Faith is a gift from God.
Faith or belief is a gift from God. Faith is not something we can produce on our own. God has to give it to us. Those who are not His sheep do not believe because they are not His sheep. John 10:26. Jesus said to the Pharisees "But ye believe not, BECAUSE ye are not my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."
Please notice it does not say "you are not My sheep because you do not believe", as if by believing they would become His sheep, but rather the reason they do not believe is because they are not His sheep. Jesus calls His people His sheep even before they hear His voice. John 10:16. "And other sheep I HAVE, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
Another reason given in Scripture why some cannot believe is because God blinds their eyes and hardens their hearts. John 12:37-40 "But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him; That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He (God) hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them."
The reason you and I believe the gospel is because God Himself gives us faith. Romans 12:3 "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as GOD HATH DEALT TO EVERY MAN THE MEASURE OF FAITH."
The "every man" in the context is the "every man among you" or those who are already Christians. Not everyone has faith. 2 Thes.3:2 "for all men have not faith" and obviously there are unbelievers.
Philippians 1:29 "For unto you IT IS GIVEN in the behalf of Christ, not only TO BELIEVE ON HIM, but also to suffer for his sake."
Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD."
Ephesians 1:19 "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward that believe, according to the working of his mighty power"
Tyndale notes in the margin of his translation of this verse: "Faith is the work of God only, even as the raising up of Christ."
The same power that raised up Christ, is the power of God that causes us to believe the gospel. This truth has been obscured in the NASB and NIV.
John Gill comments on Ephesians 1:19 " And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,.... The objects of the divine power here intended, are believers in Christ... and shows, that this power is that which is exerted in the implantation of faith, and in the continuance of it, and in the finishing of that work; and that this is a great power, an exceeding great one: the greatness of this power as displayed in the work of conversion and faith appears, if it be considered what the work itself is called, a creation, a resurrection from the dead, a regeneration, and a transformation of the man into another man, which must needs require almighty power."
Scripture speaks of "the faith of God's elect" Titus 1:1
We are told that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith - Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
Acts 3:16 "yea, the faith which is by him (not just 'in' him, but by Him") hath given him this perfect soundness "
Acts 18:27 "he helped them much which had believed THROUGH GRACE." It wasn't just that they believed "in" grace, by it was 'through grace' that they believed.
Acts 14:27 "they rehearsed all that God had done among them, and how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles." If God doesn't open the door, there is no faith.
Acts 16:14 "Lydia...whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of by Paul"
Acts 15:9 "and put no difference between us (believing Jews) and them (believing Gentiles) purifying their hearts by faith." God purified their hearts by faith, not 'because of' faith. God did it and He did it by faith which He himself gave them. It was not "their part".
Acts 13:48 "and AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED TO ETERNAL LIFE BELIEVED." Their having been ordained to eternal life preceeded their believing. The reason they believed is because God had ordained them to faith in the gospel.
1 Peter 1:21 "Who by Him believe in God that raised him up from the dead" Again, it is BY HIM that we believe in God.
2 Peter 1:1 "to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ".
They obtained this faith, they did not have it to begin with and then did their part to exercise it.
1 Corinthians 12:9 "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom... to another faith by the same Spirit."
Galatians 5:22 one of the parts of the fruit of the Spirit is faith. The Spirit produces faith, though the new versions have changed this to 'faithfulness'.
1 Corinthians 3:5-6 "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." You can preach and teach gospel truths, but unless God Himself gives the increase and causes the seed to sprout and grow, there is no belief and no life. (The NASB & NIV have both changed the meaning of this section, added words not in any text, and don't even agree with each other.)
2 Corinthians 10:15 "when your faith is increased". This is a passive verb. Someone else increases our faith. It is the Lord, as even the apostles recognized when they said to Him in Luke 17:5 "Lord, increase our faith."
One of the many serious changes being made in the modern bible versions is how they are altering the phrase "the faith OF Christ". Many times the phrase "by the faith OF Jesus Christ" has been changed to "by faith IN Jesus Christ". See for example Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16, 20; 3:22; Ephesians 3:12; Phillipians 3:9; James 2:1; Revelation 2:13; and 14:12.
Romans 3:22 "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith OF Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference."
Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith OF Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
Here the NKJV, NIV and NASB have all changed this to "faith IN Jesus Christ", thus changing the truth that this faith comes from Jesus Christ and instead implying that it comes from ourselves.
This is not a question of Greek texts differing, because they all say the same thing, dia pisteos iesou xristou, the genitive of possession or source. We speak of the birth of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Jesus, the body of Jesus, the cross of Christ, the riches of Christ, the kingdom of Christ, the glory of Christ, and many other things using the same grammatical construction, but suddenly the NKJV, NAS, NIV, and most modern bibles now have "through faith IN Jesus Christ."
The older Bibles - Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, Bishop's Bible 1568, the Geneva 1599, even Wesley's 1755 translation, Darby, Young's, Webster's 1833 translation all read as the King James Bible, and so do the Third Millenium Bible and the KJV 21.
The Italian Diodati of Galatians 2:16 - is the same as the King James Bible, reading: "ma per la fede di Gesł Cristo"
The Spanish Reina Valera from 1602 to 1995 all read just like the King James Bible with: "sino por la fe de Jesucristo"
However the ASV of 1901 changed about half of these references to "the faith OF Jesus Christ" to faith IN Jesus Christ, and from then on all the references have been changed in the NKJV, RSV, NASB and NIV.
Some then argue that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 It is true that God uses His word as the means to awaken the faith which He Himself gives to His elect. The question to ask is, Who gives us ears to "hear" the word of God? God does, of course. He opens the understanding of some and closes the eyes and ears of others.
"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day." Romans 11:7-8.
"Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day." Deuteronomy 29:4
"Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures." Luke 24:45.
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" - Hebrews 12:2. He is its source, its fountain, the giver, and the perfector of our faith. Every good and perfect gift is from above, and faith is a gift from God. "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven." John 3:27.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-14 shows a great contrast between two groups of people. Verses 10-12 describe those who "received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousnes."
Then verses 13-14 describe the other group in stark contrast. "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
This "whereunto" refers back to the whole process of salvation. We were chosen from the beginning, set aside by the Spirit and called to believe the truth.
If you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose again, then believe also what the Holy Bible says about Who gave you this saving faith to believe these things and let us give Him all the glory.
Objections Raised:
A Bible corrector, who thinks he can "correct" any and all bible versions out there according to his own understanding, wrote to me on a public forum saying: "It's NOT the faith "of" Christ...Christ has no faith, He has SURE KNOWLEDGE! Biblical faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen. What is not seen by CHRIST? What things require EVIDENCE for Him to know? Does he guess at or hope for ANYTHING? WHAT DOES CHRIST NOT KNOW?"
To whom I answered: For those who have ears to hear, let's take a closer look at what the Bible says regarding the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. The Book of Hebrews presents us with the Person of Jesus as our pattern to follow. (and much more of course too).
However in Hebrews 12:1-3 we read: "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus THE AUTHOR AND FININSHER OF OUR FAITH; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."
We are to look to the human side of Jesus as he walked here on earth before He accomplished our redemption on the cross, and finally ascended up into heaven where He now sits at the Father's right hand.
Did Jesus have faith while on earth in his human body? Did He trust God and hope in His word when he underwent trials and persecution? Absolutely.
Psalm 22 is all about the Lord Jesus and there we read in verses 7-9 "All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He TRUSTED ON the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou are he that took me out of the womb: THOU DIDST MAKE ME HOPE when I was upon my mother's breasts." (The verse is again referenced in Matthew 27:43)
When Scripture later on talks about "the righteousness of God which is by faith OF Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (Romans 3:22) it is teaching that this saving faith comes not from the fallen and spiritually dead natural man, but rather the source and fount of this faith is Jesus Christ Himself.
The construction of the language here in Romans 3:22 where it speaks of "the righteousness OF God" is the same when it speaks of "the faith OF Jesus Christ". Both the righteousness and the faith come from the godhead, not man.
Saving faith is a gift from God to His elect sheep and children. Jesus Himself is the Author and Finisher of this faith that God gives to His people. That is why the King James Bible and several others are theologically correct when they call this "the faith OF the Son of God" - He is the source and originator (author) of this faith. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." James 1:17
"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Matthew 11:15
Will Kinney