I appreciate your effort and the time you put into your post, but all you had to say, is the above.
For that is the crux of the discussion.
You believe man exercises initial faith, and I do not. I do not believe saving faith is inherent to the corrupted human nature. I believe saving faith is a supernatural gift from God, by which sinners realize their forgiveness solely upon belief in the power and righteousness of Jesus Christ, imputed to their account, based upon His blood offering on their behalf.
Upon that initial faith, the presence of Christ's Holy Spirit builds the new believers confidence and assurance with revelations and lessons of faith, added to faith.
Faith is organic. It builds upon itself. It is evidentiary of a permanent forensic ruling and total pardon received from God.
I could go on . . but because we hold differing premises, our conclusions will never match.
No offense intended by the following, nang: it is merely my observation of where someone like you is coming from.
Your posts recurrently display the background of much time in the writings of men read into the Scriptures by you.
In said writings of men, said writers compare the assertions of other writers from one system or another.
They do so from within their own system's method of reasoning about one thing or another.
I know this from reading and continuing to read my share of said books "about" simply out of my curiosity with how reasoning works in people, in general.
In contrast, however: during my study of one thing or another having to do with Scripture; I do not rely on one or another of the various systems of reasoning about one another's reasoning; I go to the Scripture for what to think about the Scripture.
And my question while in the Scripture is ever a basic one - 'what was this writer talking about and or addressing, when he then followed that with what is now saying next?'
As in Ephesians 2 - Paul was talking about an enmity between Israelites and Gentiles, when he then said what he said after that.
It is a simple question many fail to ask.
It is what happens when one is weaned on the writings and or teachings of others: one barely learns how to study a thing out on one's own, let alone; properly.
THAT is why I went into those passages.
Based on that question; the passages I cited then filled in that question's answer.
This is a point I continue to find those over weaned on other's books and or teachings "about" ever fail to grasp.