Life Precedes Faith -- Part 2

Last Sunday’s message, the first message in this series, began with the following paragraph: Religionists claim the new birth is attributed to faith. Scripture, on the other hand, affirms that one must be born of God before he can have a conversion experience by faith. The Arminian thinks it is his act of faith that determines the act of God. Those who believe in free grace say that life in the subjective sense produces faith; therefore, spiritual life precedes faith.

Read John 1:1-13. Look closely at the Greek in verses 12 and 13. “But as many as received [Greek verb is elabon—aorist active indicative of lambano, which means to receive or to obtain] Him, to them he gave [Greek verb is edoken—aorist active indicative of didomi, which means to appoint, to allow, or establish] the right [actual not potential] to become [genesthai, aorist middle infinitive of ginomai, meaning to become, to be, or to happen] children of God, even to those who believe [pisteuousin, present active participle dative masculine plural of the Greek verb pisteuo] in His name, who were born [egennethesan, aorist passive indicative of Greek verb gennao—Every time gennao is used in the New Testament in reference to our relationship to God, it is always in the passive voice, meaning we had nothing to do with our regeneration by the grace of God] not of blood [“bloods”—the plural is the correct translation] nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12, 13).

The apostle John had no problem relating with what he was inspired to write, because he knew that his present action of “believing” followed the “past passive fact” of being born of God. The past action of being born of God is the explanation of John’s present believing. However, one must be careful so that he does not interpret the Greek words in verse 13, all ek theou egennethesan, as “but who were born of God.” The subject of verse 13 is in the passive voice, but the one “believing” in verse 12 is in the active voice. The active voice means that you are doing the believing because you have been enabled by God to believe—you have been regenerated. The regeneration comes by the Sovereign Spirit. Passive voice means the individual does not participate in the act. All of the act is upon him by someone else because he has absolutely nothing to do with his regeneration. In verse 12, you are looking at one thing, and verse 13 is the very opposite of it. The verb ginomai in verse 12 can be used in the sense of a process subsequent to an act of God in regeneration. Most professing believers make a present result an undecided capability in all men.

In studying John 1:12 and 13, one must not interpret the words “who were born” as though the new birth was something that takes place by believing in Christ. That is the view of those who are either prejudiced or too lazy to study. To suggest that a passage of Scripture does not mean what it seems to say, according to the King James Bible version of the Greek text, is like waving a red flag before a fighting bull to the Biblical novice. John 1:13 has three negative statements and one positive.

Three things must be understood about the inflected form of gennao: (1) It is in the aorist tense, which refers to point action in past time. (2) It is passive voice, which means the subjects were acted upon. They did not participate in the action. (3) It is in the indicative mood, which is the mood of reality. Hence, we have the fact of the subjects being acted upon in past time.

After John introduced the subject of the new birth, he listed three negative statements showing what the new birth is not: (1) “of blood”—The literal translation is “of bloods.” Some believe “bloods” indicates the duality of the sexes, and others say it refers to ancestors. Still others say the elect are born of “blood”—Christ’s blood alone can save (John 19:34; Heb. 9:22). (2) “of the will of the flesh”—The source of the flesh is more flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). (3) “of the will of man”—This can refer to family relations and friends. John eliminated any thought of cooperating by God and man in the new birth. There are those who quote for their proof text Christ’s words in Matthew 18:19 and 20—“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

[Note: There are two periphrastic future perfect passive participles in Matthew 18:18 that have been used to promote, knowingly and unknowingly, the worst heresy one can imagine. Therefore, we are obligated to mention two more of the same in Matthew 16:19, but not concerning the same subject.]

Religionists are horrified by the use of theological terms. They think that preachers should address them in words of one syllable. No other science is expected to do this. Christians know that truth flourishes in the light of truth, not in the darkness of error. Young believers who get nothing but practical directions are poorly prepared for the warfare they face. Faith must not be confused with “general faith” which is heard from religionists, politicians, athletes, and pagans. A guide who neglects to examine his route before he undertakes to guide is unworthy of his title. What about ministers?

Faith is a complex subject; therefore, no simple answer can be given. There are three words involved in the study of faith: (1) The verb pisteuo refers to the conviction and trust to which a person is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of the soul, a conviction full of joyful trust that Jesus Christ is the Savior. (2) The noun pistis refers to a conviction of trust respecting relationship to God and Divine things—faith, trust, faithful, and faithfulness. (3) The adjective pistos means faith, trust, and belief—trusting person, faithful to the discharge of duties in whom faith is reposed.

Faith is not a human contribution to regeneration. There is nothing in man that could succeed as a condition. Having considered what faith is not, we shall consider what it is. It has been said that all the wisdom in the world cannot produce faith. Subjective grace begins in the heart. The prophet Ezekiel said, “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God” (Ezek. 36:24-28).

Saving grace does increase by knowledge, but it is by appropriated knowledge of the Word of God. If our eyes are closed to the world of God’s light and truth—the world of faith—there can be neither knowledge nor increase of knowledge. As we only know of this world in which we live, because we are born into it and live in it, we only know of the world of faith (the system of truth) when we are born into it and live in it. No one can see the world of faith and understand it, until his eyes are opened by the grace of God. Paul said, “…God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (II Cor. 5:19). As the material world has its own law and is measured by its own standard, the spiritual world has its own law and is measured by its own standard. As we have certainty about this world in which we live, because it is a matter of experience, we can have certainty about the world of faith, when it becomes a matter of experience.

Delivering (saving) faith is connected to the eternal covenant of grace. Paul said, “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:20-21).

Justification by faith is not the giving of life to the soul. Anyone knows the court never makes a man either guilty or innocent; it only declares the person either guilty or innocent upon the evidence submitted. The court cannot act efficiently in making a person to be something he is not. This proves that justification by faith does not imply any change made in the person who is declared justified as the result of his faith (system of truth).

There is no way that faith, which is the result of regeneration, can be the cause of regeneration. That would be like saying the effect is the cause of the effect. It has been said that saving faith is not the power of choice, though it leads to it. It is not conscience, though it does come to life. It is not reason, though it is led by it. It is not mere knowledge of the truth, though it embraces truth. The word “faith” in Jude 3 is the Greek noun pistis, meaning the system of truth, once-delivered to the saints. Jude said, “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3).

Saving faith refers to conversion rather than regeneration, because it is common to both the intelligent and the illiterate. Therefore, the system of faith cannot be circumscribed through mere intellectualism. Deliverance by faith does increase by knowledge, but it is by appropriated knowledge of the system of truth—the completed word of God handed down to the saints of God.

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The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.