Does faith save the believer, or does God save the believer?

[UnitedWithChrist]

It seems to me like many focus more on faith than on the LORD who saves them.

We must never say that it is our faith that saves us. It is the LORD Jesus Christ that saves us. If we say that it is your faith that saves you, your faith has become a work, and you have something to boast about. Faith does not save us. It is THROUGH FAITH we are saved. Faith is only the INSTRUMENT, it is not the cause of justification.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Thoughts?

 

[JaumeJ]

Faith comes as a gift from the Father.

 

[Washed]

It seems to me like many focus more on faith than on the LORD who saves them.

We must never say that it is our faith that saves us. It is the LORD Jesus Christ that saves us. If we say that it is your faith that saves you, your faith has become a work, and you have something to boast about. Faith does not save us. It is THROUGH FAITH we are saved. Faith is only the INSTRUMENT, it is not the cause of justification.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Thoughts?

Your OP title: Does faith save the believer, or does God save the believer?

God saves the believer when the believer chooses to believe the Gospel.

 

[UnitedWithChrist]

In my opinion, this section of Scripture is the best synopsis of salvation:

Ephesians 2:1-10 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

If I were going to explain the Gospel to someone, this would be where it would start due to the God-centered nature of the wording.

Universal atonement, by necessity, places the focus on man, and not on God. And, I believe Martyn Lloyd-Jones' quote also points out the man-centered nature of decisional regeneration.

 

[notuptome]

In my opinion, this section of Scripture is the best synopsis of salvation:

Ephesians 2:1-10 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

If I were going to explain the Gospel to someone, this would be where it would start due to the God-centered nature of the wording.

Universal atonement, by necessity, places the focus on man, and not on God. And, I believe Martyn Lloyd-Jones' quote also points out the man-centered nature of decisional regeneration.

If you impute false values to the scripture then for you the value is false.

Faith is given by God through the hearing of His word. We are saved by grace which cannot be earned or merited in any fashion. The call to be saved is universal. The hardness of men's hearts prevents them from coming to Christ to be saved. Works are an impediment to salvation by grace received through the faith produced by hearing the word of God.

We become elect by receiving Christ not the other way around.

For the cause of Christ
Roger

 

[John146]

It seems to me like many focus more on faith than on the LORD who saves them.

We must never say that it is our faith that saves us. It is the LORD Jesus Christ that saves us. If we say that it is your faith that saves you, your faith has become a work, and you have something to boast about. Faith does not save us. It is THROUGH FAITH we are saved. Faith is only the INSTRUMENT, it is not the cause of justification.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Thoughts?

One is saved through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When one hears the gospel and believes, the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to that believer. The one who believed the gospel is counted as having the righteousness of Jesus Christ before God.

 

[Dave-L]

If you must choose to believe, it is because you don't believe. When God saves a person they believe because of the experience.

 

[Washed]

If you must choose to believe, it is because you don't believe. When God saves a person they believe because of the experience.

When a person chooses to believe, he did not believe before, but he does now.

God saves people when they choose to believe (Eph 1:13).

 

[Magenta]

Ephesians 2:8-9

 

[UnitedWithChrist]

Just so everyone is clear, I do believe that faith and repentance are part of the process, which is initiated by 1) election by the Father 2) atonement by the Son, and 3) application by the Holy Spirit.

Application includes drawing the person, presenting the Gospel to them, regenerating them, and faith and repentance issues forth as a fruit of regeneration. Sealing by the Holy Spirit follows this.

The man, in his own vain imagination, segments belief and repentance as something he dredges up from his cold, stony, dead heart and often takes great pride in his alleged contribution, whereas Scripture points out that faith and repentance are both gifts the LORD grants.

The amazing thing is that God himself gives the believer faith (Acts 16:14, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Peter 1:1, Philippians 1:29, Acts 3:16) and grants the believer repentance (Acts 11:18, 2 Timothy 2:25). Those who are saved have nothing to boast about whatsoever because of this; it is not about human works (Romans 3:20, 27-28, 4:5, 1 Corinthians 1:31, Galatians 2:16). Salvation is God’s work.

This is the free-willer error. Granted, their error has been ingrained into them through well-meaning Sunday School teachers who have been taught semi-Pelagianism since their youth, too.

 

[garee]

It seems to me like many focus more on faith than on the LORD who saves them.

We must never say that it is our faith that saves us. It is the LORD Jesus Christ that saves us. If we say that it is your faith that saves you, your faith has become a work, and you have something to boast about. Faith does not save us. It is THROUGH FAITH we are saved. Faith is only the INSTRUMENT, it is not the cause of justification.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Thoughts?

Faith is a work or labor of God. We are saved by faith through grace (the reward of the work) but this is not coming from us who has no faith, none, zero . Not little

We are not saved by works of the hands of corrupted dying men suffering the wage of sin who cannot save their own self.

We are saved through a work of faith .The just the letter of the law "death" mixed with the law of faith the unseen justifier..

Romans 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus

 

[Dave-L]

When a person chooses to believe, he did not believe before, but he does now.

God saves people when they choose to believe (Eph 1:13).

If you experience Christ, you don't need to choose to believe. The experience causes you to believe.

 

[Nehemiah6]

It seems to me like many focus more on faith than on the LORD who saves them.

There needs to be a proper balance in understanding the connection between faith and justification by grace through faith. And Calvinists are as guilty of distorting the Gospel as anyone else.

1. God offers THE GIFT of eternal life through Christ, to all who will repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If all would repent (as commanded) then all would be saved. Salvation is supernatural and is entirely of the Lord, and purely by His grace. It includes (1) the remission of sins that are past, (2) the gift of eternal life, (3) the gift of the Holy Spirit, (4) the gift of Christ Himself, (5) the supernatural New Birth, (6) justification, sanctification, and glorification. And many more things besides.

2. Justification (God declaring the sinner righteous) happens when a person puts his or her faith in God and Christ (which includes the finished work of Christ). Therefore the Bible says that we are saved (justified) by grace through faith, and salvation is a gift of God, not based on any works which we have done. Which also means that water baptism does not save anyone.

3. The purpose of the preaching of the Gospel is to generate faith in Christ and His finished work. Therefore the Church is commanded to preach the Gospel to every creature, and go into all the world and preach to all nations.Thus faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (the Gospel).

4. That does not preclude the supernatural work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit drawing men to Christ through the Gospel, with the Holy Spirit convincing and convicting those who hear the Gospel. But until and unless one believes on the Lord Jesus Christ he is cannot be saved by grace. Hence the importance of saving faith (which is not the same as the spiritual gift of faith, or faith as a fruit of the Spirit after salvation).

5. If saving faith were a gift of God, then God would give this *gift* to absolutely everyone. But that is not the case. God wants sinners to hear the Gospel and believe on Christ through the preaching of the Gospel. This is all summed up in Romans chapter 10.

 

[reneweddaybyday]

We are saved by faith through grace

We are saved by grace through faith ...

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God


The word "through" in Eph 2:8 is the Greek word διά. διά is a preposition.

From Strong's:

A. with the genitive: through;​

...​

​

III. of the Means or Instrument by which anything is effected; because what is done by means of person or thing seems to pass as it were through the same (cf. Winer's Grammar, 378 (354)).​

...​

2. of the instrument used to accomplish a thing, or of the instrumental cause in the stricter sense: — with the genitive of person by the service, the intervention of, anyone; with the genitive of thing, "by means of with the help of, anything;​

...​

b. in passages in which the author or principal cause is not mentioned, but is easily understood from the nature of the case, or from the context: Romans 1:12; 1 Corinthians 11:12 (cf. Winer's Grammar, 381 (357)); Philippians 1:20; 1 Thessalonians 3:7; 2 Thessalonians 2:2, 15; Hebrews 11:39 (cf. Winer's Grammar, as above, also § 50, 3); ; 1 Peter 1:7; διάπολλῶν μαρτύρων, by the mediation (intervention) of many witnesses, they being summoned for that purpose (cf. Winers Grammar, 378 (354); A. V. among), 2 Timothy 2:2. Where it is evident from the religious conceptions of the Bible that God is the author or first cause: John 11:4; Acts 5:12; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 4:16; Colossians 2:19; 2 Timothy 1:6; Hebrews 10:10; 2 Peter 3:6; σῴζεσθαι διά πίστεως, Ephesians 2:8; συνεγείρεσθαι διά τῆς πίστεως, Colossians 2:12; δικαιοῦσθαι διάτῆς πίστεως, Galatians 2:16, cf. Romans 3:3​

​

https://biblehub.com/greek/1223.htm​

​

Diagram of Greek prepositions:

​

 

[ArtsieSteph]

I like it! I like that faith is the instrument but God gives us salvation. He gives us the tool and also gives us the option to toss the tool out.

 

[Blain]

I don't think they separate. God is the one who gives salvation but he requires faith to be saved in order to give it and so you simply cannot have one without the other they are to deeply intertwined in the bond and the relationship. If we want salvation but dopn't have the faith that he can save us then how can we receive? you do not have because you do not ask and to ask means you have faith that he can save you otherwise you wouldn't bother asking to begin with.

But I do like the encouragement to focus more on God himself this is greatly needed these days and in these times

 

[crossnote]

God saves freely through the work of His Son. Faith takes hold of that fact. (BTW, I'd highly recommend Martyn Lloyd Jones for anyone wanting to get grounded in sound theology.)