InSlaveryToChrist
Puritan Board Junior
This is somewhat bothering my mind at the moment, so I want to be sure I'm right. I believe faith is not a choice, in any shape or form. Faith is not a choice any more than love is a choice. God's command to have faith in Christ does not make it a choice any more than His command to love God makes love a choice. By the power of a mere decision, we cannot force ourselves to love God more, neither can we force ourselves to have faith in Christ more. Our love for God is the direct response of knowing God's love for us. Likewise, our faith in Christ is the direct response of knowing the person and work of Christ for us.
Faith is no different than a scientist discovering another planet in the universe with his telescope; he cannot help his faith in that planet, he cannot choose to not believe it. What he can do is lie to himself about the sufficiency and reliability of the evidence which is the foundation of his faith in the planet; he can distract and darken his own mind by abusing it.
For the Christian, the Word of God is the foundation of his faith (faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God). When the Holy Spirit enables him to understand the Scriptures, and the person and work of Christ of which they are essentially about, his immediate response is faith.
Faith includes knowledge (its object), assent (the mind's inevitable acknowledgement of the object of faith; not a choice) and trust (the reflection of a person's affection or will for the object of faith).
Rather than saying faith is a choice, our choices are the result of our faith, our choices being works (as opposed to the nature of faith). Faith is not a choice, because a choice is essentially what defines a work. Why can Christ boast in His righteous works? Because they are by His choice (choice implies there is a person and a will behind the work). Exclude choice from work and all you are left with is a mere thing. Things don't have value or merit in themselves.
I know understand why I've had such a hard time defending monergism, in regeneration and the act of faith, against my father's synergistic, freewillish theology. Regardless of my defence of the necessity of regeneration preceeding the act of faith and justification, I have always admitted that this act of faith is a choice, and thereby I've unwillingly encouraged my father's theology of freewill in our receiving of Christ. When I now think about it, this idea of faith not being a choice completely destroys the idea of freewill and any reason of boasting in a sinner's regeneration. I believe this is essentially what it means when the Bible says faith is not of works (Eph. 2:8).
Feel free to comment.
Faith is no different than a scientist discovering another planet in the universe with his telescope; he cannot help his faith in that planet, he cannot choose to not believe it. What he can do is lie to himself about the sufficiency and reliability of the evidence which is the foundation of his faith in the planet; he can distract and darken his own mind by abusing it.
For the Christian, the Word of God is the foundation of his faith (faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God). When the Holy Spirit enables him to understand the Scriptures, and the person and work of Christ of which they are essentially about, his immediate response is faith.
Faith includes knowledge (its object), assent (the mind's inevitable acknowledgement of the object of faith; not a choice) and trust (the reflection of a person's affection or will for the object of faith).
Rather than saying faith is a choice, our choices are the result of our faith, our choices being works (as opposed to the nature of faith). Faith is not a choice, because a choice is essentially what defines a work. Why can Christ boast in His righteous works? Because they are by His choice (choice implies there is a person and a will behind the work). Exclude choice from work and all you are left with is a mere thing. Things don't have value or merit in themselves.
I know understand why I've had such a hard time defending monergism, in regeneration and the act of faith, against my father's synergistic, freewillish theology. Regardless of my defence of the necessity of regeneration preceeding the act of faith and justification, I have always admitted that this act of faith is a choice, and thereby I've unwillingly encouraged my father's theology of freewill in our receiving of Christ. When I now think about it, this idea of faith not being a choice completely destroys the idea of freewill and any reason of boasting in a sinner's regeneration. I believe this is essentially what it means when the Bible says faith is not of works (Eph. 2:8).
Feel free to comment.
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