Through whose and what faith?
"8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 not of works, lest any man should boast."
Verse 8 is so often quoted to mean that a man is saved by grace through faith, i.e. his act of believing.
Read the passage with a dose of common sense,
and you will see some obvious reasons why such understanding plainly
contradicts what the passage says.
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Some preliminary observations:
a. “by grace” speaks of the MANNER God saves.
It is God who saves in and through His Son Jesus Christ.
- God saves by grace, His free and sovereign
grace; “by grace” excludes activities/works of man by man.
- Rom 11:6 grace and works are mutually
exclusive in the salvation of sinners.
b. “through faith” speaks of the MEANS through/by which salvation is freely bestowed, i.e. by grace.
c. Quickening one dead in trespasses and sins is the bestowal of eternal salvation… saved by grace, v1.5,8.
Let us unpack the passage by asking some
relevant questions:
Q1. What state were you in when were you
saved by grace through faith?
- v1 “who were dead in trespasses and sins”
- v5 “we were dead in sins…”
- Dead concerning any ability to bring
himself to God; hostile and in enmity against Him. “by nature the children of
wrath.” Under the dominion of the prince of the power of the air
Q2. When you were dead in sins, were you able
to exercise faith to believe in Christ?
- No. Many imagine they can.
- John 3:3,6; 1Cor 2:14
Q3. Supposing faith is the gift of God, is
the gift of faith to a spiritually dead man of any use to him?
- No. A spiritually dead man can't receive the gift, let alone use the gift. Period.
Q4. Do you believe in a God who would give
the gift of faith to a spiritually dead man so that he could exercise that
faith in order to be saved by His grace?
- No, the all-wise God doesn't do such silly
foolish thing; only foolish preachers
do.
- Faith is NOT the gift; eternal salvation by Jesus
Christ is the gift.
- A gift comes to you from without; faith is
a spiritual fruit of the Spirit, worked within a child of God. Gal 5:22.
Q5. What then is the gift of God? What is by
grace?
- The gift is the eternal salvation by grace; the
context speaks of salvation by God's grace.
- The eternal salvation is freely bestowed, applied to an
elect when he was dead in trespasses and sins, incapable of faith.
Q6. What is the ground and basis of this gift
of God?
- It is the finished work of Christ in
redeeming His people.
- It is by His life (active obedience to
secure righteousness) and death (passive obedience to secure the forgiveness of
sins). Heb 9:12, 15
Q7 "... through faith..."
- is a man's act of believing in Christ
performed by him? Yes.
- is an act performed by a man his work? Yes.
- if a man is saved by grace through his act
of believing, then isn't he saved by grace through his own work? Yes
- John 6:28-9 - 1 John 3:23
- “NOT of works.” So, it is NOT through man's
act of believing.
Q8. Why does "by grace" necessarily
remove "through faith" from any association with man's exercise of
faith?
- Rom 11:6 grace and works are mutually
exclusive in the eternal salvation of sinners.
- So, “through faith” can have NOTHING to do
with the believing act of man.
Q9. If a man is saved by grace through his
act of believing, then he has at least some valid ground to boast, hasn't he?
- Yes, indeed.
- Then “through faith” CANNOT be associated
with any activities of man. Otherwise, contradicts “lest any man…”
Q10. If he did not perform his act of
believing, would he be saved by grace through his faith?
- No.
- Therefore “through faith” CANNOT be
associated with any activities of man; otherwise, it’s through his works.
Q11. Since it's not through your act of
faith, then you are saved through WHOSE faith, and WHAT is that faith?
- The faith OF Christ
- The faithfulness of Jesus Christ in His work of redemption, fulfilling all the conditions in saving/redeeming His people.
Q12. Have you read of the phrase “faith of
Christ," i.e. His faithfulness in executing the work of redeeming those
given to Him by the Father?
- Romans 3:22
- Galatians 2:16; 2:20; 3:22
- Philippians 3:9
This is the gospel truth that has been repudiated in almost all modern translations. Instead of "the faith OF Christ", all the modern translations have twisted the "faith of Christ" into "faith in Christ."
Check for yourself... read the King James
translation.
