1906 volume), 32.
Jesus Explains His Gospel
But it is not a biblical view of faith to say one may have it at the moment of salvation and never need to have it again. Paul's words in 2 Tim othy 2:12 speak powerfully to this issue: "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him, if we deny Him, He also will deny us." Endurance is the mark of those who will reign with Christ in His kingdom. Clearly, enduring is a characteristic of true believers, while disloyalty and defection reveal a heart of unbelief. Those who deny Christ, He will deny. Paul goes on to say, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself" (v. 13). Thus God's faithfulness is a blessed comfort to loyal, abiding believers but a frightening warning to false professors (cf. John 3:17 – 18).
Faith as Scripture Describes It
We have seen already that repentance is granted by God; it is not a human work (Acts 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25). Likewise, faith is a supernatural gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 – 9 is a familiar passage: "By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." What is "the gift of God" Paul speaks of? Westcott calls it "the saving energy of faith."10 However, the phrase "that not of yourselves" has no clear antecedent. The Greek pronoun translated "that" is neuter, and the word for "faith" is feminine. The antecedent of "that," it would seem, cannot be the word faith. The problem is, there is no clear antecedent in this passage. "That" might refer to the act of believing, employing an antecedent that is not stated but understood. It is also possible that Paul had in mind the entire process — grace, faith, and salvation — as the gift of God. Both possibilities certainly are in keeping with the context: "Even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)" (v. 5). Spiritually dead, we were helpless until God intervened to quicken us. Faith is an integral part of the "gift" His grace bestowed on us.
Consistently the Scriptures teach that faith is not conjured up by the human will but is a sovereignly granted gift of God. Jesus said, "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him" (John 6:44). And "No one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father" (v. 65). Acts 3:16 speaks of "the faith which comes through Him." Philippians 1:29 says, "To you it has been granted for Christ's sake . . . to believe in Him." And Peter wrote to fellow believers as "those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours"
10. B. F. Westcott, St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (Minneapolis: Klock and Klock, n.d., reprint of 1906 volume), 32.