It all starts with grace: the undeserved love, mercy and compassion which our Lord has for His Jewish and Gentile Elect.
God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent. Hath he spoken and shall he not do it. Or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good?
Christ is the same: yesterday, today, and forever.
"I am the Lord; I change not."
Whether in the OT or the NT God doesn't change his basic ways.
Isa 1:18 Come now, and
let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
--There is always an appeal to the mind. Man is not a robot, a puppet of the Great Puppeteer in heaven programmed before the foundation of the world: every thought, word, action--not only known--but predetermined by God.
Throughout the OT the Lord constantly appeals to Israel to "Return to me." or to "repent," etc. There is always a choice for Israel to make. Even the other nations and individuals outside Israel are appealed to. Jonah went to Nineveh, and an appeal was made to the Ninevites to repent, which they did. And God had mercy on them. One would not normally consider the "of the elect." But God granted mercy unto them.
God reasons, pleads, begs for his creatures to come to him.
As it was in the OT, so it is in the gospels, Acts, post-cross, and now.
The Great Commission is a plea to the lost and perishing to receive Christ. Faith is not a gift to the unregenerated or the unsaved. Grace refers to the work that was done at Calvary, the work on the cross.
The expression "your faith" is found 24 times in the NT.
"Thy faith" is used 11 times. "His faith," twice; and "their faith" three more times.
What did Jesus mean when he said:
Matthew 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
--Where did the faith come from? It is almost a ridiculous question to ask.
It seems as if certain here are re-defining faith making it to mean some mysterious undefinable supernatural intangible coming only from God.
Clearly Jesus did not define faith that way.
He likened it to trust, confidence. It was something exercised that even little children did. "Except you be as these little children you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven."
He was speaking of faith. The children put their faith or confidence in their parents to protect, care, guide, and provide for them, rather than a stranger. They will not go to a stranger so willingly, if at all.
One must be as a child--have that simplistic faith as a child if they want to enter into the kingdom of God. Faith is confidence in the word of another.
Biblical faith is confidence in the Word of God, specifically in its promises.
Thus Jesus says:
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
--There is always an invitation. There is always an appeal to the mind. God appeals to the mind or heart of man for he is responsible for the choice that he makes. Man is always responsible for the actions he makes. This is a universal truth. The heathen even know this apart from God's Word.
Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15 Which shew
the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another)
--Not only has God given the heathen the law written on their hearts, but he has given them a conscience that tells them between right and wrong. They know when they offend a holy God.
God reaches out to men. Romans chapter one demonstrates how man chooses to reject God. But not everyone rejects God. That is demonstrated in verse 18, in that they once had the truth, but rejected it. In verse 20 they had no excuse for rejecting the truth concerning the triune godhead.
The gospel is summarized in 1Cor.15:1-4.
1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
--In verse one it was declared or preached by Paul. And then also, it was
received by the Corinthians. Paul adds a disclaimer. "unless you believed in vain." There is the difference between "saving faith" and otherwise. It simply means that their belief was genuine and not just head knowledge.
They received the gospel, and they received it by faith. Whenever we receive something it is received by faith.
--Paul reiterates the same truth in verse three.
"I delivered to you that which I also received..." the gospel.
The gospel is always received by faith. The gospel saves.
The gospel is in verses 3 and 4:
"how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"
--This is the grace of God. We are saved by grace--the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. Salvation is by Christ, through Christ, in Christ, and in Him alone. There is no other way but by Christ. It is all of grace. But grace is not grace unless that grace is received by faith.
For by grace are ye saved through faith.
The OP proves that if faith is the sinner's gift to God before the miracle of regeneration takes place, then regeneration is not of grace, but of justice; i.e., God giving man what he rightly deserves….man first gives God faith, God then, as a reward, gives man the new birth.
Faith is not a gift. Faith is not a "tangible." Faith is not a work. You are contradicting Romans 4:4,5. Faith and works are opposites of each other.
Every person has faith. The important factor is: what is the object of one's faith?
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;
--Looking unto Jesus. He is the object of our faith.
Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself,
--Consider Him; consider Jesus. He is the object of our faith.
The world may put as the object of their faith: riches, the world, fame, entertainment, sports, family, etc. But the Christian needs to have Jesus as the object of our faith.
But grace is not of justice. Grace gives to man that which he does not rightly deserve: salvation.
Grace is simply unmerited favor. Some use an acronym to define it as "God's Riches At Christ's Expense." And so it is. Yes, salvation is of grace. It is a gift received by faith.
Grace also withholds from man that which he does rightly deserve: just condemnation.
That is all part of salvation.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
And saving grace is given to certain men, called Elect (chosen by the Father) for reasons known only to God.
Truthfully, that sounds like Roman Catholicism.
No, the Bible does not teach this. We all have faith. What is the object of our faith. When a person learns of the gospel, is convinced of the truth of it, and the Holy Spirit convicts him of his sinful condition, then he has a choice to make. He can believe the gospel or reject it. God does not force a man to be saved. He is not going to believe with "God's faith." That is absurd. God gives him the choice to believe.
"Thy faith has made you whole." Christ always referred to "their faith."
He never referred to the faith that God had given to them, in relation to salvation. Those to whom he spake to had to believe for themselves.
Man must make his own decision concerning the grace of God in salvation. It cannot be forced upon him.
All He cares to reveal in His Word is that His choice is independent of anything good, holy or righteous in man.
In fact, Jesus and Scripture call all men evil, whose hearts are evil.
And evil hearts can produce nothing good, including a righteous belief in Christ.
God has revealed all that we need to know in his word. The gospel is simple. To concoct a theological system that goes above and beyond what God has said is unbiblical.
If it is with the heart man believes unto righteousness, then how is it possible for man, whose heart is only evil, to produce righteousness which is very good?
Answer: it is not possible.
Come now and let us reason together the Lord says.
He tells the Athenians:
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
--He doesn't command people to do that which is impossible for them to do.
Paul wasn't commanding the unelect to repent.
If the truth be told our Synergist brethren refuse to believe these fundamental truths regarding the wickedness of the human heart:
Total Inability is the foundation of Calvinism. Upon it all the rest of TULIP is built. If it crumbles the rest crumbles.
