Is Faith a Work? Part I

Is faith a work? Of course not, most self-respecting, healthy people will answer. Why would you ask that? Thank you. I agree. Is faith a gift? Well, now, that's a tough one. I always thought faith was the single proof of righteousness, my required response to grace, so I guess not. But then, again, didn't the disciples ask the Lord to increase their faith? And didn't the father of a suffering boy ask the Lord to help his unbelief? Now you've got me all confused. I thought sure faith was something I was responsible for on my own, but now I just don't know.

And so we could imagine a conversation with someone who actually cares about doctrine--because most people these days don't. But there are those in the Hyper-Calvinist camp and also some New Liberal Reformed teachers--and probably a colloquial mix of everybody else, who pick their beliefs like ripened fruit from the local supermarket--who believe that faith is a gift because, otherwise, it would be a work, since it's a condition for salvation and we can't be saved by works. Wait. Slow down. So you're calling a condition a work? That's your problem right there. And you would think things could get all straightened out in a matter of minutes. But that's when you discover that they have to stay all twisted up because that's the only way they fit into the grid known as election--i.e., Calvinism.

No, faith is a gift. If there were any conditions for salvation, even faith, then salvation would be by works. That's what they tell you. But what they really mean is, then just any old person could be saved. And if you show them the text that there most definitely is a condition to be saved, they go right back to calling faith a gift. Why is it a gift? Because otherwise, it would be a work. So if you want to back away from going over this cliff, you have one of two exits: either you can try to convince them that a condition is not a work (good luck with that one), or you can try to show them right from the text that the grammar in the Greek will not support calling faith a gift. Again, good luck. But wait just a minute. Remember that you have the Bible on your side, and you know how to read. Don't be afraid that they will win. Even if you do not end up convincing them, you have won if you haven't let them confuse you. I say "win" because it is indeed a game. And you don't have to let it escalate into a battle if you don't want it to. But even if you do, it's a battle worth fighting because I can't think of anything more dangerous out there in the world today than teaching that faith is either a gift or a work.

The truth is, faith isn't either one. It is clearly not a work, or Paul couldn't set it up in opposition to works. It's also not a gift because, if it was, then God only gives faith to those whom He has chosen to be saved, since it is--and no one disputes this, even when they "accidentally" leave it out--clearly a condition for salvation. My question is, if you have faith, how are you supposed to know where that faith came from? Is faith just this thing that floats around inside of you looking for a place to land? Or is it something that you don't even know you have until something or somebody outside of you inspires it out of you--you can "put your faith" in them just because of who they are? Well, isn't that the way it is with God? God is inherently lovely, intrinsically worthy, and why would it take an act of God to put your faith in God? We are created in His image, so why wouldn't we be able to place our faith in Him? It's a no brainer, a natural response just as reflexive as your faith to sit in a sturdy chair if you weigh more than 100 pounds.

I just don't get why this is so complicated. But it all goes back to Calvinism and needing to find any which way to prove election. The good news is, the text of Ephesians 2:8-9, when it says "it" is the "gift of God, lest anyone should boast," is referencing the salvation that occurs when faith meets grace. Subtract faith and you don't receive the gift of salvation. Subtract grace and there is no salvation. The Lord isn't looking to make anything complicated here. But do a study throughout the rest of the chapter even in a good old English translation like the King James where the corners haven't been rubbed off the meaning. Circle every time Paul uses the word "grace" in the rest of the chapter and in the rest of his letter. Then do the same for faith. Every single time "grace" is used, it is used in connection with something "given"--i.e., a gift. But every time faith is used, it is exercised. The text simply does not in any way support the idea, first of all, that grace and faith are the same thing, or, second, that they arrive in the same package. Faith is like the hands that receive the gift of grace. So, if anything, the gift in the text is salvation as a whole, if not specifically grace.

Another very logical proof that faith is not a gift is that we are commanded all throughout Scripture to have faith. How can we be commanded, first of all, to do something God does if faith is a gift, and why would we be commanded, second of all, to do something God has prevented us from doing, if faith if a gift that only some people receive? If faith is commanded but it comes only as a gift from God, then is God commanding Himself? What appears so logical to the Calvinist mindset is actually perfectly absurd when you think about it for only five minutes, three of which don't count.

Now we're back to wondering if a condition is a work. Well, let's look at it like this. On the condition that you do your work, you can play outside. Is the condition a work? No, the work is a work. But what's "work"--doing the work or not doing it? Either way you look at it, you have "done" something, while the condition itself is neutral--a mere "vote" for one thing over another. The one thing just happened to have a reward attached to it but the other did not. So, did you work for the condition? No, you met the condition. You would have "worked" or "done" something either way. A condition is not a work.

It's like the man who received only one talent from the Lord. He stuck it in the ground. It was still there as a "gift" from the Lord, but he might as well have not received anything as receive only one talent--such was his way of thinking. But if he had put his money to work--letting it go out of the ground--it would have earned a reward. So which action would be the work, keeping it in the ground or letting it go? But this loser is chastised for not even putting it in the bank. So, yes, he is judged for his "works" either way. We will all be judged by our deeds, Scripture says. It is logically impossible not to "work," unless, of course, you are dead.

Of course, the most helpful and yet paradoxical treatment of this question--what is faith--is handled in the book of James. If faith without works is dead, faith obviously isn't a work because it is possible--at least theoretically--to separate faith from works. (And yet again, it isn't.) It's just a dead faith as opposed to a living faith. Is there really such a thing as dead faith? Yes, of course. If I put my faith in an unworthy object--like a chair that's about to break--and I sit down and rock back and forth in it after Thanksgiving dinner, that's not faith; that's stupidity. Faith is molded precisely by what you place it in. That's why we have terms like "good faith" or "bad faith." Faith is a channel, a passageway, a reaction, to something tangible. Good faith must attach to good works if it exists at all. Does that mean we are saved by works? No. It just means we're saved. The faith to do the good works results from the salvation, the totality of which is a gift from God.

So, tell any self-righteous, entitled Calvinist who uses God's Word to bully you--because he will--that his faith is a gift because (by his own reasoning) there's no other way he stands a chance of even being saved.