The Gift of Faith

Ephesians 2: 4 – But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 -even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 – and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 – so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 – For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 – not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10- For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Until recently, I had thought of this passage in light of our salvation as being a gift of God through faith. With the focus squarely on salvation as being a gift. Though this is true, I was missing a key point that the Spirit has since made clear to me. Not only is our salvation a gift but so is our ability to believe. It is all God the Father in Christ Jesus. We have no ability in our fallen state to reach out to God in Faith. He draws us and gives us the faith to believe. Even if we get this part in regards to our salvation, it is still in our nature to think that we can achieve discipleship and thus holiness through our efforts. WRONG! on all accounts! Our role is to die and live through Christ via His Risen life and power. It is my experience that we screw this up so bad, our role, that our loving Father has to allow trials to come to accomplish His work in us. To lovingly lead us into “the Refiners Fire” so that we can reflect His Glory and truly live as He created us to- in Relationship with the TRIUNE GOD.

Remember that we have no more faith at any time than we have in the hour of trial. All that will not bear to be tested is mere carnal confidence. Fair-weather faith is no faith.–C. H. Spurgeon