HOW DOES FAITH COME?
There are diverse opinions regarding how faith comes. In this article we want to consider what the Bible says about this subject. Whenever differences exist concerning any matter in religion, we must always be willing to turn to God's Word, our only standard for determining truth. Nothing but error will suffer from an investigation with an open Bible. We must "hold the pattern of sound words" which are revealed (2 Tim. 1:13).
Faith is used to convey two different meanings in the scriptures. It is used in an objective sense to refer to what is believed. Examples of this usage are found in Jude 3 and Galatians 1:23. Jude exhorted brethren in Christ, "to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints"; Paul spoke in the Galatian epistle of how he "now preacheth the faith of which he once made havoc..." These verses use "the faith" to refer to the gospel of Christ. But it also is used subjectively, to describe the act of believing. It is this latter sense that we want to consider here.
The Bible says faith is, "assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1) We might say it is the foundation or starting point in our obedience to God, and without faith we cannot please Him (Heb. 11:6). Inherent in the defining of "faith" is trust. This trust produces the confidence we must have regarding what we cannot see with the physical eye, but which God directs us to believe in and hope for. Many things we must accept by faith - the existence of God, the redemption in Jesus Christ, the reality of Heaven and hell, the devil, etc. In Hebrews 11:3, the creation of the world illustrates one of the "things not seen", which demands faith on our part.
Paul, an apostle of Christ, speaks of the Christian's life as walking "by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). This recognizes the tangible world in which we live, experienced by the various senses we possess (sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing). It is in this realm that science works and experimentation is ongoing. But a life of faith requires that we "look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen" (2 Cor. 4:18). The unbelievers and skeptics of our time recognize only this material universe, and scoff at the things of God. They walk by sight. We witness many who's objectives in life are materialism, lustful (carnal) pleasures, and the exaltation of self above others (see 1 John 2:15-17). Like the rich farmer Jesus spoke of, their souls will be required of them by God and their worldly pursuits will profit them nothing (Luke 12:16-21).
Understanding the great importance of faith, we need to consider how it comes. Does it come by a direct operation of the Holy Spirit on the sinner's heart apart from the influence of the teachings of God's Word? Bible commentators influenced by Calvinism, like William Hendriksen, in his comments on Ephesians 2:8 teach that faith comes directly as a gift of God, denying man's ability as a free-moral agent to choose and respond to God's will in a positive way. Calvinists believe this because of their acceptance of the doctrine of inherited sin and total depravity (which are themselves unscriptural, Ezek. 18:20). To the contrary, by considering this passage grammatically, as well as in harmony with all other scripture, we learn that salvation is the gift and faith is man's response to what God has provided by grace. That "grace of God" influences man by "teaching us" (Titus 2:11). Paul said, "So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." (Rom. 10:17)
By studying the conversions in the book of Acts we see this clearly demonstrated. For example, in Acts 2 when the three thousand Jews were saved on the day of Pentecost, their faith in Christ came as a result of gospel preaching: "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?" (vs. 37) Their faith led them to obey all that God required of them (vs. 38,41).
To mention one more, consider the conversion of Cornelius and his family (Acts 10-11). Cornelius was told by an angel to send for Peter, "who shall speak unto thee words, whereby thou shalt be saved, thou and all thy house." (11:14) As the result of the preaching of the gospel, these people believed and obeyed the Lord (10:48).
We must be greatly impressed with the importance of the Word of God in our lives. It contains the testimony man needs in order to bring him to belief in Jesus Christ (John 20:30-31). When Paul preached the gospel of Christ to the Corinthians, he said some of them "received" it, "stand" in it, and are "saved" by it, "if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believe in vain." (1 Cor. 15:1-2) God's Word was the spiritual life-source which brought about faith in these people.
Because God's Word is the spiritual "seed" of the kingdom (Luke 8:11), it is just as powerful for salvation today as it was in the first century (Rom. 1:16). We should take every advantage we can to hear it.
- Dan Richardson
