Saving
Faith – Where does it come from and how do we get it?
How
would you answer someone who asked you this question? Would you be able to give
a biblical answer?
I
am sure you are aware that there is a divergence of opinion on the subject. The
answer most often given to this question is: “The bible says faith is the gift
of God.” And they cite Ephesians 2:8-9:
For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man
should boast.” And that’s supposed to settle it, but does it? Hardly!
This
is what Henry Morris of the Institute
of Creation Science wrote
in a Days of Praise devotional on January 10, 2010: “… what kind of faith does save? The answer is
given by Paul in the very verses quoted above. "For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that |i.e., that faith which is the inference in the
original| not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." In other words,
true saving faith is not a man-generated faith of some kind, it is a supernatural gift of God!
And that faith does save, because it is part of the new nature implanted by the
Holy Spirit when a new believer is born again.
A
Missions Director of a large Baptist Church had this to say: “If we look
carefully at Ephesians 2:8,
we find that even the faith we had to trust Christ as Saviour is a gift from
God. Faith is not something we conjure up from within – it is a
precious gift from God. Hence, we should treasure our faith as what it is
– one of God's greatest gifts to us. We should remind ourselves
every day of that great gift.”
A
publisher of tracts (Faith and Prayer Tract League) adds his comment in a tract
“Jesus Saves” in which he says that Jesus even gives us the faith to believe…”
(Tract #157).
I am not one to leave the matter alone
without an effort to try and correct the error …
So, I wrote ICR about Dr. Morris’ devotional. (Mr. Ford, from ICR, responded with the defense of Henry Morris' statement as being biblically correct.) I commented on the
underlined portion and asked: “From this statement am I to understand that a
person is born again in order to get the faith needed to believe on Christ and
be saved? How ludicrous and totally
unscriptural. Sounds a lot like hyper-Calvinism to me. One thing for sure: that
is not what this verse teaches.”
I then quoted Ephesians
1:13 – In whom
ye also trusted after that ye
heard the word of God, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
Notice the process in Romans 10:13-17:
- When a person calls upon the name of the Lord, he will be saved. (v.13)
- One will not call on the Lord unless he believes in him. (v.14)
- One will not believe in him without hearing about him (v.14)
- One will not hear of him without a preacher (some one to tell them of Him) (v.14)
- One will not preach unless they are sent (v.15) And sent they have been – Acts 1:8 – “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Also see the Great Commission verses: Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47, John 20:21)
- When a person hears about Christ from the Word of God, from a preacher sent from God and believes what they have heard, they will then call upon the name of the Lord and will be saved. (v.17)
That is saving faith
– and that’s how you get it.
Scofield’s definition of faith is
appropriate: "Faith is personal
trust apart from meritorious works, in the Lord Jesus Christ, as delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification."
I
also wrote the Missions Director, Dr. Darrell Moore, and said: “Just a note
about Eph. 2:8-9. The
subject of the verse is salvation, not faith. "For by grace are ye saved..." The words “it is the gift of God” refers to
salvation, not faith. Grammatically, both grace
and faith are modifiers of salvation. I have been preaching for
45 years and have yet to find a verse that teaches faith is a gift from
God. If you could share one with me I would be grateful.
Please
examine the verses again. I am certain you would not want to teach something
the Bible doesn't support. This is not a criticism, only a word of concern over
the misuse of scripture. I appreciate your ministry and care about even the
little things that may slip up on us unawares. God bless you. Keep up the
good work.”
Dr.
Moore did respond and wrote:
“Dear
Bro. Johnson,
I
appreciate your recent response to my e-mail communiqué regarding the great
value of our faith. Though I have no
desire to defend myself or quibble, I think it important that you know I “do my
homework.” Brother Hyles first taught me
the idea that faith is a gift from God.
I had no reason to doubt it, but I have tried to study it some. Though there is debate among some about Ephesians 2:8,
I think there is sufficient reason to believe that faith to believe is provided
to us by a loving God who wants us to be saved if we will.
I
am forwarding to you some pages from various commentaries. I think this will validate my proposition. However, if that is not the case, we will
simply have to agree to disagree. I will
not debate with you or others.
I
appreciate your concern for accuracy. I
share that concern and therefore respect your effort to set the record
straight. May God bless you for it.
His
for the world’s souls,
Darrell
Moore”
Dr. Moore then
included a number of commentary quotes to support his position. Strangely
enough, they supported my position, more than his. Can you imagine? I sometimes
wonder if the commentaries are read before quoting them. So much for “doing his
homework.”
I thought it
incredible when Dr. Moore took this unwarranted quantum leap to faith in Matthew 25: “In each of the parables
about the talents, Jesus rebukes the servant who buries his talent. I
wonder if the talent might refer to our faith? Paul said in Romans 12:3, " . . . according as
God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." To be rich toward
God, I believe we must exercise our faith in order to present God a faith that
hath grown exceedingly. This may even mean that we must yield ourselves to the
"trial of our faith" so it can grow.” This is known as allegorizing the scriptures – assigning a
hidden, secret, meaning that is not evident in the passage. This is
dangerous and more often than not leads to making the Bible say something that
it didn’t say. The subject of faith never occurs in this text in any
place. The concept attached to the parable is
never alluded to in the passage. If you take Jesus word for it, the
buried talent was money (v.27) Dr. Moore has forgotten the main principle in interpreting
Scripture - a Scripture can never mean what it never meant.
A good rule to follow: "When
the literal sense of the word makes common sense, take no other sense - lest
you fall into nonsense"
Little benefit is
derived by refusing to talk about it with the attitude “my mind’s made up,
don’t confuse me with the facts.” That’s what Dr. Moore means when he
says: “I will not debate with you or others.”
| I need to say a word about commentaries. They can be helpful, but remember they were written by men and they are not on the same level as scripture in establishing truth. May I suggest that before you look into the commentaries that you first of all, personally, determine what the verse means – the Holy Spirit will guide you. Afterwards you can look at the commentaries and will find that they may or may not agree with you. Don’t be alarmed, or intimidated because they are supposed be “scholars” with “PHD’s,” etc. I use commentaries, but do not rely on them for the truth. Sometimes a simple “sanctified commonsense” approach will lead you to the truth. |
Then I wrote the Manager of the Faith, Prayer
and Tract League, Calvin Heckman: 3/18/11
“I
am writing in regard to the above mentioned tract (Jesus Saves #157). As I was
reading several tracts to use in our upcoming Tent Meeting, I became aware of
an unscriptural statement that concerned me, especially considering the wide
distribution of your tracts. The statement reads: "JESUS GIVES US THE
FAITH WE NEED TO BE SAVED" - and the corresponding verse is Eph. 2:8-9. However, the verse doesn't teach
that faith is the gift of God - rather it teaches that salvation is the gift of
God, not of works ... Salvation is the subject of the verse, not faith - the
words Grace and faith are modifiers of the world "saved". Titus 2:11 tells us that the "grace of God
that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men ..." In response to
that grace when we exercise our personal faith in Christ, God gives us the
wonderful gift of salvation. Rom. 6:23
states, "... but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord." Eternal life is synonymous with salvation. I have been preaching
for over 46 years and have yet to find a verse that teaches faith is a gift of
God. If you can give me one, I would be grateful. The statement as given in the
tract lends support to the unscriptural doctrine of Calvinism. I would
appreciate a response from whomever is responsible for this type of inquiry. I am
not a crank with nothing else to do, but I am one who has great esteem for the
integrity of the scriptures. I hope you don't just ignore my concern, but will
honestly consider the validity of it.
Awaiting
a prompt reply, I remain,
Respectfully,”
He
responded:
Dear
Brother: Thank you for your graceful comments regarding the text in Ephesians.
I recognize that the Bible's answer to 'where did faith come from?' is not
clear. My own answer as to where did my faith come from? I have to say it is a
gift from the Holy Spirit. Never, on my own, would I be able to generate
something as valuable and as precious as faith. So I reckon, on that score, I'm
a Calvinist.
Blessings! Some day soon these questions won't matter. And some day, soon, I hope, we won't need to use tracts anymore. In Christ, Calvin Hekman mgr
Blessings! Some day soon these questions won't matter. And some day, soon, I hope, we won't need to use tracts anymore. In Christ, Calvin Hekman mgr
To
which I responded:
“Bro.
Hekman:
Thanks
for your reply. However, I am a little concerned about the statement that
"the Bible is not clear as to where faith comes from." That's an
incredible statement considering that fact that God gave the Bible so that we
may know, and has also given us the Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of Truth, to
guide us into all truth. I don't think the problem is with the Bible. More than
likely it is our pre-conceived ideas that we place like a grid over the Bible
and interpret everything through that grid. Not a very honest approach to
understanding the Bible.
Faith
is not a direct gift from God given to some but not others. Take, for example, Rom. 10:17: "So then faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the word of God." That verse tells us where faith
comes from - it comes from hearing the word of God. The " So then" is
a conclusion of what was said before. The context is very clear; beginning at
verse 13 and concluding with verse 17.
Paul makes a statement in v.13 -
" For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved." The he asks some pertinent
questions: " How shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall
they preach except they be sent?
" Paul is explaining where faith comes from. It comes from a God called
preacher, preaching the gospel; those who hear the gospel now have the information
they need to believe in Christ, and when they exercise their personal faith, they call
on Christ to save them. Faith is a human response to a Holy Spirit prompted
conviction of the truth of God’s Word. So then faith cometh by hearing and
hearing by the word of God. So, the Bible is very clear on where faith comes
from after all.
That
is the clear, unmistakable, undeniable, unalterable Bible truth of the matter.
(cf.
John 20:31
- But these things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God; and that by believing
ye might have life through his name.)
There
are other things that could be said to demonstrate the clarity of the Bible as
to where faith comes from, but this will suffice for now, and should be
sufficient to settle the matter in your heart.
Attached
is a tract entitled: "Why I Disagree With All Five Points of
Calvinism" I hope you will read it and let God speak to your heart. No I'm
not a Calvinist, nor am I am Armenian - I am simply a Bible Christian. Amen!”
Part
of the problem is that we hear someone say something, we repeat it to others,
and they repeat it to yet others – and before you know it we think that is what
the Bible says. A good example of this is the statement made by Henry Morris in
his devotional. We tend to accept what is said at face value, considering who
is speaking – a well respected leader in Christian circles, very well educated
(a PHD), and has a testimony of upholding the truth of the Bible. In reality,
it doesn’t matter how many well meaning preachers repeat this interpretation,
that doesn’t make it so. Well meaning, well educated preachers can be, and
often are wrong in what they say. I often say, “If 10,000 people do a wrong
thing it’s still a wrong thing.” In our context: “If 10,000 preachers say a
wrong thing, it’s still a wrong thing.” – and it cannot be made right by the
strength of numbers. It is sad indeed when they resort to “the original” to add
weight to their words – especially when they do not have the “original” – they
perished a long time ago. Such tactics only generate more confusion to the
issue.
Following are a few commentaries on the
subject: I have interspersed my own comments in brackets [ ].
Robertson´s Word Pictures
Eph
2:8 - For by grace (tēi gar chariti). Explanatory reason. “By the grace” already
mentioned in Eph_2:5 and so with the article.
Through faith (dia pisteōs). This phrase he adds in repeating what he said
in Eph_2:5 to make it plainer. “Grace” is God’s part, “faith” ours. [If faith is given by God, then it, too is
God’s part not ours.]
And that (kai touto). Neuter, not feminine tautē, and so refers not
to pistis [faith](feminine) or to charis [grace](feminine
also), but to the act of being saved by grace conditioned on faith on our part. Paul shows that salvation does not have its source (ex humōn, out of you) in men, but from God. Besides, salvation
is God’s gift (dōron) and not the result of
our work. [Robertson agrees with me on this one]
Adam Clarke´s Commentary on The Bible
Eph
2:8 For by grace
are ye saved, through faith - As ye are now brought into a state of
salvation, your sins being all blotted out, and you made partakers of the Holy
Spirit; and, having a hope full of immortality, you must not attribute this to
any works or merit of yours; for when this Gospel reached you, you were all
found dead in trespasses and dead in sins; therefore it was God’s free mercy to
you, manifested through Christ, in whom ye were commanded to believe*;
and, having believed by the power of the Holy Spirit, ye received, and were
sealed by, the Holy Spirit of promise; so that this salvation is in no sense
of yourselves, but is the free gift of God; and not of any kind of works; so
that no man can boast as having wrought out his own salvation, or even
contributed any thing towards it. By grace are ye saved, through faith in
Christ. This is a true doctrine, and continues to be essential to the salvation
of man to the end of the world. [*God does not command us to do what we cannot
do]
But
which are we to understand, faith or salvation as being the gift of God? This
question is answered by the Greek text: τῃ
γαρ χαριτι εστε σεσωσμενοι δια της πιστεως· και τουτο ουκ εξ ὑμων· Θεου το
δωρον, ουκ εξ εργων· ἱνα μη τις καυχησηται· “By this grace ye are saved through faith; and This
(τουτο, this salvation) is not of
you; it is the gift of God, not of works: so that no one can boast.” “The
relative τουτο, this, which is in the
neuter gender, cannot stand for πιστις, faith, which is the
feminine; but it has the whole sentence that goes before for its antecedent.” But it may be asked:
Is not faith the gift of God? Yes, as to the grace by which it is produced;
but the grace or power to believe, and the act
of believing, are two different things. Without the grace or power to
believe no man ever did or can believe; but with that power the act of faith is
a man’s own. God never believes for any man, no more than he repents for him:
the penitent, through this grace enabling him, believes for himself: nor does
he believe necessarily, or impulsively when he has that power; the power to
believe may be present long before it is exercised, else, why the solemn
warnings with which we meet every where in the word of God, and threatenings
against those who do not believe? Is not this a proof that such persons have
the power but do not use it? They believe not, and therefore are not
established. This, therefore, is the true state of the case: God gives the
power, man uses the power thus given, and brings glory to God: without the
power no man can believe; with it, any man may. [see Titus
2:11] [Adam Clarke agrees with me, too]
Albert
Barnes’ notes on the Bible
Eph
2:8 For by grace
are ye saved - By mere favor. It is not by your Own merit; it is not
because you have any claim. This is a favorite doctrine with Paul, as it is
with all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity; compare the notes at Rom_1:7;
Rom_3:24, note.
Through faith - Grace bestowed through faith, or in connection
with believing; see the notes at Rom_1:17; Rom_4:16, note.
And that not of yourselves - That is, salvation
does not proceed from yourselves. The word rendered “that” - τοῦτο (touto)
- is in the neuter gender, and the word “faith” - πίστις (pistis) - is in the feminine. The
word “that,” therefore, does not refer particularly to faith, as being the gift
of God, but to “the salvation by grace” of which he had been speaking. This
is the interpretation of the passage which is the most obvious, and which is now generally conceded to be the
true one; see Bloomfield.
Many critics, however, as Doddridge, Beza, Piscator, and Chrysostom, maintain
that the word “that” (τοῦτο touto) refers to “faith” (πίστις pistis); and Doddridge
maintains that such a use is common in the New Testament. As a matter of
grammar this opinion is certainly doubtful, if not untenable; but as a
matter of theology it is a question of very little importance. [see Rom. 4:5 – “But to him that worketh not, but believeth
on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness.” Faith is not a work and is not included in the
statement “not of works, lest any man should boast.” [Barnes is on my side, as well]
Whether this passage
proves it or not, it is certainly true that faith is the gift of God. It exists
in the mind only when the Holy Spirit produces it there, and is, in common with
every other Christian excellence, to be traced to his agency on the heart. This
opinion, however, does not militate at all with the doctrine that man himself
“believes.” It is not God that “believes” for him, for that is impossible. It
is his own mind that actually believes, or that exercises faith; see the
notes at Rom_4:3. In the same manner “repentance” is to be traced to
God. It is one of the fruits of the operation of the Holy Spirit on the soul.
But the Holy Spirit does not “repent” for us. It is our “own mind” that
repents; our own heart that feels; our own eyes that weep - and without this
there can he no true repentance. No one can repent for another; and God neither
can nor ought to repent; for us. He has done no wrong, and if repentance is
ever exercised, therefore, it must be exercised by our own minds. So of faith.
God cannot believe for us. “We” must believe, or “we” shall be damned.
Still this does not conflict at all with the opinion, that if we exercise
faith, the inclination to do it is to be traced to the agency of God on the
heart. I would not contend, therefore, about the grammatical construction of
this passage, with respect to the point of the theology contained in it; still it
accords better with the obvious grammatical construction, and with the design
of the passage to understand the word “that” as referring not to “faith” only,
but to “salvation by grace.” So Calvin understands it, and so it is
understood by Storr, Locke, Clarke, Koppe, Grotius, and others.
It
is the gift of God - Salvation by grace is his gift. It is not of merit; it
is wholly by favor.
[That about sums it up! Thank you! Thank
you! Thank you!]
I hope you are convinced by now that faith is not a gift from God - and there is not a verse in the Bible that says so. As to the controversy of "faith is a gift of God," or "faith is not a gift of God"- both statements cannot be true- it is either one or the other it cannot be both. "The law of non-contradiction reflects reality - i.e. 2 contradictory statements cannot be true. Ex. It is either a black car or a white car- it cannot be both. The law of non-contradiction cannot be challenged - you might as well be talking about a one-ended stick." (Ravi Zacharias) You need to determine which side of the issue you believe, and stick to it- tenaciously. And will say again, If you can find a verse in the Bible that states Faith is the gift of God, please forward that information to me.
Until next time... Pastor Yo
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