The Origins of Faith and Love
Faith and love are in Christ Jesus (1 Tim 1:14; 2 Tim 1:13). Both come from God, as gifts (Rom 5:5; Phil 1:29). It is the Holy Spirit sent from the Father and the Son (Lk 24:49; Jn 14:26; 15:26), who manifests both love and faithfulness, as the fruit of His presence (Gal 5:22). In other words, it is impossible for men to self-generate faith and love, apart from Christ (Jn 15:5; Rom 11:36).
Sadly, there are many in the church, today, who preach and teach to persuade men to self-produce: repentance; faith; good works; humility; godly sorrow for sin; and love for God, in order to initiate a right relationship with Him (justification). They mistake the imperatives, set down in Scripture, with man’s ability/inability to perform what God requires of him.
The natural man hates God (Jn 7:7; Rom 1:30), and he has no love for God in his heart (Jn 5:42). Man’s enmity with God is exacerbated by sin. Sin is inherited from Adam (Rom 5:12). It has poisoned every person from conception (Eph 2:1–3), being the very nature of those spiritually dead to God (Rom 4:17; 6:13; 2 Cor 1:9; 1 Pet 4:6). Sin reigns in the life of those dead in sin, and who practice sinning, until sin pays wages on the day of each person’s death (Rom 6:23).
Understanding the biblical doctrine of total depravity is essential for understanding (Gen 6:5; Is 64:6; Jer 17:9; Jn8:34; Rom 1:18–32; 3:10–12; 8:7; Eph 2:12) who God has set His love upon (Rom 5:5), and to whom He has given faith to trust Christ (Phil 1:29), by His will (Jn 1:12–13; Rom 9:16). When love from the Spirit manifests, we acknowledge that the only reason we love God is because he first loved us (1 Jn 4:19). God the Father loved us in His predestination of us to election (Eph 1:4–5). God the Son loved us, by dying on the cross for His beloved bride, His church (Rom 5:8; Eph 5:25). The Holy Spirit pours out God’s love in our hearts, as He is given to us (Rom 5:5). God is love (1 Jn 4:8), and love never fails to accomplish God’s purposes (1 Cor 13:8), concerning His beloved ones (Ps 57:2; 138:8).
Jesus Christ is the author of faith, in His faithful ones, who love Him (Dt 7:9; Heb 12:2). This product of the Spirit — faithfulness — identifies the children of God because they walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7; 1 Jn 3:10). In fact, it is impossible to please God without faith (Heb 11:6); and yet, those who have faith, have assurance (Heb 11:1).
Assurance, the certainty of God’s love in salvation, is sourced in God’s Word. Only God can convince His enemies that His love for them is everlasting (Jer 31:3; Rom 5:10). The objects of God’s love, while still in the company of ungodly sinners, hear the Word of promise preached (Rom 10:13–17). They believe the voice of Christ their Good Shepherd (Jn 10:3–4), when they hear His Word of truth because they actually belong to Him (Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 3:23). He bought them for a price (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23), that being the price of His invaluable life, when He shed his precious blood to release them from their sins (1 Pet 1:19; Rev 1:5).
Faith, not works, secures one’s right standing before God (Rom 4:5). Faith justifies because it is the very proof that God’s grace has begun its good work in him (Rom 3:28; Eph 2:8–9; Phil 1:6). The gift of God’s salvation has been received, not by the will of man, but of God (Jn 1:12–13).
The one who truly believes, bears witness of God’s transforming power (Acts 1:8) because the Holy Spirit has baptized and indwelt her (Mt 3:11; Jn 14:17; Acts 10:47; Rom 8:9, 11; Gal 4:6; 2 Tim 1:14; Jas 4:5). The testimony of the renewed mind and new heart, of the man made new, is clear, “I was blind, but now I see!” This is no “leap of faith.” Faith knows exactly who it believes and why (2 Tim 1:12), saying “God made me believe because He loves me.”
We must be clear — there is nothing to love in sinful men. God does not promiscuously love wretched sinners. His love is specific. It is directed. Love reaches exactly who God intends to bestow it upon. It is wonderfully exclusive, as when a man chooses his bride. She is his one and only; and by his gracious choice, He has brought her into a covenant relationship.
When the betrothed woman receives the token of forever (diamond = Holy Spirit), she may be asked, “Oh, did he propose marriage to you, in his love for you?” Her answer is with certainty, lacking no faith, “Yes, he has sacrificed much to bestow upon me this sign of his love for me.” With men, this is, “Until death do we part,” but with Christ, it is forever.
Love, therefore, is the eternal source of faith. Obviously, then, these are supernaturally tied together. Where God’s love has been poured out in one’s heart, there is faith sure to be found. The reverse is true. There can be no faith, where love has not manifested. In this, we know both love and faith, which is why this tandem is witnessed together over thirty times in the Bible.
The Words of God’s true love and promise have been heard by ears that were formerly deaf, but that now can hear, by His grace, “He has made me hear the Gospel of His dying love for me; and He has made me believe His love for me and all His saints, by giving us His Spirit. His Spirit testifies with my spirit that I am a child of God, the object of His adoptive love.”
Friend, the fool avoids the preaching of the Bible. Fools cannot hear, and they find unbelief an easy default to their life of sinning against God. Will you remain a fool on the day of God’s judgment of sinners (2 Cor 5:10; Rev 20:11)?
Christian, forsake the false teaching that puts faith before love. God loved and believers were manifested. He loved you in eternity, at the cross, and now, in your heart. The presence of His lovingkindness, that lasts forever, has made you believe. It is impossible to deny God or His love for you. He has chosen of His own free will, to make His home in your heart. What could be more obvious than His love for you, borne on the unashamed witness of your faithful testimony and witness?
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
June 10, 2022
