Faith is a Gift

A. Faith as a Result of God's Grace

Genuine faith cannot be generated through human effort or willpower but is fundamentally a gift that flows from God's grace. This section examines passages that clearly establish faith as God's gracious gift rather than human achievement.

Ephesians 2:8-10

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

This key passage explicitly identifies faith as God's gift, not something self-generated. The construction of the Greek text indicates that the entire salvation process, including the faith that receives it, originates in God's grace rather than human initiative. Faith serves as the instrument through which grace is received, but even this instrument is divinely provided.

Titus 3:5

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit."

Paul directly contrasts human works of righteousness with God's mercy as the source of salvation. Faith is encompassed within this salvation that stems purely from divine mercy. The "washing of regeneration" refers to the Holy Spirit's transformative work that enables faith, establishing that faith follows the Spirit's regenerating activity rather than preceding it.

Romans 9:16

"So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy."

This verse comes in the context Paul's discussion of divine election. It establishes that salvation, including the faith component, does not result from human determination ("him who wills") or human exertion ("him who runs"). Rather, faith flows exclusively from God's sovereign mercy. This dismantles any notion that faith originates from an autonomous human decision independent of divine enabling.

2 Timothy 2:24-25

"The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle toward all, able to teach, patient, in gentleness correcting those who oppose him. Perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth..."

This verse shows that repentance, the companion of faith, must be "given" or "granted" by God. This reinforces that the entire conversion process, including both faith and repentance, depends on divine grace rather than human capacity.

B. Faith as New Birth Through God's Initiative

Faith emerges not from human decision but from spiritual rebirth initiated entirely by God. This section explores passages that establish regeneration as the divine precursor to faith, showing how saving faith flows from God's transformative work in the human heart.

John 1:12-13

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

This passage reveals that while belief and reception of Christ are human responses, the spiritual birth that enables these responses comes exclusively from God's will. John explicitly eliminates three potential human sources of spiritual birth, natural descent ("blood"), human desire ("will of the flesh"), and human decision ("will of man"), affirming that the capacity to believe originates in God's sovereign initiative.

John 3:3-8

"Jesus answered him, 'Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom'... 'That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit... The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'"

In this conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus establishes that spiritual perception and entrance into God's kingdom require prior spiritual birth. The analogy of wind emphasizes that this birth operates according to the Spirit's sovereign freedom rather than human control. This birth precedes and enables faith rather than resulting from it.

1 John 5:1

"Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him."

The Greek verb tense in this verse indicates that being "born of God" is the antecedent condition to believing in Jesus. Faith is thus the evidence and fruit of divine birth rather than its cause. This reinforces that regeneration precedes faith in the ordo salutis (order of salvation).

Compare these passages in 1 John: "If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him" (2:29). We do not practice righteousness to be born again. Rather, we are born again to practice righteousness. "Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him, and he can’t sin, because he is born of God" (3:9). In context, it is talking about a continual practice of sin. Sanctification is a result of being born again, not its cause. "Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God" (4:7). We don't love one another to be born again; love is evidence of new birth.

James 1:18

"Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."

James attributes spiritual birth ("brought us forth") entirely to God's sovereign will, accomplished through the word of truth. This divine initiative shows that faith does not generate new birth; rather, new birth generates faith.

Ezekiel 36:26-27

"I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them."

This prophetic passage illuminates the divine initiative in spiritual transformation. God promises to replace the unresponsive heart with a responsive one and to put His Spirit within people, enabling obedience. This Old Testament foundation supports the New Testament teaching that faith flows from God's prior work of heart renewal.

C. Faith as a Work of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit's essential role in producing and enabling faith reveals its divine origin. This section examines passages that show saving faith is cultivated by the Spirit's work rather than through human capacity or reasoning.

John 6:29

"Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’"

In direct response to those asking about performing "the works of God," Jesus reframes their understanding by identifying belief itself as God's work. Faith is not a human work that earns salvation, but a divine work within the human heart that brings salvation. Jesus locates the source of faith in God's activity rather than human capability.

John 6:44-45

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me."

Jesus emphatically declares the impossibility of coming to Him without the Father's drawing. The universal negative ("no one") eliminates any exception to this spiritual inability. Faith requires divine enabling through the Father's drawing and teaching.

John 6:63-65

"'It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life. But there are some of you who don’t believe.' For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who didn’t believe, and who it was who would betray him. He said, 'For this cause I have said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father.' At this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him."

Jesus attributes spiritual life which includes faith to the Spirit's work, while explicitly denying the flesh's ability to help in any way. And he connects unbelief to the absence of the Father's enabling grace.

1 Corinthians 2:4-5, 14

"My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.… Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Paul contrasts human wisdom with the Spirit's power as the foundation for genuine faith. He explains that natural human faculties cannot comprehend spiritual truths without the Spirit's illumination. This renders saving faith impossible apart from the Spirit's work, since the gospel appears as foolishness to the natural man.

Acts 16:14

"A certain woman named Lydia... heard us. The Lord opened her heart to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul."

This historical account of Lydia's conversion explicitly attributes her receptivity to the gospel to the Lord's action of opening her heart. Her faith resulted from divine intervention rather than merely human persuasion or decision.

D. Faith as God's Sovereign Work in Believers

Philippians 1:6

"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Paul expresses certainty that God, who initiates salvation, will faithfully continue and perfect this work until Christ's return.

Philippians 1:29

"For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."

The explicit declaration that belief is "granted" (literally "given as a gift") leaves no doubt about faith's origin. Paul places faith in the category of divine gifts alongside suffering for Christ. The passive voice ("it has been granted") emphasizes the believers' role as recipients of faith.

Philippians 2:12-13

"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

While believers actively participate in their spiritual growth, Paul immediately grounds this activity in God's prior and primary work. The faith that fuels obedience flows from God's internal operation of both the desire ("to will") and the ability ("to do"). The ongoing exercise of faith depends on God's continuous empowerment.

2 Peter 1:1, 3

"To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ… as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue."

Peter describes faith as something "obtained" through Christ's righteousness rather than generated by human effort. The passive language emphasizes reception rather than achievement. The source of this faith is further identified as God's "divine power" which provides everything necessary for spiritual life. Faith is necessary for spiritual life. Therefore, faith is an element of God's comprehensive provision for believers rather than a human contribution to salvation.

Hebrews 12:2

"looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith"

Jesus is both the "author" (originator) and "perfecter" (finisher) of faith. By attributing the entirety of faith's development to Christ's work, the writer removes any ground for viewing faith as a self-generated human accomplishment. Faith thus stands as Christ's creation.

E. Faith as the Result of God's Call and Election

Faith emerges as the manifestation of God's eternal purpose in choosing individuals for salvation. This section examines passages that connect faith to divine election, revealing how belief flows from God's sovereign calling rather than preceding or determining it.

Acts 13:48

"Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed."

This historical account establishes a direct causal relationship between divine appointment and human belief. The text specifically states that those who believed were those who "had been appointed to eternal life," indicating that faith follows from God's prior determination. The passive voice ("had been appointed") emphasizes God's action rather than human initiative, demonstrating that faith is the result rather than the cause of divine election.

Romans 8:28-30

"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose... For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified."

Paul presents what is commonly referred to as the "golden chain of redemption." It lays out the sequence of divine actions that begins with God's foreknowledge and culminates in the glorification of believers. Each step in this sequence is interconnected, indivisible, and ultimately driven by the sovereign action of God.

God's foreknowledge signifies His relational and intentional choosing and setting His affection on certain individuals for salvation beforehand. This leads to God effectually calling, justifying, and glorifying them. Salvation is ultimately rooted in the eternal plan of God.

Ephesians 1:4-5, 11

"even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love, having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire... We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will"

Ultimately, all things work according to God's eternal counsel. This includes God's sovereign election of individuals for salvation whom he calls in time. We "once walked according to the course of this world" (2:2), "[b]ut God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved" (2:4-5).

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

"But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Paul links the Thessalonian believers' faith and sanctification directly to God's eternal choice ("from the beginning chose you for salvation"). This indicates that election precedes and determines faith rather than faith triggering election. Belief in the gospel is the means through which God's sovereign selection becomes manifest in an individual's life, empowered and made effective through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 1:1-2

"to the chosen [elect] ones... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood"

Peter addresses believers as "elect according to the foreknowledge of God," establishing their faith as flowing from divine election. The purpose clause "for obedience" (which includes the obedience of faith) shows that faith follows from election rather than determining it. Faith and sanctification are the results of God's electing purpose, not its prerequisite.

John 10:26-27

"But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."

Jesus directly attributes unbelief to the fact that certain individuals are "not of My sheep." This reverses natural human reasoning that would make sheep status dependent on human believing independently of God's sovereign work. Instead, belief is the consequence of being Christ's sheep. Unbelief is the natural state of man after the fall, while faith is not natural but flows from divine election and initiative.