In summary, God and Jesus are pleased with only one thing from us, that is, that we place our faith and trust in them. (Heb. 11:6) All else in the Christian life springs from the disposition of faith. We are saved through faith, and we also live out our lives through faith. This means believing in what God and Jesus have promised and commanded of us such that it issues forth in obedient action. Faith exhibits itself in obedience or ‘works’ that accord with faith. In the above accounts we see how faith works. A person seeks something from Jesus or God (e.g., healing, exorcism, wisdom, etc.), Jesus recognizes in these requests an acknowledgment of who he is and the presence of faith. Jesus then approves of this faith such that he acts in response to it. Jesus genuinely responds to the person’s faith and makes the pronouncements, “Let it be done for you according to your faith” or “Your faith has saved you” or “Your faith has made you well.” We also see that life’s concerns are addressed by faith in God our heavenly Father. God can be trusted to provide what we need. That is what faith does.
It must also be said that faith is not a means to get from God whatever our selfish desires might want. Faith is submission to God’s will and Word and the means to enter into what he wants to accomplish in each of us and in the world. In that context, faith is not a quantitative concern but a qualitative relationship with the living God. Within that relationship there is no quantity of faith, only the quality of the relationship with God and within that relationship. Even the ‘smallest amount’ of faith can move mountains (Mt. 17:14-20), which is say that the quality of one’s faith is what matters. Quantitiative thinking about faith (i.e., Do I have enough faith?) transforms it into an impersonal, slef-centered means of controlling the circumstances and turns faith into a “work.” And if that is the case, where then is that genuine, child-like trust in God and Christ which makes for true faith? The kind of faith that can move mountains!
Now, for our purpose of refuting Calvinism, we glean the following points.
- Faith is trust, confidence, and commitment to someone or something that is trustworthy.
- It is the desire of God and Jesus that people have faith in them.
- Faith is a disposition that the individual chooses to exercise. Faith is a choice. It is not predetermined and/or caused by God only in certain elect individuals.
- Faith is characterized by contingency and possibility. It is not predetermined by God. Persons, not God, are the cause of their belief or unbelief and persons are responsible for their belief or unbelief.
- God and Jesus respond positively and salvically to persons who choose to believe. God and Jesus act wherever they find faith. Jesus’ ministry of healing and miracles was hindered in the presence of unbelief.
- Faith is the individual’s own faith. No one can believe for another person and God does not “believe for us” in the sense of causing faith in us.
- Faith is dynamic, not static. True faith is expressed in action or ‘works.’
- Faith is not wishful thinking or viewed as quantitative. It is more of a qualitative aspect of a person’s life with a definite object in whom it is placed. Christian faith has a specific object – the God of the Old Testament and Jesus whom he has sent to be our Savior.
- We are commanded to believe the “good news” (i.e., the gospel) that our sin has been atoned for in the cross of Christ. One’s submission to and confession of this gospel as true (i.e., faith) leads to salvation. The grace of God provided salvation, but that salvation is appropriated by the individual sinner by faith.
Now that we have a summary definition and relevant biblical insights into the nature of faith from Abraham, the New Testament, and Jesus himself, we can now examine Calvinism and its doctrines in the light of this biblical data. We can already see that faith, according to Calvinist soteriology, is at odds with the biblical data.
The Truth of the Gospel 