Featured Belief not a gift

Belief, which is Faith, cannot be a "gift" to some, as the Reformed/Calvinists teach.

This is clear from verses like John 3:18, 36

"He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God...He who believes on the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him"

Here we read, that those who do not believe, that is, have faith in the Lord, for their salvation, they are condemned, and the wrath of God remains on them. If, as some teach, that faith is a "gift" from God given only to the "elect", so that they can believe in Jesus Christ, and get saved. Then how can God condemn and punish those who "do not believe", because they cannot, as they were not given this "gift". This teaching makes God to be unfair!

 

I agree that in Romans 4, why people believe is not addressed.
But in other parts of God's word, it is.

For example, Philippians 1 says that belief is a gift:

" Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
28 and in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
30 having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear [to be] in me."

In the above, Paul tells the Philippians ( in verse 29 ) that it is given to the believer both to believe, and to suffer for His sake.
So, anything that is given by God is a gift;

An example of this would be the ultimate gift, eternal life...
which is to know God and His Son ( John 17:3 ):

" For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." ( Romans 6:23 ).

 

Along with this observation of God giving gifts to men, I see many passages...
including this:

" And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. " ( Matthew 13:10-11 ).

Here I clearly see that the reason that Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables is stated by Him to be this...
Because it is given to His disciples to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to the others it is not given.

Again, anything given is a gift...
and the privilege to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God is given by the Lord to someone.
One more example:

" The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand [to be] a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. " ( Acts of the Apostles 5:30-31 ).

In the above, I see that the reason that God raised up Jesus and exalted Him with His right hand as a Prince and a Saviour,
was to give repentance and forgiveness to Israel.

Based on "anything that is given by God" being a gift, I see that this makes both repentance and forgiveness being gifts from God as well.


Good evening and may God bless you.

 

Abraham responded to a direct revelation of God, of Himself, to Abraham. Many believe direct revelation of God in the OT are pre-incarnation appearances of the 2nd person of the Godhead, the Christ.

So, if Christ is directly revealing Himself to Abraham in the OT times, is that significantly different from God Holy Spirit revealing the truth of Jesus and drawing a person to respond with faith?

Without question, God acts first in both cases.

peace to you

 

This is not that we need something (God's revelation) to believe in, but whether we are able to trust in that revelation, or whether we must be compelled to trust in it via "irresistible grace." The OP (post #2) argument that if we were unable, then we would not be condemned seems sound, logical and irrefutable. To be condemned because we cannot believe, rather than choose not to believe, is absurd nonsense. 1 John 5:10 makes the same argument. You would not "make God a liar" if you were unable to believe the revelation!

 

Everyone has already chosen “not to believe” by rejecting God’s revelation of Himself in creation. Everyone stands condemned for that rejection.

That God choses some for salvation and draws them into that relationship is a testament of His mercy and grace.

peace to you

 

That is not what John 6 says. It says the Father draws, not the Gospel.

15.212 σύρωa; ἕλκωa; σπάομαι: to pull or drag, requiring force because of the inertia of the object being dragged—‘to pull, to drag, to draw.’
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 207.

 

Well, I didn’t intend to leave out the gospel. 1 Corinthians is clear the preaching of the gospel is God’s ordained means of bringing people to salvation. I can’t discount the work of God Holy Spirit in convicting people of the truth of the gospel, and of their own sin, and of their need for a Savior.

Peace to you

 

Faith is a fruit of the Spirit, not of the natural man. Fairly simple and straightforward.

Galatians 5:22.

You just don't believe it.

 

Care to elaborate?

 

Explain, please, how the reformed folks get the context wrong?

peace to you

 

WHY would God need to FORCE, DRAG a person who He has already ELECTED to salvation? This is nonsense! Would a person who is already engaged to be married, need to FORCE or DRAG his wife to the Church to get married?

ἕλκω, in verse 44, can also be used for "draw to oneself, attract, of the magnet", which is what the Gospel Message is about, where the sinner is ATTRACTED to the Good News, by the Holy Spirit.

 

this passage is talking about AFTER a person is already a Christian!

 

No, it's about the source of faith. No one can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:3

 

I responded to your use of Galatians 5:22, and now you quote 1 Corinthians 12:3!