A Smoking Area Mural. Tink About It

For the Occasion of My Eldest Daughter's 20th Birthday

There once was a lass of years twenty,
Who never much cared for G. Henty,
But one of her best
Was Lewis, C.S.,
Of whom she would read in great plenty.

The Gaulois

Sons of the north, both fierce and grim,
Staunchly defend, while hope grows dim,
Their homes, their lives, their pride, their land,
From Caesar’s stone-like outstretched hand.

The ringing of steel and the cries of men
Outrage the stillness of wood and glen;
The slate-grey sky, and the cold hard ground,
Impassively stifle the bellicose sound.

Earth and clay ‘gainst legions of steel—
All in the end to the Empire must kneel;
Yet noble the cause and valiant the fight!
But as Rome reaches noon, Gaul fades into night.

Sons of the north, both fierce and grim,
Staunchly resist, while hope grows dim;
Defiant and brave, showing no fear,
They die to preserve their freedom so dear.

By John Barry

The Gift of Saving Faith

I don't know how those who believe that saving faith is a gift from God view the faith that is given. Is it like a commodity that is transferred from God to the recipient? Or implanted in the recipient by God? Is it the opportunity to believe that is given? Or the ability to believe that is granted? I would appreciate someone who holds this view explaining to me how he understands the faith that is given.

In any event, there are a couple of primary passages of which I am aware that some use to support the assertion that saving faith is a gift from God.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God --

The Greek word for "faith" is feminine. The "it" (pronoun) is neuter. Some maintain that this is evidence that the "it" does not refer to "faith", but to the entire clause--"by grace hav[ing] been saved through faith". I understand it this way. God's gracious provision of salvation through faith is His gift, not the faith only.


Philippians 1:29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,

One may infer from this text that God gave, or granted, "believing" to the Philippians. God also gave "suffering" to them. Presumably, God gave them "suffering" in the way, or sense, that "suffering" may be said to be "given" or "granted". And He gave them "believing" in the way, or sense that "believing" may be said to be "given" or "granted". To understand how "believing" (or faith) is given, consider the following:

Galatians 3:2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with (or of) faith?

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.

I conclude from such passages that faith comes from hearing, and hearing from preaching. So, Christ is preached, I hear the truth, and I believe. It is in this sense that God "gives" faith.

So, the Philippians heard Christ preached and believed. (This is how "believing" was "given" to them). In addition, they now are suffering for the sake of Christ.


A couple of other texts:

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him.

1 Corinthians 12:9 to another [is given] faith by the same Spirit,

I don't think these texts refer to saving faith. I understand "faith" in the first instance to refer to a conviction of truth concerning oneself which God grants. This is not a static measure. In the second, a special gracing or gifting of the Spirit for the common good, for building up the body of Christ in unity.

If saving faith isn't given by God, then how is one to account for it?

Faith is simply a conviction arising in response to the truth of the gospel, which is "filled up" by action.

Why do some believe the gospel and others don't?

I don't know. Sometimes hearing is not "mixed with faith" (cf. Hebrews 4:2). I assume some are unwilling to be convinced.

But if faith comes from the individual, then one has grounds for taking credit for his salvation.

No, boasting is excluded for the very reason that salvation is through faith (cf. Romans 3:27).

Faith is a Gift?

I recently listened to an online presentation by Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Mr. Keller was speaking at the 2006 Desiring God National Conference, the theme of which is "The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World".

I enjoyed listening to Mr. Keller. He strikes me as an intelligent, zealous man, and as an engaging speaker. After a lengthy introduction, he developed his thesis using the prophet Jonah as a model. (You may listen to his presentation at www.desiringgod.org). Towards the end of his talk, after discussing at length how to engage postmoderns with the gospel, he reminds his audience that "faith is a gift".

To me, this statement, in the context of Mr. Keller's lecture, undermined the thrust of his whole message. If faith is a gift, what is the postmodern to do but wait to receive it?

From Kipling's The Rout of the White Hussars

It was not in the open fight
We threw away the sword,
But in the lonley watching
In the darkness by the ford.
The waters lapped, the night-wind blew,
Full-armed the Fear was born and grew,
And we were flying ere we knew
From panic in the night.

- Beoni Bar

On our recent camping trip at the beach, one of the children was particularly keen on helping with the dinner prep.

Flesh

We all live in "flesh and blood" bodies. We know that Jesus came "in the flesh". His resurrected body was "flesh and bone".

I believe it is a mistake to view our flesh, or body, as somehow sinful. I don't believe it is possible for sin to inhere in any physical object, including the human body. Sin cannot be constitutional. For "all wrongdoing is sin". And, "sin is lawlessness".

What does Paul mean, then, when he says in Romans 7:18, "For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it." ? Or in Romans 8:3, "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,"?

I understand such uses of "flesh" (Gr. sarx) to be metaphorical. Our fleshly desires are certainly the occasion for sin. But they are not, in themselves, nor is the flesh, properly speaking, sinful.

The good news regarding our flesh is that since we have God's promises, we may cleanse ourselves of every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God (cf. 2 Cor. 7:1). Do we do this by bathing frequently, eating organically, breathing filtered air? Obviously not. We do this by loving God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves, by offering ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. And by arming ourselves with right thinking concerning suffering in the flesh:

"Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer by human passions but by the will of God." (1 Pet 4:1-2)