"For everything there is a season, a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecclesiastes. 3:1, ESV).
"For God is not the God of confusion, but of peace" (1 Cor. 14:33, ESV).
"He has made everything beautiful in its time" (Eccles. 3:11, ESV).
"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29).
"For unto you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him..." (Phil. 1:29).
Our God is a God of design, order, harmony, beauty, and plan, and not of chaos or disorder, even in salvation.
EMPHASIS MINE.
He providentially makes everything beautiful in its time Ecclesiastes 3:11)--according to His timetable. Meditate on this as we discuss our salvation experience.
We are all a work of grace and had no desire for Christ apart from His grace, who made us willing and exchanged our heart of stone for a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26). Our election is unconditional and not dependent upon anything we do, but God called us according to His purpose and grace and His divine good pleasure (cf. Eph. 1:5). Our inability to believe apart from grace is due to our total depravity. Rome has turned faith into a meritorious work and believes we are capable of achieving it--it is granted, not achieved. The idea that God elects us because of our faith is called the prescient view and is in error, though some sincere Arminians subscribe to it out of ignorance or bias--this is the beginning of salvation by works and gives us merit to boast of.
Faith is necessary for our salvation, but not our election, and is a sure thing because it is decreed by God. It is like God owing mercy to someone (that would be justice, not grace)--God is obligated to save no one--He could have saved no one! In addition, dead people can't have faith or do anything that pleases God! "There is none good, no not one." Our salvation is "...not of him who wills [sincerity], nor of him who runs [effort of the flesh], but of God [His sovereign choice] who shows mercy" (Rom. 9:16).
According to the Reformed tradition, regeneration precedes faith in the ordo salutis (the Latin for the order of salvation). If it was a prerequisite for regeneration, we could muster or conjure it up on our own and this would be the genesis of merit of some sort, and God is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality. Acts 18:27 says that God "helped those who through grace had believed." 2 Thess. 2:13 says God chose us "through sanctification of the Spirit [first in occurrence] and belief in the truth." 1 John 5:1 says that everyone who believes "has [past tense and occurring beforehand] been born of God." In the golden chain of redemption of Romans 8:29-30 we see those who were called to be justified and there can be no justification without concurrent faith and repentance (penitent faith or believing repentance, if you will).
God calls us unto faith or quickens faith within us as His gift (Rom. 12:3) and it is our duty to act upon that faith. We are not elected or called because of our faith but elected unto faith. God does the choosing or electing, not us (cf. John 15:16)! Our destiny is ultimately in His providential hands--thank God! He reserves the right to save those whom He chooses.
We are not judged by our faith, but our deeds done in the flesh (Rom. 2:6). However, Eph. 2:8-9 delineates the order clearly: "...by grace, through [instrumental means] faith, it [the antecedent is faith in one sense as well as the whole phrase] is the gift of God [God's gift, but our act]." If faith were our work and not God's work in us we would reason to boast in His presence. We are not saved by works, even though we are incurably addicted to doing something for our salvation (cf. John 6:28). The phraseology of the Reformation was Soli Deo Gloria, or to God alone be the glory! Amen. The whole of Reformed theology can be put in the synopsis that "Salvation is of the LORD" as Jonah said in Jon. 2:9. It is not, therefore, any other combo, such as of us and the Lord, or of us alone; which would mean we have to work, earn, and merit salvation to some degree, and that it partially depends on us. Believe me, if our salvation depended on us, none of us would make it and we could have no assurance!
Now to the subject of the post at hand: The first sign of faith as a seed planted is when a person becomes positively oriented to pay attention and listen to the preaching of the Word (1 Sam. 15:22 says, "...to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams"), even if he is neutral--he lets it sink in and then understands it only through the illuminating ministry of the Spirit. No one is the same after hearing the gospel message; they either get upset and are hardened, or they get convicted and are a step from salvation. "Faith comes by hearing and by hearing of the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). After acceptance and comprehension, he must decide to agree or react and reject. He can agree, or consent mentally and still not have saving faith though
The belief must go from head belief to heartfelt faith affecting the whole personhood of intellect, emotion, and will. He must be willing to do His will to know the truth as Jesus said in John 7:17: "If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God...." In short, God makes believers out of us by His wooing and grace to make the unwilling willing! We are incompetent to meet the requisites of salvation and election, ergo it must be unconditional and by grace.
After ascent, no matter how much faith he has [it only takes a grain as a mustard seed to germinate--it is not the amount per se] he must still decide to surrender to God's will. This is the beginning of trust and obedience, which goes hand in hand with saving faith (John 3:36), and this is where faith grows in "good soil" and is saving faith when committed and one takes his stand, after finding his standing. However, note that the faith must be correct faith in the right object (it is the object that saves, not faith itself) and if he is heretical in his knowledge, no amount of faith will save him and no matter how sincere (though sincerity is vital, it is not everything because you can be sincerely wrong). A strong but misguided faith will be of no avail (cf. Rom. 10:2).
To take the leap of faith we must give up, surrender and put trust in all God's will all at once, and not some to-do list or rules and regulations of legalism--we don't trust in a religion or a creed (creeds don't save, Christ only saves), but we rely on a person we deem as not only having died for us personally but living for us now and that wants a personal relationship with us. In other words, we know Christ died for us, we reckon it true for us personally and real, and then we yield to God's will (Christ's yoke is not the Law of Moses, but an easier one; we submit to His will in obedience and fellowship)--we let God live through us! We must really surrender our will (step off the throne of our life and put Jesus in charge, giving up the ownership of our lives as we count the cost), submit to His will and live for Him to get a changed life--the evidence and telltale sign of salvation. This changed life is from a surrendered life, a substituted life, an inhabited life, an exchanged life, an obedient life, and a trusting life (cf. Gal. 2:20). Knowing just the facts like the burial, death, and resurrection of Christ is only history, but knowing it is in your behalf and real for you is salvation.
The conclusion of the matter is this: grace is the sine qua non of faith and doesn't just facilitate it. That means it is necessary and sufficient and we cannot believe apart from the grace of God in our fallen state (called the primacy of grace), because we have no inherent virtue and cannot prepare ourselves for salvation, and must come as we are spiritually bankrupt, begging for mercy: God be merciful to me, the sinner! Soli Deo Gloria!
"For God is not the God of confusion, but of peace" (1 Cor. 14:33, ESV).
"He has made everything beautiful in its time" (Eccles. 3:11, ESV).
"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29).
"For unto you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him..." (Phil. 1:29).
Our God is a God of design, order, harmony, beauty, and plan, and not of chaos or disorder, even in salvation.
EMPHASIS MINE.
He providentially makes everything beautiful in its time Ecclesiastes 3:11)--according to His timetable. Meditate on this as we discuss our salvation experience.
We are all a work of grace and had no desire for Christ apart from His grace, who made us willing and exchanged our heart of stone for a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26). Our election is unconditional and not dependent upon anything we do, but God called us according to His purpose and grace and His divine good pleasure (cf. Eph. 1:5). Our inability to believe apart from grace is due to our total depravity. Rome has turned faith into a meritorious work and believes we are capable of achieving it--it is granted, not achieved. The idea that God elects us because of our faith is called the prescient view and is in error, though some sincere Arminians subscribe to it out of ignorance or bias--this is the beginning of salvation by works and gives us merit to boast of.
Faith is necessary for our salvation, but not our election, and is a sure thing because it is decreed by God. It is like God owing mercy to someone (that would be justice, not grace)--God is obligated to save no one--He could have saved no one! In addition, dead people can't have faith or do anything that pleases God! "There is none good, no not one." Our salvation is "...not of him who wills [sincerity], nor of him who runs [effort of the flesh], but of God [His sovereign choice] who shows mercy" (Rom. 9:16).
According to the Reformed tradition, regeneration precedes faith in the ordo salutis (the Latin for the order of salvation). If it was a prerequisite for regeneration, we could muster or conjure it up on our own and this would be the genesis of merit of some sort, and God is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality. Acts 18:27 says that God "helped those who through grace had believed." 2 Thess. 2:13 says God chose us "through sanctification of the Spirit [first in occurrence] and belief in the truth." 1 John 5:1 says that everyone who believes "has [past tense and occurring beforehand] been born of God." In the golden chain of redemption of Romans 8:29-30 we see those who were called to be justified and there can be no justification without concurrent faith and repentance (penitent faith or believing repentance, if you will).
God calls us unto faith or quickens faith within us as His gift (Rom. 12:3) and it is our duty to act upon that faith. We are not elected or called because of our faith but elected unto faith. God does the choosing or electing, not us (cf. John 15:16)! Our destiny is ultimately in His providential hands--thank God! He reserves the right to save those whom He chooses.
We are not judged by our faith, but our deeds done in the flesh (Rom. 2:6). However, Eph. 2:8-9 delineates the order clearly: "...by grace, through [instrumental means] faith, it [the antecedent is faith in one sense as well as the whole phrase] is the gift of God [God's gift, but our act]." If faith were our work and not God's work in us we would reason to boast in His presence. We are not saved by works, even though we are incurably addicted to doing something for our salvation (cf. John 6:28). The phraseology of the Reformation was Soli Deo Gloria, or to God alone be the glory! Amen. The whole of Reformed theology can be put in the synopsis that "Salvation is of the LORD" as Jonah said in Jon. 2:9. It is not, therefore, any other combo, such as of us and the Lord, or of us alone; which would mean we have to work, earn, and merit salvation to some degree, and that it partially depends on us. Believe me, if our salvation depended on us, none of us would make it and we could have no assurance!
Now to the subject of the post at hand: The first sign of faith as a seed planted is when a person becomes positively oriented to pay attention and listen to the preaching of the Word (1 Sam. 15:22 says, "...to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams"), even if he is neutral--he lets it sink in and then understands it only through the illuminating ministry of the Spirit. No one is the same after hearing the gospel message; they either get upset and are hardened, or they get convicted and are a step from salvation. "Faith comes by hearing and by hearing of the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). After acceptance and comprehension, he must decide to agree or react and reject. He can agree, or consent mentally and still not have saving faith though
The belief must go from head belief to heartfelt faith affecting the whole personhood of intellect, emotion, and will. He must be willing to do His will to know the truth as Jesus said in John 7:17: "If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God...." In short, God makes believers out of us by His wooing and grace to make the unwilling willing! We are incompetent to meet the requisites of salvation and election, ergo it must be unconditional and by grace.
After ascent, no matter how much faith he has [it only takes a grain as a mustard seed to germinate--it is not the amount per se] he must still decide to surrender to God's will. This is the beginning of trust and obedience, which goes hand in hand with saving faith (John 3:36), and this is where faith grows in "good soil" and is saving faith when committed and one takes his stand, after finding his standing. However, note that the faith must be correct faith in the right object (it is the object that saves, not faith itself) and if he is heretical in his knowledge, no amount of faith will save him and no matter how sincere (though sincerity is vital, it is not everything because you can be sincerely wrong). A strong but misguided faith will be of no avail (cf. Rom. 10:2).
To take the leap of faith we must give up, surrender and put trust in all God's will all at once, and not some to-do list or rules and regulations of legalism--we don't trust in a religion or a creed (creeds don't save, Christ only saves), but we rely on a person we deem as not only having died for us personally but living for us now and that wants a personal relationship with us. In other words, we know Christ died for us, we reckon it true for us personally and real, and then we yield to God's will (Christ's yoke is not the Law of Moses, but an easier one; we submit to His will in obedience and fellowship)--we let God live through us! We must really surrender our will (step off the throne of our life and put Jesus in charge, giving up the ownership of our lives as we count the cost), submit to His will and live for Him to get a changed life--the evidence and telltale sign of salvation. This changed life is from a surrendered life, a substituted life, an inhabited life, an exchanged life, an obedient life, and a trusting life (cf. Gal. 2:20). Knowing just the facts like the burial, death, and resurrection of Christ is only history, but knowing it is in your behalf and real for you is salvation.
The conclusion of the matter is this: grace is the sine qua non of faith and doesn't just facilitate it. That means it is necessary and sufficient and we cannot believe apart from the grace of God in our fallen state (called the primacy of grace), because we have no inherent virtue and cannot prepare ourselves for salvation, and must come as we are spiritually bankrupt, begging for mercy: God be merciful to me, the sinner! Soli Deo Gloria!
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