THE GENESIS OF FAITH IN

How is faith born in man? This is a relevant question, for it is only through faith in Christ that man can be reconnected to God. And this teaching that only faith in the Lord's death and resurrection restores man to his original condition before original sin is not only from the apostles and other New Testament authors, but from Christ himself. Jesus said, "For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day" (John 6:40). 

This word of Jesus is interesting because it implies that one can look at Him and not believe. It is a fact that everyone involved in the work of evangelism knows that most of those who hear the gospel simply do not believe. Jesus Himself in this passage from John's gospel said, "...as I told you, you have seen me, but you still do not believe..." (John 6:36). These people had seen Jesus perform the miracle of multiplying "five loaves and two fish" in a quantity sufficient to feed a multitude, but they still did not believe in him (John 6:1-15). 

How, then, is faith born in man? In John 6, Jesus shows that faith is born, in man, by an action of the Father himself. He said, "All those the Father gives me will come to me... And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day" (37,39). It seems that God takes some for himself and sends them to his Son. Later in the text, Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day" (44). Only he who is first drawn by the Father will believe. In His priestly prayer, He said, "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory..." (John 17:24). 

According to Jesus, the Father works within some and sends them to Him. Quoting Isaiah, the Lord said, "they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me" (6:45). God chooses some and teaches them by life's circumstances and other means, breaking them and preparing them to receive the faith that saves. Writing to the Ephesians, Paul said, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God" (2:8). 

Faith, then, is not a human achievement, the result of an intellectual understanding of the gospel. Christians know that there are many theologians, priests, and people who call themselves Christians, but who are not sure of their salvation and have not experienced the new birth. The genesis of faith, then, is part of the divine process of creating a new humanity in Christ. To the Ephesians, Paul said, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus” (2:10). Thus, faith is born, in man, by an action of the Trinity. One only goes to Jesus whom the Father commands and one only comes to God through Jesus.     

But what about the Pauline phrase that says, "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. " (Romans 10:17)? An apparent cause and effect relationship can be observed in this statement. That is, the more the Word is preached, the more faith there will be. However, fallen man is spiritually dead and cannot respond to the call of the gospel (Ephesians 2:1; Matthew 8:21,22). But what Paul is talking about is the necessity of evangelism, for no one knows who is prepared, by the Father, to believe in Christ by the preaching of the gospel. Paul himself says, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? " (Romans 10:14). 

There are many human techniques to fill a church with people. However, the mission is not to fill temples, but to preach the gospel. About this, Jesus warned about the presence of tares among the wheat, that is, untransformed people in the church (Matthew 13:24-30). He also said: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven... Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name... and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you...'" (Matthew 7:21-23). Notice that the question is not whether or not I accept Christ, but whether Christ accepts me. At this point, it is worth remembering the following word of Christ: “...No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Lucas10:22). 

God Himself, in Christ, is forming a new humanity. What must we do, then, to inherit the Kingdom of God? In John 6, Jesus was asked, "what must we do to do the works God requires? Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent'" (28,29). No one is worthy and nothing can be done to inherit salvation except to believe in Christ. Pray to Him: "Lord, help me to believe. I am not worthy, but I want to walk with You. I recognize that I am a sinner. Forgive me". Paul, to the Romans, said, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (10:9). Do this and rest, that is, trust in what you have just done. That is faith in Christ. And now, live according to the Word of Christ.

Antônio Maia – Ph.B., M. Div.

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