‘Faith….The Gift Of God’

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Because salvation is from God, as Paul has been declaring, it is the gift of God in all its’ parts. Election, predestination, adoption regeneration, many of which Paul has already discussed, are all acts of God designed to bring us to Him. We may even regard them as ‘gifts’ in the sense that He has done these thing for our good and we have received the benefits of those Divine acts. Our text for today discusses another gift which God gives to us which Paul associates with salvation. He states, ‘For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.’ Paul is articulating very plainly that faith does not originate with us.  If we have faith we have it because God has given it to us as a gift. This lays waste to all our pride. We cannot boast that even the faith in Christ which we have is the result of our own work, desire, or inclination. God deserves all the glory, even for the faith we have in Christ. Salvation is all of grace and all of God. If you find yourself without faith in Christ today, now is the time for you to pray that God will give to you that faith that you will never be able to conjure up of yourself.  If you do have faith today, you may bless God for it, for it is one of His most outstanding gifts to us.

Our most Loving and Generous God,
we rejoice at your gift of faith.
We praise You that by it,
we have come to believe in You,
and in Christ our Redeemer.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning