Ben:

Great question. What the early church did was to make clear that Jesus mediated the benefits of salvation with divine privilege and authority (seated at the right hand of God- Acts 2; to function as judge of the living and the dead- Acts 10). The key here is that it is crucial to understand that Jesus' position is part of why he is so necessary to the process of salvation. So in that position, he died for forgiveness of sins and mediates the giving of God's Spirit to indwell us. Embracing that work and that person by faith is the response called for (Eph 2:8-10). This can also be expressed as "turning" to God or repenting of sin. We end up emphasizing faith because in the end it is God and his work through Jesus that one trusts in for salvation that also is described as the establishing of this relationship Scripture calls eternal life.