We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.   And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.  

Romans 8:28-30

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

John 3:16  

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.  

Ephesians 2:8-9  

 

God loves the world and each person who believes in Christ Jesus gains salvation.  So do we earn salvation by our belief?  No.  Faith is a gift from God, yet we are not robots and we are responsible for our choices.  How do these concepts fit together?

Faith is a holy mystery.  Our faith begins with God drawing us to Himself, and is perfected by Christ Jesus.  It is a holy gift of grace from loving and merciful God that we can never earn or deserve.  Viewed from this perspective, faith is wholly dependent on God, but somehow, He allows personal will and individual choices and we bear responsibility in the process.  It’s like viewing light through a prism. Move the glass slightly and the altered bend of light causes colors to change.

Abraham believed the Lord our God and his belief was credited to him as righteousness (see Genesis 15:6).  It was his belief, credited to him.  Discussing Abraham’s faith and righteousness, God’s holy word says,

No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.  Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”  Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.  Romans 4:20-25 (emphasis added)

Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.  It was his faith, his choice, his decision, and because he chose to believe God, God treated him as righteous.

Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem saying,

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”  Matthew 23:37

His words suggest personal responsibility – “and you were not willing!”  The people in the city made their choice and they were held responsible for their choice.  Similarly, speaking to a group simply described as “the Jews,” Jesus says,

“You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.  I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.”  John 8:23-24

Later in the conversation, Jesus says,

“If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.  Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word.”  John 8:42-43

Jesus says, “unless you believe,” indicating the decision is theirs and they are responsible for their choices, but later Jesus explains that they “cannot accept” His word.  They are simply unable to hear it.  They lack the capacity.  At least as to this particular group of Jewish men, even though they are unable to hear, they still are responsible for their failing belief.  At a different time and place, He also says,

 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Matthew 16:19

“Whatever you bind … whatever you loose….”  The words suggest our decisions are determinative, our choices have eternal consequences, and we are responsible for our choices.  Viewed from this perspective, it looks as if we are in control, our free will reigns, and the burden is on us.  But shift the prism slightly and a new perspective is gained. 

At Gethsemane we see the intersection between God’s will and human will.  After the Last Supper, Jesus and the disciples crossed the Kidron Valley to Gethsemane where He left the others, walked a little further and knelt and prayed,

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.”  Luke 22:42

The prayer suggests Jesus had a choice, and His will was distinct from God’s will.  He could have chosen to follow His personal will, yet He chose to pursue God’s will.

Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, discusses many ancient people of faith.  The writer mentions Abel, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab and others, and through the discussion we see righteousness attributed to individuals because of their faith.  After that amazing chapter, chapter 12 begins as follows:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:1-2

Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.  We run the race.  We persevere.  We have responsibility.  But Jesus is the perfector of our faith.  We act while He is working in and through us.  So if Christ Jesus is working in and through us, through our spirit, where are the boundaries drawn?  So long as sugar rests as dry grains on a spoon and coffee fills the cup, the two are separate and distinguishable, but pour sugar into the cup and stir, and the two blend, transforming the substance, removing boundaries, becoming a new one.

Faith is a gift from God, the result of Christ Jesus working in and through us.  Christ dwells within us, but we still live there also.  Where within us do we lose ourselves so He might control?  Paul struggled with this as well writing,

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:19-20

As Paul writes the words, he still lives in the flesh, but Christ Jesus also lives in him, and Paul struggles with a battle within himself between his fleshly self, his own inclinations and his personal will, and Christ Jesus dwelling within him (see Romans 7:14-24).

Faith is a holy gift from God.  We do nothing to earn faith, and our belief is from God.  Jesus talks with a group about the bread of life.  Following is an excerpt from the conversation.

Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”  Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?  Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”  Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is that which[g] comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.  Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.  This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”  John 6:28-40 (emphasis added)

Jesus says, “whoever comes … and whoever believes” receives His gift of life, as if the action is dependent on the person; however He also says our belief is the work of God.  It is ours, but He accomplishes it.  Further, God the Father gives us to Christ Jesus.  God the Father gives every believer to the Son.  It is God’s holy hand at work, which He prepared beforehand.  Similarly, God’s holy word also says,

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.  Ephesians 2:8-10 (emphasis added)

And,

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.  And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.  Romans 8:28-30

Our faith is God’s doing and Paul lays out the progression of faith:  God foreknew, God predestined, God called, God justified, God glorified.  Who is the actor as we move along the path toward God?  It is God.  We are justified by faith (see Romans 5:1), but our faith begins with God and is the result of God’s holy grace.

So which is it?  Do we have personal will or are we merely robots responding exclusively to God’s will?  Is our faith ours or is it a gift from God?  Faith is both, blended through a holy mystery.  It is a gift from God, which we cannot earn, but we must receive it and foster it.  And God is sovereign but by His holy, loving grace He chooses to allow us the freedom to make decisions between the limited options available to us during our earthly existence.

God showers us with His holy grace and He loves everyone and His salvation is available to everyone through Christ Jesus (see John 3:16), but each person is capable of rejecting Christ Jesus, rejecting God, refusing to receive His holy gift of grace.  So we must be out in the world proclaiming the truth to everyone because, “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

Faith is a holy mystery and God calls us to submerge ourselves in Him, not merely for our glorious benefit, but so that His glory might be revealed through us to the world.  May you receive His holy gift of grace, may you know Him and share the good news with everyone.  Amen.