# Exhorting hearers to ask for the gift of faith



## Refo_91 (Sep 8, 2022)

There seems to be an emphasis in some "higher calvinistic" circles on seeing faith more as a gift to be passively received than a responsibility or command. They would deny duty faith theologically. See for example the following statement:

_Only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ saves from death. That faith is not something that a person gets by himself by reading the Bible, going to church, and living as a serious Christian. It is an undeserved gift from God to guilty people. We must constantly ask God for that faith._

I have some problems with this wording. They say that faith is not something that a person gets by reading the Bible/going to church. Yet we know that faith *does* come by hearing the Word of God. Faith comes to a person, for the first time, or repeatedly, by sitting under the ministry of the Gospel where the Holy Spirit works.

Sure, in Ephesians 2, faith/grace is referred to as a gift from God. There are those who "obtain precious faith". And Jesus said that no-one can come to him unless it is granted them of the Father.

But it seems to me that there are far more references in Scripture to faith being a human responsibility, a human action (though not meritorious of salvation). This is the commandment we have from the Father that we believe. God commands all men everywhere to repent. If you can believe, all things are possible. 

To get back to my original point, the emphasis that is given here seems to me to run the danger of passivity - I must pray and ask God to give me faith. Rather than it being my responsibility to exercise faith myself in response to the preaching of the Gospel. And then God can be given the blame for not giving it to me.

Is it not rather the duty of the minister to preach the promises of the gospel and then exhort the hearers to lay hold upon them in faith?

The way I understand it, regeneration precedes faith. For how can a spiritually dead person seek after God without the regeneration of the Spirit? That work of the Spirit makes alive, draws to Christ, reshapes the will, and causes an enemy of God to seek after God. In that sense, faith when it comes, is indeed a gift - the whole process is a gift of God. Regeneration, faith, grace, salvation, Christ, and all that follows.

But for the person sitting in the pew, who hears the Word, longs to be saved, longs to be a partaker of Christ - and yet is told that it's impossible to believe, they must only pray that it be given to them - surely in such a person the work of regeneration has possibly already happened? For there is none that seeketh after God of themselves. Shouldn't they be told in no vague uncertain terms, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved?

The church I'm speaking about confesses the Three Forms of Unity, and yet to my reading, Dordt is very clear on the general call of the gospel and the command to repent and believe.


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## JOwen (Sep 8, 2022)

Refo_91 said:


> There seems to be an emphasis in some "higher calvinistic" circles on seeing faith more as a gift to be passively received than a responsibility or command. They would deny duty faith theologically. See for example the following statement:
> 
> _Only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ saves from death. That faith is not something that a person gets by himself by reading the Bible, going to church, and living as a serious Christian. It is an undeserved gift from God to guilty people. We must constantly ask God for that faith._
> 
> ...


Peter,
I have a paper that deals with this problem and several others held by the church/denomination in question. If you'd like to read it, DM me, and I will send it to you.

Blessings,


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## jw (Sep 8, 2022)

_Increase our faith!

Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief!_

I am probably in the classification of what some call ”High Calvinist,” given my rejection of what has been called the “Well-Meant Offer” (while clinging tenaciously to what is rightly called the Free Offer of the Gospel). For the life of me, though, I cannot imagine why any would discourage anyone from laboring to attain this faith that is required as the condition to interest men in the only Redeemer. This theme is so replete throughout Scripture, I believe the principle unassailable. Would you have Jesus Christ? Do you desire Him and to be rid of your sins? The Scriptures say you may have Him so! Take hold of Him, cling to Him, and He will in no wise cast out. Ours is not to understand the individual who of the election of God, but to make our own calling and election sure, taking hold of God’s promises and applying them as freely as He offers them! None of these concepts are incommensurate with God’s secret will.

Reactions: Edifying 1


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## De Jager (Sep 8, 2022)

God reveals regeneration and election in scripture but I do not believe He did so with the intent of keeping bruised reeds and smoking flax from him. When Jesus says "come to me all you that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest" - that's a guarantee, and you can take it to the bank. Is a person wishing to remove their burden of sin and become right with God? Then that person qualifies to come to Jesus, and it is evidence of the Holy Spirit also working in their life. A person who does not care about sin will also have no desire to come to Christ. In short, I don't think the Bible knows of any person who _desires to be in Christ and also wants to live a holy life_ but who is not actually in Christ. I believe that the desire to have my sins forgiven only through the merits of Christ and the desire to live a holy life is a sign of regeneration itself.

Reactions: Like 2 | Edifying 1


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## NaphtaliPress (Sep 8, 2022)

RE High Calvinism. It's very old (do we pull 145 voles on polls here nowadays?), but back in 2007 this was how the board broke down: https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/where-are-you-on-the-calvinism-chart.20840/


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## Refo_91 (Sep 8, 2022)

De Jager said:


> God reveals regeneration and election in scripture but I do not believe He did so with the intent of keeping bruised reeds and smoking flax from him. When Jesus says "come to me all you that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest" - that's a guarantee, and you can take it to the bank. Is a person wishing to remove their burden of sin and become right with God? Then that person qualifies to come to Jesus, and it is evidence of the Holy Spirit also working in their life. A person who does not care about sin will also have no desire to come to Christ. In short, I don't think the Bible knows of any person who _desires to be in Christ and also wants to live a holy life_ but who is not actually in Christ. I believe that the desire to have my sins forgiven only through the merits of Christ and the desire to live a holy life is a sign of regeneration itself.


I agree with what you're saying but allow me to play devil's advocate.

If there are two categories as you have put forth - the unregenerate who have no desire to come to Christ, and the regenerate, who show evidence of this by the desire to have their sins forgiven - how does this account for those who make profession of faith, who do apparently heed the command to believe, who do appear to come to Christ - and then are as the seed which grows up for a time and withers away?

I can guess the motivation for holding this sort of position in the first place is born out of a fear of easy-believism or cheap grace.

There may be some who seem to come far - have a certain conviction of sin, desires for holiness, desires for salvation - and yet it can turn out that they were never regenerated or elect.


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## Jack K (Sep 8, 2022)

Refo_91 said:


> _Only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ saves from death. That faith is not something that a person gets by himself by reading the Bible, going to church, and living as a serious Christian. It is an undeserved gift from God to guilty people. We must constantly ask God for that faith._


That statement seems to set up an unwarranted dichotomy between prayer and other habits of faith. It suggests that in prayer we can be asking God to grant us saving faith, but in Bible reading and churchgoing and desiring to be obedient we are not. In fact, all of these are ways we might turn to God for help and receive from him.

Regardless of how we might understand the mystery of God granting us faith purely as a gift, yet using means and faith-habits he has urged us to pursue, it is unwise to suggest prayer might be that means but churchgoing and Bible reading are not.

The statement sounds like something that might come from those who are dismayed by the number of believers just going through the motions of church attendance, Bible study, and Christian-culture living. These preachers sometimes confront that kind of false faith by urging people to seek a real conversion. Nothing wrong with that, so far. And suggesting that people beg God for mercy is solid advice. But the criticism of empty churchgoing and Bible reading can discourage people who actually are seeking God through churchgoing and Bible reading. After hearing such a preacher, those people might think their efforts to receive from God are wrong, when in fact receiving from God is exactly what they need.

Reactions: Like 1


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## De Jager (Sep 8, 2022)

Refo_91 said:


> I agree with what you're saying but allow me to play devil's advocate.
> 
> If there are two categories as you have put forth - the unregenerate who have no desire to come to Christ, and the regenerate, who show evidence of this by the desire to have their sins forgiven - how does this account for those who make profession of faith, who do apparently heed the command to believe, who do appear to come to Christ - and then are as the seed which grows up for a time and withers away?
> 
> ...



I would account for it in this way: evidence is not infallible proof. By all accounts, Demas was a regenerate believer...until it became apparent that he was not. However, before manifesting evidence to the contrary, Paul considered him a brother in Christ and, based on the evidence no doubt assumed he was regenerate. Of course in the final analysis, "God knows who are his", but in all practicality, we are not God and so we are forced to make a decision - what do we do with people among us who confess Christ? We do what the scriptures exhort us to do - exhort one another, encourage one another to press on and persevere in the faith, and we give the judgment that they are true believers based on the evidence before us. The Bible does not know of a church where we look around at each other - at saints who by all accounts are actually saints - who love Christ and want to live a holy life...and where we look at each other with suspicion and doubt as to whether we are actually God's children. That is an idea foreign to the scriptures which has been foisted upon them in some streams of Reformed Christianity, which is an error in itself, reacting to the error of cheap grace and easy-believism, and supposed carnal Christianity. It is an equal and opposite error. I agree there may be some who appear to go far in Christianity and then fall away. But that truth does not mean we need to assume that everyone will turn out like that, and thus doubt a person's salvation until they are extremely old and have persevered in the faith for 60, 70 years, or have had some ecstatic vision of Christ with many tears.


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## itsreed (Sep 8, 2022)

If they used the phrase "merely by the personal use of" ...

_That faith is not something that a person gets *merely by the personal use of *reading the Bible, ..._

Something about the Spirit using these as means of grace would be helpful as well.


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