Faith to believe on Christ is not our own, but the work of God!
Faith to believe on Christ is not our own, but the work of God!
Faith to believe on Christ is not our own, but the work of God! Its the Work of God the Holy Spirit in us to Truly Believe on the Son, who died for us, if indeed He did die for us Jn 6:29
29 Jesus answered and said unto them,
This is the work of God,
that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Christ was sent to save some Jn 3:17
For God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved.
This World is not all without exception, but all of God's Elect without distinction, the World of Spiritual Israel, the Church ! The Body of Christ, for God has only Promised to save one world of people, Israel Isa 45:17
17 But
Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
Here again Jn 6:40
And
this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son,
and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
The End result of God the Father sending His Son was for the purpose of them believing on Him who were seeing Him spiritually, with a God given spiritual sight ! Now their seeing and believing on Him was not their own natural ability, credit is given to it being the Work of God Jn 6:29, God the Holy Spirit, He produces that Faith which is of the operation of God Col 2:12
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through
the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
That word operation is the greek word energeia and means:
working, action,
productive work, activity; in the NT, confined
to superhuman activity.
This describes that its of the power of the Spirit that produces our act of believing or Faith in Christ, its His operation or working in us both to will and to do of God's pleasure which in this case is to Believe on the Son whom He has sent to seek and to save !
Again believers believe by the working of His Power Eph 1:19
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward
who believe, according to the working or operation of his mighty power,
Believe it or not the Mighty Power is the Spirit of God, See Believers are but building materials for Gods Spiritual Temple being Built by Christ, and a Type was that Temple to be built that was prophesied in the OT Zech 4:6
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power,
but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
I quote John Gills comments on this verse Zech 4:6:
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Then he answered, and spake unto me, saying,.... In great condescension, in order to instruct him into the true meaning of the vision:
This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel; this signifies what was said by the Lord to Zerubbabel, by some one of the prophets sent unto him:
saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts: that is, that as the candlestick was supplied with oil, from the two olive trees by the side of it, without the help of any man, to pour in the oil, and trim the lamps; so the temple should be built by Zerubbabel, not through the multitude and strength of men, but through the Spirit of God, animating, exciting, encouraging, and strengthening them to go through the work. The temple was a type of the church, and Zerubbabel a type of Christ; he was so in the high esteem he was had in by the Lord; he was chosen by him; made as a signet, and was precious to him, Haggai 2:23 in his titles and characters, a servant of the Lord, and governor of Judah, Haggai 1:1 and in his work, in bringing the Jews out of captivity, and in rebuilding the temple: so Christ is the chosen of God, and exceeding dear and precious to him; is his righteous servant, and Governor of the church, or King of saints; and who has redeemed and delivered his people from the captivity of sin, and Satan, and the law; and is the builder of his church; who has laid the foundation of it, and will bring in the headstone; and which church is built up in all generations through the conversion of sinners; and that is done, not by external force, by carnal weapons, or moral persuasion; but by the sword of the Spirit, the word of God; and not by the power of man's free will, but by the efficacious grace of the divine Spirit: it is indeed done by power and might, but not of the creature: man, whatever power he has to do things natural, civil, outwardly religions, and materially moral, or however in appearance, has no power to do anything spiritually good; not to think a good thought, nor do a good action, in a spiritual manner; much less to work such a work as the work of regeneration, conversion, and sanctification; since he is dead in sin, and can not quicken himself; his understanding is darkened, yea, darkness itself, and he can not command light into it; his will is stubborn and obstinate, and he can not bend it, and subdue it; his heart is hard as a nether millstone, and he cannot soften it, and repent of his sins, in a truly spiritual, gracious, anti-evangelic manner; his affections are inordinate; and he is a lover of sinful pleasures, and not of God, nor of anything divine, to which his carnal mind is enmity; he cannot believe in Christ of himself; faith is not of himself, it is the gift of God, and so is repentance, and every other grace. The work of grace on the soul is expressed by a regeneration, a resurrection from the dead, a creation, and the new man, or a transformation of a man into another man; all which require almighty power to effect: regeneration is not of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God, of Jehovah the Spirit: sanctification is called the sanctification of the Spirit, and every grace of it is a fruit of his; it is he who is the Spirit of life from Christ, that quickens men when dead in trespasses and sins, and enlightens their dark minds with spiritual light, in divine things; it is he that produces evangelical repentance in them, and faith in Christ is of his operation; it is he that begins the work of grace on the heart, and carries it on, and causes to abound in the exercise of every grace, and performs the work of faith with power. The Targum, instead of "by my Spirit", renders it "by my Word".
When we believe, its just the manifestation of us being of those chosen building materials God has Chosen in Christ to construct the Building of His Spiritual Temple 1 Pet 2:5
5 Ye also,
as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
A Spiritual House is another way of saying a Temple or habitation of God Eph 2:20-22
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto
an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are
builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
So by understanding this, Faith is not of our own by nature, but its a work or production of the Spirit of God in us, to manifest our lively stone status in the building of the Spiritual Temple of the Lord !
