Faith

"Faith is not something that is the product of a fleshly, unregenerate nature that is firmly set in its hostility towards God (Rom 8: 7,8), and is not a meritorious act we perform which then prompts God to act in mercy towards us. The faith that is the mechanism through which we are justified (Rom 5:1) is the very gift of God (Phil 1:29, Eph 2:8). When God thunders forth His effectual word in the life of His chosen ones, spiritual birth takes place - always! (1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18) As this word goes forth a heart transplant takes place as the old heart of stone is replaced with a heart of flesh that beats to know and love the Savior. This Divine creative, powerful word makes the spiritually dead man come to life and a living faith is born. What was never there in the old man is now present in the new - a faith that clings to Christ and that continues to do so through all of life's trials, even as others fall away. This faith endures all the way to the end. That is its nature. That is why God is never worried about the final outcome or of whether His people will make it all the way to heaven. God knows what He put inside us and "This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). But let us remember that there is never so much as a trace of human pride associated with this God kind of faith, for being the gift of God, it is not of works lest any man should boast. As B. B. Warfield once remarked, "Justification is through faith, not on account of faith."" - Pastor John Samson