"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'"
--Paul's Letter to the Romans, chapter 1, verses 16-17
“…We must be very careful to understand faith as Paul uses the word, because he ties faith so closely to salvation. It is not something we must do in order to earn salvation – if that were true, then faith would be just one more deed, and Paul clearly states that human deeds can never save us (Galatians 2:16). Instead, faith is a gift God gives us because he is saving us (Ephesians 2:8). It is God’s grace, not our faith that saves us. In his mercy, however, when he saves us he gives us faith… Through the faith he gives, he carries us from death unto life (John 5:24).”
--Life Application Bible New International Version, excerpt, page 2027; Tyndale House 1991
Remember this; or you may fall into error by fixing your minds so much upon the faith which is the channel of salvation as to forget the grace which is the fountain and source even of faith itself. Faith is the work of God's grace in us.
No man can say that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Ghost. "No man cometh unto me," saith Jesus, "except the Father which hath sent me draws him." So that faith, which is coming to Christ, is the result of divine drawing. Grace is the first and last moving cause of salvation; and faith, essential as it is, is only an important part of the machinery which grace employs. We are saved "through faith," but salvation is "by grace."
--Charles Haddon Spurgeon, All Of Grace
(Pls right-click on the links for the option to open each one in a new window. Thank you!)
“Faith is a gift from God, so that no one may boast. The last bastion of pride is the belief that we are the originators of our faith…”
“Faith is the evidence of new birth, not the cause of it.”
--John Piper
“He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31). Is this your view of salvation? Are you giving the entire glory to God, or are you reserving a little for yourself? Are you saying that it is your belief that saves you? If so, you are detracting from the glory of God. The glory is entirely His –to the praise of the glory of His grace in which he has highly favored us in the beloved.”
--Martyn Lloyd Jones
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."
By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone, In Christ Alone, As Taught in Scripture Alone,
All For The Glory of God Alone!
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