Calvin vs. Arminius

[His son]

Quote:

WEll then again, as I have said before, I see no reason why you are reading worthy boards! Why are you here when you could be reading your Scripture? In fact if you believe that we are not to listen to men's interpretations, why then do you go on to give me your interpretation? You certainly cannot expect me to believe someone who tells me first not to believe him?

This is a sad argument. The Bible as written without anything added makes a direct statement that one can be saved and well advanced on the narrow path, and by their own freewill chose to turn off and go another way. You can not find a Scripture anywhere in The Bible that makes such a definite statement in support of your false doctrine but has to have additions, subtractions and private interpretation. I have never asked anyone to believe me unless what I say lines up with Bible, so now you have to reduce yourself to private interpretations of what those who oppose you actually post. You just keep digging that pit deeper, and deeper. When I read these posts it causes me to meditate asking The Holy Spirit which of The Scriptures that He wrote addressess the issue. I have never said that I was 100% successful in meditation on The Scriptures, so again your are reduced to private interpretation of my posts. When you put your trust in the hands of men writting about God you are putting your lump in their hands, and I can assure you that proclaimers of false doctrines are not going to fashion you into a vessel that would be accepted in our Lords House.

There is only one true doctrine, and That is Bible Doctrine, and one has to ignore about 95% of The Scriptures that deal with the salvation issue to accept that false doctrine of OSAS. Unfortunaltely there are many who have been lulled into a false sense of security by it. What a sad awakening they are in for.

2 Tim 3:16-17

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Pet 1:20

20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

2 Sam 14:14

14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Job 37:24

24 Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.

[Guest mcm42]

Hey Lady C... Yours truly here to do the "turning" Like Mcmurray Turning Kenseth at the race last week!

Hey JM... Your right it's gone on for ages and the likes of you and me aren't going to end it here on Worthy, I doubt. At anyrate I'll show you where I see your supposed "errors"

First, there is no way in greek, latin, hebrew, spanish, english... take your pick that Romans nine only speaks of the Choosing of Israel. Paul is most definatly making a parallel to salvation. (I.e verse 24 speaks of the calling of Jews and Gentiles) Also, verse 8 shows us that it is not the children of the flesh only but the children of the promise... Paul goes on to show that we, Gentiles and Jews, are both children of the promise.

I don't at all understand how people can explain Eph 1:13 without explaining that the Predestination and calling of those people already occurred in 1:11.

I'm not sure how it denies the two natures... but ok.

denigrates faith by teaching that regeneration proceeds faith. In laymen's terms, you are spiritually dead, you cannot believe until you are regenerated. You are given the faith to believe, i.e., you are regenerated first, and that enables you to believe-faith is a gift. This falsely teaches that faith is a gift of God rather than salvation

Why then does paul speak of faith as a gift in Eph 2:8,9? "it is by grace through faith, which is a gift of God? Also, it doesn't teach that Faith is the gift as opposed to salvation but that the gift of faith=Salvation... so Salvation is indeed the gift. And since the gift, Salvation by faith, is not by works, but by grace we can not assume that we have faith, prior to it's giving.

The Holy Spirit is not received until after you have heard. So much for a "dead" man being so depraved that he cannot hear.

I'm not sure that I agree with your reasoning on the old testament nor do I at all see the point. The Old Testament believers were just as chosen as we are. That is blatantly clear through the giving and recieving of the Spirit and the chosing of Abraham, and so on. I would never argue that they were regenerated. I would argue that they were chosen under the Old Covenant, and we are Chosen in the same way... What did Abraham do in order to become "God's Man" nothing. God chose him. There was nothing special about Abraham other than the fact that God Chose Him. Same goes with Noah, he didn't make up the ark idea on his own. ANd you mention MOses, what would Moses have been without the burning bush? How do you suppose Joshua might have taken Jericho if God hadn't chosen to give him the information he did? I digress

It is not that "For God so love the world of the elect" The verse says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes (the elect) shall have everlasting life" Fact is those who believe, are elect or chosen.

Saved means rescued from danger. Calvin's elect are never in danger of loss so from what are they saved? The answer is nothing. Therefore the verses that speak of being saved are not valid verses if Calvin is to be believed.

The fact is that the elect don't know they are elect, until they are saved. And whether or not we're chosen doesn't suppose we were never in danger. We were all in danger at some point, and then God chose to have mercy on us.

We don't know who the elect are... God does, so it is not for us to live as though we know who is and isn't saved. God still works presently even though things are already determined.

This is where I stand...

[Guest LadyC]

Hey Lady C... Yours truly here to do the "turning" Like Mcmurray Turning Kenseth at the race last week! 

:c: i'm so confused!!!

[Guest mcm42]

The Bible as written without anything added makes a direct statement that one can be saved and well advanced on the narrow path, and by their own freewill chose to turn off and go another way. You can not find a Scripture anywhere in The Bible that makes such a definite statement in support of your false doctrine but has to have additions, subtractions and private interpretation

Without additions subtractions etc. I dare quote Romans 9-11 along with chapter 3 and 5. That's a big chunk of scritpture to be tossing out the window for the sake of man's will.

As far as the Bold goes that is your opinion. I do not agree. also, 95% of scripture? That would be a very Biased opinion. Throwing false Stats around won't get you anywhere!

You show me how Romans 9 (Uncut) along with numerous other passages that I've already quoted time and again teach a Free Will Salvation without God's first choosing!

I have never asked anyone to believe me unless what I say lines up with Bible, so now you have to reduce yourself to private interpretations of what those who oppose you actually post

This makes no sense. How have I reduced myself to private interpretation? Also, you do ask, in fact you beg for me to change from what you call my "false doctrine" I don't believe what you say lines up with Scripture... Plain and simple, so no I will not agree. I believe my False Doctrine and Your Believe Yours.

I can assure you that proclaimers of false doctrines are not going to fashion you into a vessel that would be accepted in our Lords House.

If your refering to the likes of R.C. Sproul, or C.H. Spurgeon, both proclaimers of this "false doctrine" then you are totally incorrect. In my own life these two have helped me in such major areas, that have lead me to be a much stronger vessel for the Lord. The Spirit has used their teaching in my life to show me what I see today, which I believe is Biblical Truth... That is my "private interpretation"... Call it false if you will, so be it, but I have come about that conclusion no differently than you have yours.

That's my veiw, take it or leave it...

I'm taking it, you can leave it.

[jmwhalen]

MCM 42 writes:

"I'm not sure that I agree with your reasoning on the old testament nor do I at all see the point. The Old Testament believers were just as chosen as we are. That is blatantly clear through the giving and recieving of the Spirit and the chosing of Abraham, and so on. I would never argue that they were regenerated. I would argue that they were chosen under the Old Covenant, and we are Chosen in the same way... What did Abraham do in order to become "God's Man" nothing. God chose him. There was nothing special about Abraham other than the fact that God Chose Him. Same goes with Noah, he didn't make up the ark idea on his own. ANd you mention MOses, what would Moses have been without the burning bush? How do you suppose Joshua might have taken Jericho if God hadn't chosen to give him the information he did? I digress"

________________________________________________________________

My point is this-Calvinism's foundation rests on the concept of total depravity-man cannot believe until he is regenerated(see previous post). Almost every Calvinist will agree that if this "T" is false, the rest crumbles. This falls apart not only from the scriptures I showed re. the biblical order(hear, believe, regeneration), but from the OT testimony-there was no regeneration. So how were the OT saints able to believe? Again, the foundation of Calvinism is "Total Depravity".

You write:

"..The Old Testament believers were just as chosen as we are. That is blatantly clear through the giving and recieving of the Spirit... '

Chosen to salvation?

So, are you saying that they were able to believe by the receiving of the Spirit? i.e., regeneration to be able to believe. This is the "T" of TULIP-

Again, you confuse "chosen" for service with "chosen" to salvation.

No, Abraham "believed God....."

In Christ,

John Whalen

[Guest mcm42]

So, are you saying that they were able to believe by the receiving of the Spirit? i.e., regeneration to be able to believe

Not the recieving of the Spirit... but the work of the Spirit. Total Depravity simply shows the need for God to make the first move... that is to call and so forth... in the Old Testament things were a bit different, but still the faith that those believers had they were chosen to recieve.

The Holy Spirit was given and taken differently in the Ot that in the Nt. You didn't recieve the holy spirit because you were saved. You were saved beacause of faith, that is through the faith of Abraham. God chose who would and who would not have that faith. So no those who had faith in the Old Testament didn't "receive the Spirit" as we do. It is clear that the Spirit had a different role. they were saved by faith, a faith given, not by works... But they did not recieve the Spirit, but that doesn't me the Spirit did not work in them the faith by bringing them through God ordained circumstances?

Does that make any sense? Maybe not.

It's difficult because you relate Salvation to the Reception of the Spirit, something that did not occur in the OT.

The faith is given to the totally depraved man... simple as that. Whether they were OT or NT they were Totally Depraved, and God Chose them and gave the Faith they had...

That's the way I see it...

Hope that clears the water, I suspect it will not though.

[jmwhalen]

MCM 42:

For what purpose was the faith given? Faith is "taking God at His Word".

Calvinists state, in no uncertain terms, that man cannot excercise faith, i.e., believe, until he is regenerated-that is, he is totally depraved and cannot believe unil he is regenerated.

Again, for what purpose is faith given? Without even discussing the issue of whether faith or salvation is a gift- I stated that salvation is a gift, not faith. But leaving this aside, and assuming you are right, for what purpose is faith given?

No mention ever in the OT that a saint was given faith. He is told that he is saved because he believed-those are not equivalent!

Pls address question-is the biblical order hear/ believe/regenerated, or regenerated, hear, believe("T" of Calvinism)?

In Christ

John Whalen

[Guest mcm42]

he is regenerated-that is, he is totally depraved and cannot believe unil he is regenerated.

i'm steering clear of this because I'm not too sure what you mean by regeneration...

The faith is given to demonstrate God's Glory. That is, It is for His own purposes. That's why salvation, or faith is given or anything for that matter.

No mention ever in the OT that a saint was given faith. He is told that he is saved because he believed-those are not equivalent!

This depends on how you see it. If you see it as God choosing and directing his will through man, you know that no one had faith without God's working it in them.

Understand, I see what your getting at. My stance (whether it be calvin's or not) is that God does the choosing. God Chose Abraham (whether it be for salvation or for faith, or for the covenant promise, God Chose). God chose the others of the Old Testament for there roles and they would never have accomlished there purposes if God had not predestined them for those choices. God is the creator, when he creates, he creates with a purpose, he created you to make certain choices, to fit in some part of His divine plan.

I was saved and am saved, solely because God had mercy on me, and provided me with the gift of faith. I could not have had faith, if God had not allowed it, and directed it and accomplished it, and planned for it.

Does that help...

[Guest mcm42]

Romans 9:

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;

7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: " THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED."

8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

...

22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?

23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

I'm not sure how you can get around that... or through that... or over that in a belief that says it is man's choice first... I just don't see it. When I read Scripture with God doing the work, I see Him in total control, of everything, the very definition of God... And that's where God should be in control, this verse defines God for me, shows me His authority, His control. I do not want people to think I'm here to argue, this is a belief that strikes my heart very closely.

I'm not saved because I chose God, or because I prayed a prayer or because I did anything, I'm saved because God chose me and said, your gonna pray this prayer, your gonna believe, because I made you for this very purpose and I'm going to make my will come out through you.

That's how it works for me...

[jmwhalen]

mcm42 writes:

"The fact is that the elect don't know they are elect, until they are saved. And whether or not we're chosen doesn't suppose we were never in danger. We were all in danger at some point, and then God chose to have mercy on us."

My comment: Nonsense!-not knowing they are elect is irrelevant. They were never in danger to begin with. And if they were never in danger, the term "saved" is irrelevant. Just because I do not know I have cancer, for example, does not effect whether I am in danger of dying from it!

"Why then does paul speak of faith as a gift in Eph 2:8,9? "it is by grace through faith, which is a gift of God? Also, it doesn't teach that Faith is the gift as opposed to salvation but that the gift of faith=Salvation... so Salvation is indeed the gift. And since the gift, Salvation by faith, is not by works, but by grace we can not assume that we have faith, prior to it's giving."

"... in the Old Testament things were a bit different, but still the faith that those believers had they were chosen to recieve. The Holy Spirit was given and taken differently in the Ot that in the Nt. You didn't recieve the holy spirit because you were saved. You were saved beacause of faith, that is through the faith of Abraham. God chose who would and who would not have that faith. So no those who had faith in the Old Testament didn't "receive the Spirit" as we do. It is clear that the Spirit had a different role. they were saved by faith, a faith given, not by works... But they did not recieve the Spirit, but that doesn't me the Spirit did not work in them the faith by bringing them through God ordained circumstances?....The faith is given to the totally depraved man... simple as that. Whether they were OT or NT they were Totally Depraved, and God Chose them and gave the Faith they had".

"i'm steering clear of this because I'm not too sure what you mean by regeneration...

The faith is given to demonstrate God's Glory. That is, It is for His own purposes. That's why salvation, or faith is given or anything for that matter."

My comment:

Again I ask, why is faith necessary? If regeneration proceeds faith, then this would make faith unnessary since a person would already be saved. If a person is regenerated, then he is born of God(answering your statement "I'm not sure what you mean by regeneration") according to the biblical definition, a member of God's family, and possessor of eternal life. If you are a member of God's family and a possessor of eternal life, the you already saved. So what need is there of faith?

In Christ,

John M. Whalen

_______________________________________________________________

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is THE GIFT OF GOD: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

What is "THE GIFT OF GOD" which is referred to in these verses? This is a key question which must be carefully answered. There are many who teach that Paul was referring to FAITH as the GIFT OF GOD in this passage. They would say that a person cannot be saved unless God gives the sinner the gift of saving faith. Many of these same teachers [usually those trained in Reformed theology or Covenant theology] insist that regeneration precedes faith (that is, a person must be born again before he can believe!). This view is inconsistent with the clear teaching of the Bible. For example, John 1:12 does not say: "As many as have been regenerated, to them gave He the power to believe on His Name, even to those who have become the children of God." Also John 20:31 says, "believing ye might have life." It does not say, "having life ye might believe" (which is what one would expect it to say if regeneration precedes faith).

What is "the gift of God" in Ephesians 2:8-9? Is it "faith" or is it something else?

The key to understanding Ephesians 2:8-9 is to correctly identify the antecedent of the pronoun "that" [touto]. Does the pronoun "that" (v.8) refer to faith or does it refer to salvation? There are those who say that "faith" is the gift of God and there are others who say that "salvation" is the gift of God. We will now consider these two ways of interpreting this passage as well as two other views which are variations of these two basic views:

#1-Faith is the Gift of God

"For by grace are ye saved through FAITH; and THIS FAITH is not of yourselves, this faith is the gift of God, this faith is not of works, lest any man should boast" (in this case the antecedent of the pronoun is identified as "faith").

#2-Salvation is the Gift of God

"For by grace ARE YE SAVED through faith; and THIS SALVATION is not of yourselves, this salvation is the gift of God, this salvation is not of works, lest any man should boast" (in this case the antecedent of the pronoun is identified as "salvation" which is the idea of the main verb "are ye saved").

This view is clearly reflected in the IFCA doctrinal statement [Article IV, Section 1, Paragraph 6] which says, "We believe that SALVATION is the GIFT OF GOD brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." This well-worded statement makes it clear that salvation is the gift of God and this gift is received by personal faith. The gift is salvation; the receiving of that gift is by faith.

Variation of View #1

There is a third proposed solution which like View #1 says that the gift of God is faith, but unlike View #1 it says that salvation, not faith, is "not of works." This is the view of Charles Hodge and others [see Charles Hodge's commentary on Ephesians under Ephesians 2:8-9]. These men realize that Paul would never have said that "faith is not of works" (for reasons which will be discussed later in this paper) and therefore they are forced to place an awkward and unnatural parenthesis in the middle of these verses. This view could be stated as follows:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith (and this faith is not of yourselves, this faith is the gift of God), not of works [that is, this salvation is not of works] lest any man should boast."

If the pronoun really refers to "faith," then it seems better to be consistent with "faith" all the way through. The reason for the parenthesis is that men like Hodges are aware of the difficulty of saying that "faith is not of works" and this difficulty will be discussed later in this paper. This view of Charles Hodge and others is actually a variation of the first view mentioned which says that "faith" is the antecedent of the pronoun ("that"). They teach that "faith" is the gift of God. They are correct in saying that salvation is not of works; they are wrong in saying that this passage teaches that faith is the gift of God.

Variation of View #2

There is a fourth proposed solution which says that the entire salvation process (including faith) is the gift of God: "he [the sinner coming to Christ] realizes that the totality of the salvation process is a gift of God, including the grace of God and his own choice to believe (Ephesians 2:8-9)." [This quote is taken from an IFCA position paper, November 1990, entitled, Salvation by Grace Through Faith] John Calvin also held this view. Calvin did not believe that the pronoun referred to "faith." He believed it referred to "salvation by grace through faith" (to the entire salvation process, including faith). Is salvation the gift of God? This view would answer "yes." Is faith the gift of God? This view would again answer "yes" because faith would be considered part of the totality of the salvation process. Thus, according to this view, not only salvation, but the reception of salvation ("faith") would be the gift of God.

This view confuses the gift with the reception of the gift. It is interesting that the IFCA doctrinal statement makes a clear distinction between the gift and the reception of the gift: "We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." But in the IFCA position paper which was written in order to clarify "saving faith" (in light of the Lordship salvation controversy) this distinction is lost. In the IFCA position paper faith is included as part of the gift (part of the total salvation process). This leads to an obvious problem. Let me put myself in the place of the sinner. If faith in Christ is itself God's gift, then how do I receive this faith? Instead of asking, "What must I do to be saved?", I must now focus on the question "What must I do to believe?" If faith is God's gift, then how do I get this gift? Do I pray to God and ask for the gift of faith? Do I sit back and do nothing and hope that I am one of the chosen ones who will be given this gift? How do I get the gift of saving faith? It is all very confusing and it takes away from where the focus of the sinner ought to be, which is upon Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Identifying the Antecedent

Some might argue that "faith" is the nearest antecedent: "For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves" (Eph. 2:8). It is certainly true that "faith" is the nearest antecedent, but since there are a great number of cases in the New Testament where the nearest antecedent is not the correct one, we should be very careful before applying this "rule." There are other far more important considerations.

Here is the correct rule that Greek grammar demands be followed: Pronouns agree with their antecedent in gender and number. Their case is determined by their use in their own clause.

This rule argues forcefully against the identification of "faith" as the antecedent because "faith" does not agree with the pronoun in gender. The pronoun "that" (verse 8) is NEUTER, and the word "faith" (verse 8) is FEMININE. If Paul wanted his readers to understand the pronoun as referring to "faith," then there is no reason why he could not have used the feminine form of the pronoun [which would have been the Greek word auth]. This would have settled it. If Paul had used this feminine pronoun then it would be very clear and obvious that FAITH is the gift of God. Paul did not use the feminine pronoun.

Why then did Paul use the neuter pronoun? What is the antecedent? If Paul had wanted to refer to the idea contained in the main verb (the idea of being SAVED), then it would have been perfectly normal and appropriate for him to use the neuter gender. It would have been very natural for Paul to say, "For by grace ARE YE SAVED through faith and this thing that I'm talking about, namely salvation, is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God..." If Paul had wanted the pronoun to refer to the idea contained in the verb, the neuter form would be the one to use.

We need to carefully think through Ephesians 2:8-9 in order to correctly identify the antecedent. We must ask, "What is Paul talking about in Ephesians 2:8-9? What is his main point?" It is obvious that Paul is talking about HOW A PERSON IS SAVED. The main idea of the sentence is found in the verb "ARE YE SAVED" [or "YE ARE SAVED"]. How is a person saved? Ephesians 2:8-9 answers this key question. Salvation is by grace. Salvation is through faith. Salvation is not of yourselves. Salvation is the GIFT OF GOD. Salvation is not of works. Paul is not giving a dissertation on faith, but he is giving a brief dissertation on salvation. SALVATION is his main subject. Faith is mentioned because you cannot answer the question "HOW IS A PERSON SAVED?" without mentioning faith. A person is saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). God's gracious gift of salvation must be personally received, and it is received by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

THE GIFT OF GOD--New Testament Usage

The Bible explains itself. We do not need to depend only on Ephesians 2:8 in order to find out what the gift of God is. There are many other New Testament passages which clearly tell us what the gift of God is. How is the expression "gift of God" used elsewhere in the New Testament by Paul and the other writers?

A study of the places where the word "gift" is used in the New Testament reveals the following:

dwron a gift, a present (neuter noun)

This word is used to refer to the "gift of God" only once, and that is in the passage under consideration (Ephesians 2:8). However there are other related Greek words that are translated "gift" and these are as follows:

dwrea a gift (feminine noun)

John 4:10--the gift of God is everlasting life (compare verse 14).

Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45; 11:17--the gift of God is the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:15,17--these verses speak of the gift of justification (righteousness) and life (compare verses 18,21).

2 Corinthians 9:15--this verse speaks of God's unspeakable gift which is Jesus Christ.

We should note that this word is never used of FAITH.

dwrhma a gift, a present (neuter noun)

This word is never used of FAITH but it is used of God's gift of salvation or justification (see Romans 5:16).

carisma a gift freely and graciously given (neuter noun)

Romans 6:23--the gift of God is eternal life (compare Romans 5:15-16).

This word is never used of FAITH (except in 1 Corinthians 12:9 which is speaking of the temporary gift of miracle working faith and not saving faith).

* * * * * * *

Thus, in no other place in the New Testament does the word "GIFT" ever refer to saving faith, though we recognize that apart from God's mercy and gracious enabling and enlightenment, saving faith could not be exercised (John 6:44,65; Romans 9:16; Matthew 11:27; 16:16-17; Acts 16:14; etc.).

We have seen therefore that there are many passages in the New Testament which speak of SALVATION (or justification or eternal life) as being the gift of God, especially in Paul's writings. In light of this, it would be much safer to identify "the gift of God" in Ephesians 2:8 with SALVATION unless there were some very obvious reasons for doing otherwise. If Ephesians 2:8 speaks of faith as being the gift of God, then this is the only place in the New Testament where Paul makes such an identification.

Since the pronoun is in the neuter gender (not agreeing with the feminine gender of the word "faith") and since the New Testament elsewhere refers to salvation as the gift of God, we have good reason for concluding that salvation is the gift of God in Ephesians 2:8.

"Not of works"--New Testament Usage

"Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:9). What is not of works? Is Paul saying that faith is not of works or is he saying that salvation is not of works? Here again it is helpful to do a study of New Testament (Pauline) usage:

In Romans 3:20 Paul says that justification is not of works.

In Romans 3:27 Paul says that justification is not of works.

In Romans 3:28 Paul says that justification is apart from works.

In Romans 4:2,6 Paul says that justification is not of works.

In Romans 9:11 Paul says that election is not of works.

In Romans 9:32 Paul says that righteousness is not of works.

In Romans 11:6 Paul says that election is not of works.

In Galatians 2:16 Paul says that justification is not of works.

In 2 Timothy 1:9 Paul says that God's salvation and calling are not according to works.

In Titus 3:5 Paul says that salvation is not of works.

If Ephesians 2:9 means that SALVATION IS NOT OF WORKS, this would be in harmony with all of these above passages. That salvation is not of works is repeatedly taught by Paul, but in no other place in the new testament does Paul ever say that "faith is not of works." Again and again Paul says that salvation (justification) is not of works, but he never says that faith is not of works. It would be foolish to say such a thing. That faith is not of works is so obvious (or as Alford says "irrelevant") that it does not need to be said. As John Eadie has said, "you may declare that salvation is not of works, but cannot with propriety say that faith is not of works." This is why men like Hodge are forced to put a parenthesis in this passage: "Ye are saved through faith (and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God), not of works." Hodge wants to make the verse say that faith is the gift of God (because this fits in well with his Reformed theology). However, Hodge knows that Paul would never say that "faith is not of works."

The Bible repeatedly says that we are not saved by works (see the verses cited earlier). Also the Bible repeatedly says that we are saved or justified by faith (Romans 5:1; etc.). If a man is not saved by works but by faith, then faith is obviously not a work: "but to him that worketh not, but believeth..." (Romans 4:5). Faith and works do not go together. Faith is not a work. Work is something that we take credit for. Work is something that we can be rewarded for. Work is something that we can boast about. Work is meritorious. Faith is non-meritorious. A person cannot "take credit" or "praise himself" for his faith, because faith is not meritorious (not deserving of reward or honor). Faith is not something that a person can boast about. Faith does not take credit for itself. Faith gives all the credit to Christ. Faith acknowledges that Christ gets all the credit and praise and honor, for He did it all! Faith is not something "good" that a man does, it is simply a recognition on the part of man that "I cannot do any good thing, and therefore I need a Saviour." Only someone totally ignorant of the gospel and of the meaning of "faith" would ever try to take credit for faith. There is no merit in the act of believing.

To say that faith is a work is totally contrary to what the New Testament teaches on salvation. Salvation is "not of works" and entirely "apart from works" (Rom. 3:28; 4:6). Those who believe are those who "DO NOT WORK" (Romans 4:5). What then do they do? They merely REST upon the finished work of Christ who did it all and paid it all!

If Ephesians 2:9 speaks of faith as being "not of works," then this is the only place in the New Testament where Paul makes such a statement. If on the other hand the verse is saying that salvation is not of works, then this would harmonize with Paul's frequent teaching elsewhere and this would be one of many verses in the New Testament which teaches this truth.

As a practical example, think of how we share the message of salvation with those who are lost. Often we tell them that salvation is not of works. All false religions teach some form of salvation by a system of works. In our sharing of the gospel we make it clear to people that salvation is not of works and there is nothing that they can do to work for their salvation or to earn favor with God. On the other hand, we do not tell the sinner: "My friend, faith is not of works. There is nothing that you can do to believe." No, faith is something that the sinner is responsible to do. The sinner is responsible to take God at His Word and to rest his all upon the WORTH (who He is), the WORK (what He has done) and the WORD (what He has said) of the Saviour. Even though faith is not a meritorious work, it is a work that man must do: "Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye BELIEVE on Him whom He hath sent" (John 6:28-29). It is something that man is responsible to do and condemned for not doing (John 8:24; 3:18).

Saving Faith

In Ephesians 2:8, faith is not the gift. Faith is how we receive the gift. Faith is the HAND OF THE HEART that reaches out and receives that which God so graciously gives. Faith is man's response to God's gracious provision and promise. Faith is taking God at His Word and resting fully on Jesus Christ, WHO HE IS, WHAT HE HAS DONE and WHAT HE HAS SAID. What is saving faith? The hymn writer has expressed it well: "Tis so sweet to TRUST IN JESUS, [what does it mean to trust in Jesus?]