Got faith? Why or why not?

Scripture makes it clear that faith is necessary for anyone to be saved:

Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

I think most would agree that this passage teaches faith is the necessary vehicle by which God's grace and salvation are made manifest to His people. I will return to this passage in a moment, but first let me consider a few questions:

Is this saving faith something that all have and can exercise, or is it a faith that only some have?

If all do have it, why do only some exercise it unto salvation?

If only some have it, why do they have it?

If other don't have it, why don't they have it?

As to the first question, do all have this faith that is necessary for receiving God's grace and salvation? I must first affirm that there is a kind of faith that all can have, that has nothing at all to do with salvation. Everyone can have faith in something, whether it be a false god, themselves or karma. The question we are addressing here is regarding the faith necessary to come to salvation. Is that a faith that all have?

Well, one passage that might seem to suggest everyone does is:

Rom. 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

Now the question we must consider is if this "each one" who has been granted a measure of faith, refers to everyone in the world, or to those in the church? It does say "everyone among you" which might suggest the church is in view, but still might not seem absolutely conclusive. However, if we look a little further at the context, those in view who are "granted a measure of faith" becomes more clear.

In Chapter 12 we have a transition from explaining how we are saved to how those who are saved should live, so the primary audience of everything from chapter 12 on is the church. Further, the topic Paul is addressing in chapter 12:3-8 is spiritual gifts. Surely spiritual gifts are only to be found in born again believers, so it would make sense that everything Paul is saying in this section is about the church, as opposed to referring to all people everywhere. Even more specifically, it appears Paul is talking about not being prideful about spiritual gifts. He goes on to say that we should use our spiritual gifts in proportion to that God given measure of faith (vs. 6). Paul's whole point is that we believers should not be boastful or prideful about our spiritual gifts or the faith with which we exercise them, because it too is a gift from God (vs. 3). So does this passage teach conclusively that all have been granted a measure of faith and can come to salvation? I would say no, and would even go as far as to say that this passage teaches that the faith in view is a gift of God that only those in the church have been granted. We surely don't expect the unsaved to teach or prophesy, because they don't have saving faith or the any other gifts of the Spirit. Even if you came away form this passage not fully convinced, there are other passages that speak very clearly on the question of do all have the faith necessary for salvation? 

One such passage is found in:

2 Thess. 3:2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.

Now here again we need to consider the context. If we begin at:

3:1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, ² and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith. ³ But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. ⁴ And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. ⁵ Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.

So, who is it that does not have faith? The unreasonable and wicked men! Who is that? It sounds like a description of the unconverted. We are told in scripture that the things of God are foolishness to the unbeliever (1 Cor. 2:14) and we are told often of our commitment to evil prior to salvation (John 3:19, Eph. 2:3, Rom. 8:7). It is very clear that it is unbelievers that are evil, unreasonable and lack whatever faith is in view. Is it saving faith that is in view? Consider the evangelistic nature of the passage. Paul is telling the Thessalonians that that they should pray for he and others who are spreading the word, that it should spread quickly, but also acknowledges that there will be those who oppose it. Why do they oppose the message of salvation? Because they don't have the faith necessary to believe it and be saved. By contrast, Paul has confidence that the church will do what is commanded by God. How can Paul have this confidence, well I would suggest it is because they do have this God given faith that is clearly said to be lacking in these Paul warns them about!

OK, is there any other passages that bear on this question of "do all have the faith necessary for salvation"?

Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Now it is interesting that the English rendering of this passage says "faithfulness" rather than simply faith. In the Greek the word πίστις (pistis) is a noun that simply means faith! So just like the kind of love, joy and peace in view are unique to believers, who have it as a fruit of the Holy Spirit in them. The faith in view, that enables us to believe in the first place, and then to be faithful after that, is a fruit of God's Spirit in us as well! So, do those without the Holy Spirit have this faith? No!

Let me now go back to the Eph. 2:8 passage I began with:

 Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Some have debated the Greek here and and I think the best case is that the grammar and sentence structure support seeing the phrase "and that not of yourselves" as applying to the whole sentence, supporting the notion that the faith and grace are both gifts form God. I will likewise make a case from the English rendering that I think is hard to ignore. I don't think anyone would think grace is a work we do. The very nature of grace is that it is something unearned, a gift by definition! So, why would it be necessary for the scriptures to tell us that grace is a gift of God, not of works, when no one in their right mind would think grace is a work in the first place?  However, if all had the faith necessary to believe and be saved, then we could boast that we believed and others did not? It is not a work of the law either way, but surely if all can exercise saving faith, but only some do, then those who do have some place for being proud of making the right choice when others did not! I think the amazing and very humbling point being made in this passage is the fact that even the faith that brought us to salvation is a gift, even though natural man would tend to think it is something he brought to the salvation process. So we have absolutly nothing in which we can boast, and that is the point!

So do all have the faith necessary to respond to the gospel? I would say absolutely not, as we are spiritually dead (Ehp. 2:1), unable to know or receive the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14), unable to please or obey God (Rom. 8:5-8), and unable to come to saving faith in Jesus unless God first makes us able (John 6:35-44, 62-70).

So the second question, if we all have the faith necessary to be saved, why don't we all exercise it becomes a moot point.

The question(s) that now must be considered is why do some have the faith necessary to come to salvation and others do not?

Jesus said to the disciples regarding His teaching in parables:

Matt. 13:10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
¹¹ He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

Whatever the disciples were given so that they could understand and believe Jesus' message, it was not given to everyone!

Jesus said in:

John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 

John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

So we know that not all are drawn or chosen by God, but all who are drawn are going to be raised up, and all that have been chosen are appointed to bear fruit. But why are some chosen, why are some called, why are some given the ability to understand, and likewise, why are some given the faith that results in salvation, while others clearly are not?

It is surely for God's glory that He chooses anyone, but  we can't know much beyond that:

1 Cor. 1:26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ²⁷ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence. ³⁰ But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— ³¹ that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”^[c]

Eph. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

2 Tim. 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, ⁹ who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, ¹⁰ but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 

Now, if we are to understand any of this rightly we must acknowledge that we are all justly condmened by God for rejecting Him as He revealed Himslef to all people who have ever lived through His creation (Rom. 1:18-32). We are owed no second chance and He surely had no obligation to change anyones heart from being one who hated Him and willfully rejected the truth, to one who now freely loves Him and wants to obey His word.

With that background to understand my salvation, how do I respond to the reality that God chose to give me the faith necessary to bring me to salvation?

I respond not with accusations of unfairness, but with thanks -

Thank you Lord for granting me, who was foolish and unable to understand or obey your word, the faith necessary to believe and be saved for Your glory!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

A giant inconsistency in the animal rights movement!

I am sure many others have made this point before, but I was struck by something this morning as I was reading in -

Matt. 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Is it true that we are more valuable than the other animals? If so, then what does that mean regarding our responsibility toward the earth and other life forms? If we are not more valuable, do we have any special responsibility on earth?

Gen. 1:24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all^[ the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

²⁹ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. ³⁰ Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. ³¹ Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Here are a few key observations from this text:

1st, we were created by God and in the image of God, something that was different from all the other living things God created.

2nd, we were given dominion over the other created things and the right to eat of them as God permits.

3rd, the unique nature/value of mankind, comes with the command that we be stewards of the earth!

Later we read a beautiful summary of this concept in -

Gen. 2:15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

So, we have a clear distinction made by God between us and the other life He created. However, with that comes a special responsibility to tend and keep the earth. He clearly has called mankind to be caretakers of the earth, and we must assume that we can do that wisely and effectively, as we seek to follow Him according to His word!

However, if we are not different from the other life forms on earth, then we have no special responsibility to manage or protect them! If God did not set us apart for that role, then we don't have it. In fact, if you were to believe in evolution, I could argue that I have a responsibility to do what is best for me and me alone! If I am stronger, and you are weaker, I should survive and you should die, if that is what my survival requires.

You might argue for some kind of responsibility to steward the earth so there would be food for other humans tomorrow, so the human race can survive, or you might say we have a special responsibility to take care of other animals, because we have a unique evolutionary place, as very intelligent beings, to do what other animals can't.

To these or any other arguments for our responsibility toward other life forms I give the same answer –

Says who?

Pita cofounder and animal rights activist Ingrid Bergman said “A rat, is a pig, is a dog, is a boy”. If you believe mankind is just another life form created through the evolutionary process, then you must agree with miss Bergman, and it follows we have no special value or obligations on earth.

So, either we believe God created us in His image to worship and serve Him as outlined in His word, including being special stewards of the earth.

Or

We could sleep just fine and let the rats, dogs, and pigs worry about other life forms if they want!

  "Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Wretched does it again!

 

I think this video gives a pretty good snapshot of why the gospel isn't being shared much by "Christians" today. Be sure to visit and support Wretched Radio if you can!

 

 

Re-post of a previous blog on how the spiritually dead come to beleive and be saved!

This was originally posted in March of 2011, but as we are studying the topic on Sunday nights in our church, it seemed prudent to re-post it as a review of the issues at hand. Please take time to comment if you have a hankering to do so -

The links below have some helpful information on how salvation comes to those who are spiritually dead and at enmity with God.

Monergism vs. Synergism

Chart comparing Monergism and Synergism

Twisting the scriptures to embrace the world's values is not love!

 

This video from James White will help you prepare for the rapid departure from the biblical teaching on homosexuality that is taking place in the church. I understand that people believe they are doing this out of love, but if what the Bible says about homosexuality and other sins is true, then to call evil good is not love, it is an inoculation against conviction and repentance from sin!

 

 

 

Life from nothing, that is ridiculous!

I think most Christians would agree that life springing forth from an inanimate object is ridiculous. If we saw a rock, the last thing we would conclude is that it can become alive by chance or by its own efforts. Even to believe that it might come alive if given lots of time and ideal conditions, is absurd and impossible.

We know that only God can create or breathe life into a dead thing!

Do we believe that this is true of spiritual life as well as physical life? Can those who are spiritually dead be made alive by self effort? Can enough time and ideal conditions bring life to a heart of stone?

No, God's word makes it clear that we need to be made alive spiritually, just as much as we needed to be made alive physically!

Ezek. 36:23 And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. ²⁴ For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. ²⁵ Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. ²⁸ Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

Ezek. 37:1 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. ² Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. ³ And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” ⁴ Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. ⁶ I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’”

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own,^[c] and His own^[d] did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Eph. 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  

We have hearts of stone and are dead spiritually! Do we bring ourselves to life? Will we come to life given enough time or just the right conditions? No, we will only come to life when God takes out our heart of stone and He puts His Holy Spirit in us!

Thank you Lord for giving us physical life, and for giving us spiritual life!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."