Thread: It is by grace you are saved through faith:
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It is by grace you are saved through faith:
Posted : 11 Nov, 2011 09:59 AM
What is implied to be received in this phrase:
Is it not the grace of God that brings the total deliverance from the kingdom of Darkness after man's response to the Gospel (faith)
I am not a greek scholar but I know faith is a action or response to receive the grace that delivers in this phrase.
This article describes this pretty well, and as I have always believe with the exception in the artice it states faith is prompted by the Holy Spirit, faith is always a choice made by man for he must believe of his will not forced to believe God.
Is Faith a Gift of God?
Ephesians 2:8 Reconsidered
by Gary L. Nebeker
From various theological quarters it has been argued that the NT teaches that saving faith is a gift of God. One of the favorite passages cited in this connection is Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (NASB).
From a cursory reading of this verse, it appears that the relative pronoun that (v 8b) has faith (v 8a) as its grammatical antecedent. However, in its Greek construction that is a demonstrative pronoun with adverbial force used in an explanatory phrase. This particular construction uses a fixed neuter singular pronoun (that) which refers neither to faith, which is feminine in Greek, nor to any immediate word which follows. (See Blass, Debrunner, Funk, 132, 2.) What all this means is that the little phrase and that (kai touto in Greek) explains that salvation is of God's grace and not of human effort. Understood accordingly, Ephesians 2:8 could well be translated: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, that is to say, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."
Moreover, there is a parallelism between not of yourselves in v 8b and not of works in v 9. This parallelism serves as a commentary to v 8a ("For by grace you have been saved through faith") which speaks of salvation in its entirety. It is difficult to see how faith, if it is the gift of God, harmonizes with not of works of v 9. We must conclude, then, that in Ephesians 2:8 salvation is the gift of God.
Not only are there exegetical problems with saving faith as a gift of God, there are theological problems as well.
First, there is the problem of describing faith as an infused or transmitted substance. Faith is not analogous to a current of electricity that passes through a conduit and results in a release of mechanical energy. Neither is faith to be likened to water sprinkled upon a seed planted in potted soil. These illustrations of faith confuse the instrument of salvation, faith, with the agent of salvation, the Holy Spirit. It should instead be suggested that faith is a human response, i.e., a Spirit-prompted conviction of the truth of the redemptive merits of Christ.
Second, the concept of infused faith for salvation bears a marked resemblance to the sacramentalism of the Roman Catholic Church. That is to say, faith becomes a transmitted and efficacious element which God gives to men for salvation. Again, it must be emphasized that faith is not a substance, but a human response prompted by the Holy Spirit.
Third, if faith is a gift, then men no longer bear the responsibility to believe the Gospel. The term believe becomes an equivocal expression if regeneration occurs before faith (i.e., the view of those who consider faith to be a gift of God).
Fourth and finally, an infused idea of faith engenders a less-than-balanced view of sanctification, i.e., victory in the spiritual life is viewed as a virtual guarantee. If God gives believers faith to live the Christian life, then the difficult aspects of progressive holiness commanded in Scripture tend to be soft-pedaled.
To conclude, it is inaccurate to suggest that God gives men a special gift of faith so that they may be saved and subsequently sanctified. Instead, God has sent His Holy Spirit into the world to convict men of sin and to enlighten darkened and depraved minds to the saving truths contained in Scripture (John 16:8; Rom 10:17; Eph 3:9). When one is regenerated, it is yieldedness to the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit, not infused faith, that results in good works. From Ephesians 2:8 and the collective whole of NT data, God is presented as the gracious initiator who, through His Holy Spirit, woos and wins men to Himself. Man is depicted as the responder who, in his spiritually destitute state, is convicted and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and answers in simple faith to the promises of the Gospel. In view of such exquisite grace, it is only fitting to contend that salvation is a superlative expression of divine favor, yea, even a gift of God!
4102 p�stis (from 3982/peith�, "persuade, be persuaded") � properly, persuasion (be persuaded, come to trust); faith.
Faith (4102/pistis) is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. In short, 4102/pistis ("faith") for the believer is "God's divine persuasion" � and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence), yet involving it. The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the persuasion of His will (1 Jn 5:4).
[4102 (pistis) in secular antiquity referred to a guarantee (warranty). In Scripture, faith is God's warranty, certifying that the revelation He inbirthed will come to pass (His way).
Faith (4102/pistis) is also used collectively � of all the times God has revealed (given the persuasion of) His will, which includes the full revelation of Scripture (Jude 3). Indeed, God the Lord guarantees that all of this revelation will come to pass! Compare Mt 5:18 with 2 Tim 3:16.]
1. The root of 4102/pistis ("faith") is 3982/peith� ("to persuade, be persuaded") which supplies the core-meaning of faith ("divine persuasion"). It is God's warranty that guarantees the fulfillment of the revelation He births within the receptive believer (cf. 1 Jn 5:4 with Heb 11:1).
Faith (4102/pistis) is always received from God, and never generated by us.
Ro 12:3: "For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith (4102/pistis)" (NASU).
Eph 2:8,9: " For by grace you have been saved through faith (4102/pistis); and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast" (NASU).
Gal 5:22,23: "22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
self-control; against such things there is no law."
2 Thes 1:11: "To this end (glorification) � indeed each time we pray about (peri) you for the purpose (hin) of our God counting you worthy of the call � even that He may fulfill (His) every good-pleasure that comes from (His) goodness and work of faith, in (His) ability."
Reflection: Faith is only (exclusively) given to the redeemed. It is not a virtue that can be worked up by human effort.
2. Faith (4102/pistis) enables the believer to know God's preferred-will (cf. J. Calvin; see 2307/thel�ma). Accordingly, faith (4102/pistis) and "God's preferred-will (2307/thel�ma)" are directly connected in Scripture.
2 Ro 12:2,3: " And do not be conformed to this world, but betransformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will (2307/thel�ma) of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 3For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith (4102/pistis)" (NASU).
5 2 Cor 8:5,7: " And this, not as we had expected, but they first
gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will (2307/thel�ma) of
God" (NASU).
7" But just as you abound in everything, in faith (4102/pistis)
and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love
we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also"
(NASU).
Heb 10:36,38: "36For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will (2307/thel�ma) of God, you may receive what was promised" (NASU).
" BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH(4102/pistis); AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM" (NASU).
1 Jn 5:4: "For whatever is born of God conquers the world;
and this is the conquest that has conquered the world � our faith
(4102/pistis)."
3. In sum, faith (4102/pistis) is a persuasion from God that we receive as He grants impulse ("divine spark"; cf. the Heb hiphil form of believe, *mn, in a later discussion). Faith is always the work of God and involves hearing His voice � whereby the believer lays hold of His preferred-will (cf. J. Calvin).
1 Hab 2:1: " I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart;
And I will keep watch to see what He will speak in (Heb b ) me" (NASU).
Hab 2:4: "Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live in his faith" (= 4102/pistis, "faith from the Lord").
More on what faith is . . . and isn't
In Scripture, faith and belief are not exactly the same. Faith always comes from God and involves His revelation therefore faith is beyond belief!
Faith is God's work; faith is never the work of people. We cannot produce faith ourselves, nor can we "drum it up at will." Rather, faith comes as Christ speaks His rh�ma-word within (see Ro 10:17, Gk text).
In all of Scripture, only the term faith is ever used in the following way: Ro 14:23: Whatever is not of faith (4102/pistis) is sin." Heb 11:6: "And without faith (4102/pistis) it is impossible to
please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (NASU).
Reflection: Nothing quite like this two-fold witness appears elsewhere in the Bible. These sweeping statements sober the heart and inspire the soul!
The Lord offers to inbirth faith in each scene of life � so that each matters equally in eternity . . . no matter how insignificant they seem (Lk 16:10 with Lk 17:6 and 2 Pet 1:2).
Key quotes
"Faith always pre-supposes revelation" (W. H. Griffith Thomas, Genesis, 55). "Faith is always a response to a divine revelation" (W. H. Griffith Thomas, Hebrews, 143). "Faith . . . both in its initiation and every step of the way, is Spirit given . . . faith is God given" (W. Hendriksen, Galatians, 197). "Faith precedes works, and is not something merely deduced by
reason of existing" (D. Edmond Hiebert, Thessalonians, 2 Thes 1:11). "Faith is always a gift of God" (L. Morris, John, p 520). "The basis of faith is God's revelation of Himself . . . Christianity came
to be seen as a faith event" (O. Michel, Dictionary of New Testament Theology).
"Faith is the divine response, wrought in man, by God" (from Berkof's Systematic Theology, representing the views of Barth and Brunner).
"Faith always has the element of assurance, certainty and confidence . . . and evidential value substantiating the thing we hope for . . . with faith, there is no strain or tension; rather, it has the element of assurance and confidence in it . . . if there is strain or tension . . . trying to persuade yourself to keep from doubting, you can be quite sure that it is not faith . . . faith is not the law of mathematical probability, . . . faith is not natural . . .faith is spiritual, the gift of God . . . you cannot command faith at will, faith is always something that is given-inwrought by God; . . . therefore, if you want to be a man of faith, it will always be the result of becoming a certain type of person" (M. Lloyd Jones, Romans, Ro 4:18-25).
"Faith is the divinely given conviction of things unseen" (Homer Kent Jr., Hebrews, 217, quoting Theological Dictionary of the NT vol 2, 476).
"Faith is the organ which enables people to see the invisible order" (F.
F. Bruce, Hebrews, 279).
"Faith is knowing what is His will toward us; therefore, we hold faith to be the knowledge of God's will toward us" (John Calvin, as quoted by R. McAfee Brown in Is Faith Obsolete?).
"Right faith is a thing wrought in us by the Holy Spirit" (Wm. Tyndale).
"We have made faith a condition of mind, when it is a divinely imparted grace of the heart . . . we can receive faith only as he gives it . . . you cannot manufacture faith, you can not work it up . . . you can believe a promise, and at the same time not have the faith to appropriate it . . . genuine, Scriptural faith is not our ability to �count it done,� but is the deep consciousness divinely imparted to the heart of man that it is done, . . . it is the faith that only God can give . . . do not struggle in the power of the will . . . what a mistake to take our belief in God and call of faith . . . Christ, the living word, is our sufficiency . . . (Charles Price, The Real Faith, Logos/publications).
Note: On the distinction between believing (belief), and faith in the Scriptures see Js 2:19; Jn 10:38; Ac 8:13, 26:27,28; Ro 14:2; 2 Thes 2:11; 1 Jn 4:1; also Jn 2:23, 7:31, 12:42 and 4102/pisteu� ("believe").
As in the Gospels, a person's believing (belief) is vital (cf. Heb 11:6). But a personal encounter with Christ (a true connection with Him and His Word) is always necessary for believing ("man's responsibility") to be transformed into faith (which is always and only God's word). See also Mt 8:10,13, 9:22,28,29, 15:28; Ac 20:21; Ro 9:32; Gal 3:9,22.
Summary
Belief and faith are not exactly equivalent terms. When Jesus told people, "Your faith has made you well," faith was still His gift (Eph 2:8,9). Any gift however, once received, becomes the "possession" of the recipient. Faith however is always from God and is purely His work (2 Thes 1:11).
Note: The Greek definite article is uniformly used in the expressions "your faith," "their faith" (which occur over 30 times in the Greek NT). This genitive construction with the article refers to "the principle of faith (operating in) you" � not "your faith" in the sense that faith is ever generated by the recipient.
[The meaning of the definite article in this construction is "the principle of faith at work in you," "the operating-principle of faith in them," etc. For examples see: Mt 9:2,22,29; Lk 17:19; Phil 2:17; 2 Pet 1:5, etc.]
Faith (4102/pistis) involves belief but it goes beyond human believing because it involves the personal revelation (inworking) of God. Faith is always God's work. Our believing has eternal meaning when it becomes "faith-believing" by the transforming grace of God.
Reflection: Demons believe (and shudder) . . . but they do not have (experience) faith!
Js 2:19: "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder" (NASU).
NAS Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries
Copyright � 1981, 1998 by The Lockman Foundation
All rights reserved Lockman.org
assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
From peitho; persuasion, i.e. Credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, constancy in such profession; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself -- assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
see GREEK peitho
peith�: to persuade, to have confidence
Original Word: πείθω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: peith�
Phonetic Spelling: (pi'-tho)
Short Definition: I persuade, urge
Definition: I persuade, urge.
3982 pe�thō(the root of 4102 /p�stis, "faith") � to persuade; (passive) be persuaded of what is trustworthy.
The Lord persuades the yielded believer to be confident in His preferred-will (Gal 5:10; 2 Tim 1:12). 3982 (pe�thō) involves "obedience, but it is properly the result of (God's) persuasion" (WS, 422).
Word Origin
a prim. verb
Definition
to persuade, to have confidence
NASB Word Usage
assure (1), confident (3), convinced (7), followed (2), have confidence (2), having confidence (2), listen (1), obey (3), obeying (1), persuade (4), persuaded (8), persuading (1), put...trust (1), put confidence (1), put...confidence (1), relied (1), seeking the favor (1), sure (2), took...advice (1), trust (2), trusted (1), trusting (1), trusts (1), urging (1), win...over (1), won over (2).
NAS Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries
Copyright � 1981, 1998 by The Lockman Foundation
All rights reserved Lockman.org
to persuade
A primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy, to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflexively or passively, to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty) -- agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) conflent, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.
George it was by faith I knew earlier today that you would show up for faiht was being discussed and I know he can't stand for that truth to come out.
The majority of your post and responses are in no light of the word of God, typically as like calvinist or unbelief the product of fear (Satan's twisted faith).
For those that have a ear to hear, this is a good example of the error in all you posted concerning the topic of faith.
All but two in this example where rewarded for their unbelief, and received their reward according to that they sowed as an act of unbelief.
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
It couldn't be any clearer Geroge, You said faith was a persuasion of god but yet these where not able to receive the promise for they would not act, they where walking by sight, but their was two in that group that where in faith andexpected to receive the promise and they did but every one of the others died off.
Lu 8:22 � Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.
Lu 8:23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.
Lu 8:24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
Lu 8:25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.
The name of the author has nothing to do with whether or not it is true James, We do not approach the word of God as a natual man, but as a new man in christ and is Spirit bears witness with our spirit the truth.
@ Saved, RE: James 2:19.. ok this is why I dont read "new age bible versions" what that scripture says in the KJV Thou believes that there is one God thou doest well the devils also believe and tremble
yours says you believe that god is one???? that is not what the scripture says, that sounds like some kind of peganism getting into scripture ,uh uh now way jose.. I saw a film once about 6 years ago entiteld "new age bible versions" if anyone could get their hands on it and watch it, it would do you well, it is down right scary what is don ein these versions, one actuly calls satan the bright and morning star and Jesus son of the morning!!! Satan is subtle and yall open yourself up for deciet just trusting some man you dont know to retranslate the Bible, I know it was man who translated the KJV but I also know God is all mighty and he has the ability to preserve his word and thats what he did in the KJV, be careful reading those new bibles, that one scripture righ there proves it, GOD IS THREE MY DEAR not one but there is ONLY ONE GOD!!! its the subtle twists If you had the holy spirit you could decern these sorts of things, you seem awful smart to let something like that ecieve you, but then again its not our smarts is it? its the power of the HOLY GHOST
Faith (4102/pistis) involves belief but it goes beyond human believing because it involves the personal revelation (inworking) of God. :yay::yay::yay::yay::yay:
@JAMES shame on you, why would you call yourself a Christian and then call someone else who claims Jesus too pathetic, that is a terrible thing to say. and I dont think PJ thinks he can just decide to have faith, he cant possibly believe that and you just twist things to make it sound like he thinks he saved his self...
I am really mad about the way people cut each other down here, and I am about to make everyone here mad and I dont really care!!! I am blood bought by the King of Kings and filled with the Holy Ghost I have been tried by fire and babtised in it so, I know that I am not suposed to drink and smoke, does the bible say never ever drink maybe not it does hint at it, but guess what It does say, it says be ye sperate and drinking is something the world does, now if you can tell the tree by the fruit it bares look at mine and PJs profiles where it asks if we drink or smoke!!! thats right I dont because I am being regenerated and if you think you can hold on to a bottle of booze and still be saved then think again because you cant, the bible says not to grieve the Holy spirit, I went into a resteraunt one time that had a kind of bary atmosphere and I was visiting the beach people around me were drinking and secualr music was playing out on the back deck of a beack fron t resteraunt, GUESS WHAT!!! I could feel the spirit inside me grieveing it was very distinct and when I felt it I knew what it was, I am not pointing fingers but yall need to quit pointing yours
