If we define faith as “confidence” or “conviction” based on the evidence presented, and once we recognize that there is no such thing as “degrees of faith,” then this leads to the truth that faith is not a work.
Faith is not a Work
If we do not choose to believe something, then it cannot be said in that faith is meritorious. That is, faith does not contribute in any way to our goodness before God.
Calvinists often argue that if man “contributes” faith to the process of salvation, then man has done a good work to earn that salvation, which therefore makes salvation not a gracious gift of God but a transaction between God and man.
But if faith is not something we choose, but is rather something that happens to us when we are persuaded or convinced that something is true, then we cannot say in any way that faith is a work. Besides, Paul pretty clearly contrasts faith and works in Romans 4:5.
Faith is Not a Gift
Yet despite the fact that faith is not something we choose but is that which happens to us based on the evidence presented, we must not go to the other extreme and say that faith is a gift.
Faith is not a gift. Though there is a spiritual gift of faith (1 Cor 12:9), this is not to be confused with the faith that leads to eternal life (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47, etc.).
And though some claim that the “gift” which Paul refers to in Ephesians 2:8-9 is faith, the Greek word “that” (“that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God) is neuter and the Greek word for “faith” is feminine, which means the gift of God is not faith, but rather the entire “salvation package” which originated with God (i.e, “by grace you have been saved”). See the excellent article by Rene Lopez on whether or not faith is a gift.
What is Faith?
What then is biblical faith (or belief)? In the end, we can do no better at defining faith than does the author of Hebrews. He writes: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1).
To expand on this a bit, we could say that faith substantiates, or sees as reality, that which we previously only hoped to be true; it is the evidence, conviction, or confidence in things we cannot see. Certainly, some things we believe in can be seen, but the great faith described in the rest of Hebrews 11 is the faith that is confident in God’s promises based on what is known about God’s character and God’s Word.
Faith is the confidence or conviction that something is true based on the evidence presented.
Faith is seeing what is true based on what we know to be true.
Rom 4:5
Cool graphics.
Hi Jeremy,
Here’s another (excerpted) perspective on faith.
“Faith is a work of God in us, which changes us and brings us to birth anew from God (cf. John 3). It kills the old Adam, makes us completely different people in heart, mind, senses, and all our powers, and brings the Holy Spirit with it. What a living, creative, active powerful thing is faith! It is impossible that faith ever stop doing good. […] Ask God to work faith in you; otherwise you will remain eternally without faith, no matter what you try to do or fabricate.” (Martin Luther)
“I can only have that faith God has given to me personally. And you may have as much faith as God has given to you, too (cf. Rom 12:3). Thus I cannot have faith for you – and you cannot have faith for me. It is a personal thing between God and us – in all intimacy of our personal relationship with Him.” (Susanne Schuberth 😉 )
If you’re interested in the rest of my implementations, you might check out my article
http://enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/does-god-hear-all-our-prayers
Thanks, Susanne. I will check it out.
Great article, I’d like to show you another perspective of faith that I’d think you’d appreciate. In today’s world, where miracles are not so obvious, we can understand why faith is difficult to achieve. But a lack of faith is not a new problem; throughout the Bible we see those that have difficulty with faith, even when God’s miracles are visible.
This leads me to believe that there is another dimension to faith, one that takes place after one accepts the existence of God.
I saw this great video today that led me to this thought:
http://alephbeta.org/course/lecture/devarim-what-does-it-mean-to-have-faith
Thank you for linking that video, Donny. 😉
Very good!!
And yes, even the demons believe that God EXISTS – that has nothing to do with faith IN God, that means, trusting Him in the darkness of our lives that He will lead us through it all and that all things will turn out fine – in the end.
Faith never comes from looking at the visible things (even miracles) but springs from intimacy with God Himself – and with one another IN CHRIST, too (so-called fellowship).
Love,
Susanne
My pleasure!
Thanks, Donny. I will check it out. I completely agree that a lack of faith is not a new problem, and that there are dimensions to faith which continue and expand even after one believes in the existence of God.
Nice. That is an advanced view.
I think many people just cannot fit all the data on their blackboard. I hear very shallow and far too simple a definition all the time.
Some seem to forget what Jesus himself says and focus only on Paul. We exercise faith little by little as unbelievers. Not saving faith but believing christ could heal her child for instance. Jesus praised this many times. It’s not a work to believe the truth, it’s only an evil if you do not when pertaining to the things of God. Calvinism doesn’t get that. If you trust the earth is a sphere it is no credit to you. If you don’t, you are calling the truth a lie. Again, Calvinists just mangle the entire topic, defending a few verses out of context while denying the most obvious thread that runs through the entire word of God.
So believing in facts too is also a component of the faith of the Word. Paul says if you believe God raised Jesus you will be saved. Trusting is another component. Itd just so much deeper than the puppet faith package the reformed crowd tries to sell to make their pet doctrine work. Its alien to the sweeping faith found in the word.
We respond to the Lord , God responds and this goes on and on until at least with me.. God puts a concrete truth inside you that Jesus Christ is a Fact that cannot be unbelieved and of course it goes even deeper to a faith that encompasses every facet of the definition. Consider also if you now have an inescapable urge to rip apart everything I say, I would answer “Why don’t you have the urge to open a soup kitchen or visit the sick and lonely?” Because these personality types want to serve themselves and their weak faith by constantly reinforcing their doctrine because their at war with scripture.
My point is Calvinism is just another pet doctrine like secret Rapture, king James only, Sabbath keepers, Tongues baptism… It goes on and on with factions based on weak faith that need to separate themselves from others because they are incomplete in their faith. So they go beyond what is written to make it all about them and their gnostic revealed truth that only the special Christians have. You’ll never see a “feed the poor” faction.
I’ve been around a long long time and this charade is so clear to me that I pray Christians could just be satisfied with the simplicity of the gospel and stop trying to earn their salvation with their special denominational truth that “they” understand because they’re more enlightened.
Well news flash. It’s precisely the opposite. It’s pride. It lust and if you spend all week defending your Pet, you can’t wait to show what an intellectual you are… Consider that Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He went to the lowest sinners. It was the so called intellectuals that God didn’t choose in case you forgot scripture. So why is it this very personality type just so happens to be Calvinists? Kind of doesn’t make sense. Consider its *your personality trait that causes you to gravitate toward a cold and clinical God instead of thinking you just so happen to all believe the same extra biblical speculation.
John
Excellent and thoughtful presentation.
If the entire salvation “package” is the gift of God—is not faith part of that package?
Yes. But I would say that God doesn’t “give” the faith to us. As part of the package, he has made eternal life available through faith. God set it up this way, rather than making eternal life available by good works.
Jeremy, if God doesn’t make eternal life available by good works, why in Mt 25 does Jesus teach that those who do NOT perform what, in Catholicism, are known as the Corporal WORKS of Mercy, are accursed and are to depart “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”? I notice how Protestants often cite Rom 3:27-28 and 4:5 to justify faith over works. However, Paul mentions works of the law, which I believe can be distinguished from “works” or acts of love, as named in Mt 25. Also, what about James who states clearly that faith without works is dead? And Rev 2:23 where the Lord says, “…I will give each of you what your works deserve.” Unfortunately, Protestants don’t seem to distinguish between the works someone does to try to earn God’s love and heaven from the works someone does because they take seriously the command to love God and neighbor.
We believe that while a person can be condemned and judged on the basis of their works, they cannot do enough good works to ever obtain the “righteousness of God” which is the standard required for eternal life. Since such a standard is found only in God, we can only receive it from God by His grace through faith.
I don’t see how long ago these comments are and have incomplete knowledge of everything you said so forgive that in my comment.
I would say that God does increase our faith. I wouldn’t worry about being lumped in with Calvinisms idea of faith in saying this.
It seems to me when we exert a small kernel of faith, because the Lord is always sending his love toward us, He gives us Truth. Truths are Facts. When God gives us facts, we have something more than ideas to put our faith into… Knowledge.
So we now *Know. We *know because of God’s Revelation to our spirit, so in that way our faith, our belief, is strengthened by God’s Spirit.
A good example of the Covert inner process for us is the Overt and dramatic process for Saul of Tarsus.
He is seeking God. He was desperately trying to serve Him but not according to *knowledge.(1 Tim 1:12+ says he was ignorant ) Jesus literally and overtly shows him His power. Paul is given knowledge, which is partly what faith is reaching for. He says he was obedient to the vision. He does this before he receives the Holy Spirit. It may be like when Jesus says to his disciples the Holy spirit is with you and then will be in you(of course this passage is intertwined with the resurrection & Pentecost).
It is God working with our spirit.
Anyway, I just felt like talking a bit. Like the site
John
To be persuaded one must first be willing and able to listen. Is that also not a work? To be able to listen one has to make space for new ideas. If you have a different religion or belief system the hurdles to listening can be great. is listening and interpreting what you hear not work?
Beyond that point Jeremy, your argument is neither compelling or logical. To paraphrase: If faith is confidence and there is no such thing as degrees of faith then faith is not work. That’s not a compelling logical argument.
Confidence and conviction a fairly weak forms of faith.
There are degrees of faith, and you have said that your faith has been changing, from calvinism to whatever ism you are now. For you faith seems to be whatever you find persuasive at a given moment, something that changes, strengthens and weakens, and that you, and everyone visiting your blog seem to willing to devote a great deal of work on. You talk about the Greek word for “that” being neuter. But learning the original languages of the Bible to understand it isn’t work? But your points often rest on these original language based claims. Learning Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew etc, not work?
Your final points, “Faith is the confidence or conviction that something is true based on the evidence presented. ⇦ Faith is seeing what is true based on what we know to be true.” shows the hollowness of your argument. “based on the evidence presented” That’s why your faith keeps changing. Seeing what is true based on what we know is true: that’s called conjecture: an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information. That’s about the weakest form of faith you can have.
What I’m writing doesn’t sound friendly, but listening is work, some times you have to make the effort. You’ve persuaded yourself and you can preach to the choir, but you don’t have a clue. Working out what is true, what to have faith in, is hard work, self work as much as research. it maybe that God puts that desire in you, maybe not. But your own journey, and your countless testimonies on this blog, your searching for truth, for what to believe, stand as my evidence that what you’ve written in this entry is piffle.
Thanks for your argumentation against my view.
Please note that everything you have mentioned in your comment is part of what I consider sanctification. Certainly, I have had to read, study, think, pray, and write. But none of this is meritorious, and none of it was done to earn eternal life, prove that I had it, or keep it.
And I wouldn’t say my “faith” changes. I sometimes believe certain things, and I sometimes don’t, based on the evidence and further conclusions of my ongoing study. Again, however, this is an aspect of ongoing sanctification.
Anyway, I hear what you are saying, but I think you are arguing against a view I don’t hold. You have not understood my position, and are arguing against something I don’t believe.
That may not be your fault, but mine in failing to explain it well in a few short posts.
Not only Calvinists believe that saving faith is a gift, but Wesley and and Luther as well. These three clearly taught that “saving faith” is not achieved by trying to believe or even choosing to believe, but it is a gift of God.
I follow follow no human teacher, much less either three, but must agree with them and have held firmly to that belief for most of my 60 years of teaching and study. As the above three taught, to “believe”, as in trusting in the person and completed work of Jesus Christ, is a gift given to human beings by God.
To try to exegete some words apart from the context in which Paul uses the sentence in Eph. 8 is certainly not good practice. The context is salvation, requiring a saving faith, which does not, and cannot come from within ourselves.
There are numerous other human teachers who disagree with what Calvin, Wesley, and Luther taught. So this isn’t just “my” view. And all of these others have also based their views on careful exegesis of the biblical text, in its grammatical, cultural, historical contexts.
The context of Ephesians 2:8 is salvation, which is exactly what I have argued. But what is “salvation”?
Jeremy,
I’m not disagreeing with you! As I said, “trusting in the person and completed work of Jesus Christ, is a gift given to human beings by God. ”
In my earlier years of ministry I received some serious bruises when, with the best of intentions, confusion was the result for some , when trying to clinically use a surgeon’s knife to separate individual words within a passage, which often resulted in a sad postmortem.
My messages were very much like a top exit student from theological training who preached at the church I was attending, and was impressed with his own ability to exegete every word of “the original Greek”. After the service an an elderly man, who taught and lived Jesus-like as no one I’d ever seen previously, walked up to me and said, “I heard what he said, but it was only words”.
Great points, AussieJohn.
We must never forget that our task in life is not to speak words, or dissect Scripture, but to show God’s love toward others.
Holy Scripture tells us that “faith is a gift of God”.
It’s not something that ‘we do’.
That’s what makes it such Good News!
It’s out of our hands! ( thank God)
The Gospel of John says otherwise. You are left to explain the scores of verses that challenge men and women to believe and live, believe and be saved, etc…
MK
Really.
The Gospel of John 1:13 says, “…we are NOT born of the will of man…but of God.”
And then further in the Gospel of John, Jesus explains to Nicodemus how we cannot be born again of our own doing but that “it has to come from above”…and that “it (faith) is like the wind…it blows where it will.”
Maybe that is why Jesus himself said, “You do not choose me, but I chose you.”
Thanks!
Off to church.
Any verse taken out of context is a pre-text to say whatever you want. Everyone on this blog does, even Jeremy. John gives his purpose statement in 20:31, it really isn’t as hard or difficult as you and others are making it out to be. Men and women still have to believe in Jesus regardless of anything you try to prove, there is no escaping it.
MK
Good questions raised here. I will try to discuss some of these texts you both raise in upcoming posts.
“Faith is a gift of God”
That is pretty clear.
Of course, you are free to believe otherwise.
Wait… I am free to believe otherwise?
If faith is a gift of God, then I am NOT free to believe otherwise. I must believe whatever God gives me the faith to believe.
So you are staking everything on this verse? Again, what do you do with all of the other verses that challenge men and women to believe? What do you do with the verses where Jesus scolds men and women for not believing? Seems to me that you haven’t thought this through.
MK
Mike,
No, I am not basing all my beliefs on one verse. And yes, I have considered all the other verses as well.
Anyway, I am not sure whether you are arguing against my view or for it…. Of course Jesus calls people to believe. I agree with that. And I believe that they have the ability to believe.
Jeremy,
Relax I was responding to tje previous post. context, context, context remember?
MK
The overwhelming evidence ( verses) are that we are “dead in our sins and trespasses ” and that because of our bondage to sin…we are unable to rightly choose the things of God.
Jesus also said in the Gospel of John, “No one CAN come to me except those drawn to me by the Father.”
I mean, for cryin out loud, the text says that they saw him ( Jesus) raise the dead, and yet they did not believe.” They had NOT received the gift of faith.
Paul tells us in Romans that “No one seeks for God.”
And what was Paul ( Saul ) doing when he made his free-will decision for Christ?
Steve you are all over the place, you argument is incoherent and you have begun to ramble. You are still way off from the message of the Gospel. You are a perfect example of what it looks like when you pull texts from all over the place and try to make a message out of it.
MK
Mike and Steve,
Both of you are engaging in Shotgun hermeneutics here and will get nowhere… https://redeeminggod.com/shotgun-hermeneutics/
Jeremy:
I disagree completely. Steve ignored a great deal of scripture by citing a few scriptures. I just asked him to consider the fact that there are a great deal more that run contrary to his argument due in part because he has pulled verses out of context. There are what appears to some, verses that appear to support Calvinistic doctrine, however, when the book is read as a whole (John) the overwhelming impression is “believe and live”.
MK
Mike,
You do understand that I am not a Calvinist, right? Anyway, I was just saying that the best way to do Bible Study is one verse at a time.
Mike,
Your God is a small one.
Your God needs us to act… before He is able to act.
The witness of Scripture is clear. God acts for us before we can do anything for ourselves.
Nice Steve, nice. And we’ re done.
MK
How could a just God condemn anyone to hell if He decides who has faith, and who doesn’t?
Because before the foundation of the world, God decided to create some objects as “vessels of wrath” so that those who were chosen to be His vessels of mercy might glorify God all the more!
(I am speaking facetiously…) 😉
God loves all and desires that all would come to Him.
Faith comes by hearing the gospel. Some hear it…really hear it…and come to faith, by God’s grace.
Others hear it…but do not hear it.
Why it is that some hear…while others do not, is a mystery.
We just have to trust that God knows what He is doing in all of this.
Yes, I agree that we need to trust that God knows what He is doing.
This is an interesting listen:
https://theoldadam.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/pastors-class-22free-will22-etc.mp3
I think so, anyway.
Faith is a hook that connect us to God, a bridge that link us to God.
Maybe. The question in this post, however, is where does this faith come from? From us? From God? From both working together? From Scripture?
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”
Christ Jesus is the Hope of glory and the evidence, Image of God. It is by the faith of Him in which we believe, He is the faithful One. And He is the gift, the promise, of God.
The way I see it, there is the faith of Romans 12:3, given to every man, the faith of Ephesians 2:8, by implication given to those who receive salvation by grace, and the faith of 1 Corinthians 12:9, which is clearly a gift. So how could faith be a gift in two instances but not in the third? According to 1 Timothy 3:9, the faith is a mystery. So faith is either a gift all around, or it is not a gift at all. The faith, being a singular mystery, is also a singular gift.
There seems to me to be a typo, “ Certainly, some things we believe in can been seen, but the great faith described in the rest of …”. I think, “been” should be “be”.
Love you site!
How do you address John 6:29
Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
John 6:29
it appears to argue that our faith is a work?
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Do a Google search for ” Relational Grace” and for “Relational Faith”.