Is Faith a Gift of God?

[timothy10]

Gift of Faith - is confidence and knowledge in the heart about something that God will bring to pass.

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;
Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ancle bones received strength.
And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
And all the people saw him walking and praising God:
And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. ( Acts 3:1-10 )

And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. ( Acts 3:16 )

 

[truthfull]

In the end , I trust the answer to God, and the understanding given through faith in Jesus!

God bless
pickles

I do the same way when I dont know for certain I leave it open, trusting in God to give the answer when needed.

peace be upon you

 

[timothy10]

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
( Ephesians 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;

To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. ( Romans 1:7 )

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. ( Romans 3:24-26 )

Through faith - Grace bestowed through faith, or in connection with believing;

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. ( Romans 1:17 )

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, ( Romans 4:16 )

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;

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;

For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
( Romans 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."

It is the gift of God - Salvation by grace is his gift. It is not of merit; it is wholly by favor.

 

[shroom2]

There is a fungus, among us!! Ha Ha!!
Dead men don't hear! Unless God opens their ears!
End of story!--Blessings, Mark

God is calling all men, and wants all men to be saved. Not all will choose to listen.

 

[tribesman]

God is calling all men, and wants all men to be saved. Not all will choose to listen.

You make many oneliners here and there where you say that natural man can choose to believe out of his mere "free will" in spiritual matters. Where are your scriptures for such claims? Note that addresses to the covenant people of God is not applicable here. It should be scriptures that supposedly says that the unregenerate have these abilities.

 

[shroom2]

You make many oneliners here and there where you say that natural man can choose to believe out of his mere "free will" in spiritual matters. Where are your scriptures for such claims? Note that addresses to the covenant people of God is not applicable here. It should be scriptures that supposedly says that the unregenerate have these abilities.

Acts 16:25ff

Acts 2:37-39

Acts 10, Cornelius and family.

John 3:16

Romans 10:12-13

Many more...

And regarding you stating this: "Note that addresses to the covenant people of God is not applicable here". I assume you're referring to

1 Tim 2:4) Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

2 Pet 3:9) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Yes, Calvinists must qualify those verses, stating they do not mean what they in fact say.

 

[tribesman]

Acts 16:25ff

Acts 2:37-39

Acts 10, Cornelius and family.

John 3:16

Romans 10:12-13

Many more...

And regarding you stating this: "Note that addresses to the covenant people of God is not applicable here". I assume you're referring to

1 Tim 2:4) Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

2 Pet 3:9) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Yes, Calvinists must qualify those verses, stating they do not mean what they in fact say.

Acts 2:37-39 - An address to God's covenant people.

Acts 10, Cornelius and family. - A chosen gentile, part of God's covenant people

John 3:16 - Does this "world" mean the same "world" that Jesus said He would not even pray for, and that the apostle John said we were not to love? What could the word "world" mean to contemporary jews? Think again.

Romans 10:12-13 - This does not imply an ability in natural man to choose to have saving faith.

1 Tim 2:4 - Whatever way one interprets this scripture, it does not imply an ability in natural man to choose to have saving faith.

2 Pet 3:9 - From the context of this verse it appears that those addressed are believers.

 

[shroom2]

Acts 2:37-39 - An address to God's covenant people.

Acts 10, Cornelius and family. - A chosen gentile, part of God's covenant people

John 3:16 - Does this "world" mean the same "world" that Jesus said He would not even pray for, and that the apostle John said we were not to love? What could the word "world" mean to contemporary jews? Think again.

Romans 10:12-13 - This does not imply an ability in natural man to choose to have saving faith.

1 Tim 2:4 - Whatever way one interprets this scripture, it does not imply an ability in natural man to choose to have saving faith.

2 Pet 3:9 - From the context of this verse it appears that those addressed are believers.

You being a Calvinist, you must read into those verses Calvinist theology. God is love, he loves man whom He created, and He wants all men to choose salvation. He did not arbitrarily sentence some to eternal destruction "just because". Men will be judged. If God decreed some to eternal life and others to eternal destruction, why have a judgement?

 

[Dorothy]

ill think its not a gift but you do can make the choise if you take it or not

 

[mpaper345]

17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God(Romans 10:17).

6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him(Hebrews 11:6).

Faith comes by hearing the word of God,and without faith we cannot please God.

If we receive faith after we have the Spirit,how can this be true,for we cannot please God without faith,so we cannot receive the Spirit until we have faith.

So we must have faith to be able to please God to receive the Spirit,so we must have faith before we can receive the Spirit.

5And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith(Luke 17:5).

Those with the gift of faith must have an increased faith by the Spirit,maybe because they lack,or to cause miracles to happen by their strong faith.

We have to have faith before we can receive the Spirit,and the fruit of the Spirit is faith,which means the Spirit helps are faith to grow stronger.

 

[tribesman]

You being a Calvinist, you must read into those verses Calvinist theology. God is love, he loves man whom He created, and He wants all men to choose salvation. He did not arbitrarily sentence some to eternal destruction "just because". Men will be judged. If God decreed some to eternal life and others to eternal destruction, why have a judgement?

As said earlier, I do not believe in the decretum horribile that Calvin taught in some of his writings. I also differ from Calvin's view on some of the sacraments. In these matters I would be on the lutheran side.

The Bible speaks about judgment. God is just and would still be just even if He condemned all men without exception, since this is what they all deserve. Salvation is then of grace by God, who bestows same on unworthy sinners. In Romans 8 and 9 we see how it is applied.

 

[Forest]

The Lord always is showing us the way. A person dead in sin must make the effort recognize his error and do something about it. Some people ignore the Lord’s communications (that is, they fail to listen to their “consciences”) and allow tremendous trouble to come into their lives. Think of the people sitting in prison.

A man that is dead (spiritually) in sin will never recognize his error and do something about it 1 Cor 2:14, and Eph 2:1-5.

 

[Forest]

The Bible says that faith is a gift of God
Ephesians 2:8
(8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

In Eph 2:8 the "through faith" is not through man's faith, but through Christ's faith Gal 2:16.

 

[Forest]

Faith is a fruit that can only be had if we have the Spirit.

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

blessings

This statement is true!

 

[Laodicea]

In Eph 2:8 the "through faith" is not through man's faith, but through Christ's faith Gal 2:16.

Revelation 14:12
(12) Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

 

[Forest]

You have things all twisted up again, Forest. First, a person has to want to know about God, and realize he needs saved. Then as he hears the word of God, his faith grows. At some point, he will act on Rom 10:9 and become saved.

The natural man will never want to know a spiritual God and will never realize he needs to be saved 1 Cor 2:14.

 

[ChildrenofNoah]

The very question posed here shows the problem with qouting scripture out of context. A qoute
of interest must ALWAYS be looked at using the entire chapter and sometimes the entire book to
gain a better understanding of the message.
So let's pray for wisdom and take a look at this using two sources 1st a english translation, 2nd a translation from a messianic jew.

English "The Holy Bible" Revised standard edition
Ephesians 2:4-9 (English bible)

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were
dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ(by grave you have been saved),
and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward
us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your
doing, it is the gift of God-not because of works, lest any man should boast.

The second from a messianic jew, a Dr of theology and fluent in the hewbrew language writes
the same passage like this..
Ephesians 2:4-9 (Messianic jew bible)

But God is so rich in mercy and loves us with such intense love that, even when we were dead
because of our acts of disobedience, he brought us to life along with the Messiah - it is by
grace that you have been delivered. That is, God raised us up with the Messiah Yeshua and
seated us with him in heaven, in order to exhibit in the ages to come how infinitely rich is
his grace, how great is his kindness toward us who are united with the Messiah Yeshua. For you
have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but
God's gift. You were not delivered by your own actions; therefore no one should boast.

You should notice immediately what the text is actually talking about is how we are saved through the grace of God.
Interestingly enough it answers the question of what faith and grace are anyway.
Grace (in this passage and context) is God raising us up with the Messiah and seating us with him in heaven
Faith are indeed human works, you are not given it in so much as you build it upon the Bible teachings and your life experiences.
It is through your faith in both Jesus and the word of God you receive the 'grace of God'
The ability to have faith is a gift of God because faith is a product of our belief and that belief is centred on the wonderful works of our God.