith as expressing itself in obedience only when a command is associated with it is difficult to establish scripturally, I think), but overall the book is an interesting approach to unifying the concepts in scripture that are connected with salvation (faith, repentance, confession, baptism). Note that if you come from a strong Reformed point of view then you will react negatively to that last sentence, but I'm not passing along an opinion. Repentance, confession and baptism are connected in the Word with faith, and faith with salvation, whether or not you decide that you want to read those passages in the way they are written. If you don't then you still have to struggle with forcing them into a different mold:

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:14-15) No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3) And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out (Acts 3:19) But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:8-10) But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:25-27)

Now, returning to The Way of Salvation I have to caveat the rest of the post that since I'm only halfway through the book he might change directions on me, invalidating what I mention later, but at the moment this is the way that things stand. So far, the book is proposing that the concepts I mentioned before that are connected in scripture with salvation are merely different facets of faith. Faith in Christ is defined by Moser as being trust in the power of Christ's death, burial and resurrection to save us. Repentance, therefore, is a necessary aspect of faith since faith is turning in trust toward Christ and this implies the other side of the coin: turning away from the things of the flesh (which is what repentance is). Confession is "faith spoken." That is, confession is the vocal expression of the heart that trusts in Christ. I haven't gotten through the section on baptism but he is already heading in the same direction with it as well (showing that it is a natural facet of faith and not merely something tacked on as an afterthought). This seems to me to be an interesting systematizing of salvation in the Word - tying everything to aspects of faith. I don't think I've actually ever heard it stated this way so it is definitely giving me some food for thought. I'll post some more as I get further through the book.