I WAS WRONG about John

[@raifcluster]

Verse 37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." Looking back on my 50 years as a believer, I see clearly how "off and on" my faith has been in the day to day workings of my life. It is an anchor to my soul to read the words of our Lord here. I am ever humbled and ever grateful for the Father's drawing.

[@rdaren1976]

Thank you for this wonderfully humble and candid video! Is it not pressing Philippians 1:29 too far to say that it teaches that our response of trust is itself a gift? The verse says, “it has been granted to you not only to believe, but also to suffer.” The most persuasive interpretation is that the Philippians have been given the honour of suffering for Christ, rather than being left to live as believers without opportunity to suffer for him. In other words, it is the “but also” which is the gift here!

[@kevinwang7894]

Just curious, what do you think “also” means? If what you said is true, it would’ve said “Not ‘a’, but ‘b’.” But instead it clearly states, “Not _only_ ‘a’, but _also_ ‘b’.” There are obviously two parts to this statement. First of all it confirms that faith is indeed granted by God. Second, it clarifies further with additional information. Not only is faith, but also suffering. Faith is granted because it is God that made it even possible. And He will bring it to completion. Suffering is granted because God allows it, _in order to build up our faith._ God doesn’t enjoy seeing us suffer. If that’s the case then God wouldn’t be love. No good parent enjoys beating their child, but those who never do is just as bad. God shows us through suffering that without Him we are absolutely helpless. It is only when we are suffering do we truly realize we’re powerless. Without suffering, we’d believe that it is by our own power that we exist, and that it is by our own power that we’re putting food on the table. Not so, and God proves it to us by letting us suffer. This is exactly what happened to Samson. After being blessed by God, he literally forgot the fact that he needed God. He literally threw away the sign of their convent. He had abandoned God. But God didn’t abandon him. God let his power be taken away, so that he may remember how powerless he is without God. After being disciplined by God, he repented, and God blessed him again. Samson “lost his faith”, but God recovered it. Literally right before his death. He could’ve died before being restored, but God didn’t let that happen. God is the one holding on to us, not the other way around. Is all our suffering an honour? No. Is suffering for Jesus’ name an honour? Yes. Is it still an honour when you think about it that way? No. We suffer for Jesus willingly because He first suffered for us willingly. When we were against Him, He was for us. I don’t understand where people get the audacity to claim that we get to pick whether we would accept salvation or not. As if God is begging us to accept His gift of grace. As if He needs us in any way. We are literally of no profit to Him. We do not deserve to go to Heaven in the slightest. We have so many reasons to go to Hell. Yet He was for us, the predestined. We would’ve perished with the rest had God not intervened. There are only two kinds of people that claim we get to choose to accept salvation. 1, the saved who never really thought it through. 2, the unsaved trying to work their way into Heaven. Every single time our faith in God grows, it is due to God alone. We never just sit there, then decide to put more faith in God. That kind of faith is fake and shallow. That isn’t saving faith. No saving faith comes from ourselves. It is purely an undeserved gift of grace from God. God told us to not give pearls to swines. He would be a hypocrite to offer grace to those who are going to trample it. I honestly can’t imagine God offering Jesus’ finished work to everyone as if it is a worthless thing that He is trying to sell or get rid of. It is too precious. It is infinitely more precious than all of us combined. There is no way God would let anyone trample it or reject it. Not only the work of Jesus, but also the Holy Spirit. No way would God let us deny the Holy Spirit as if He is less valuable than this finite secular world. I would have to assume the ones who are still disagreeing to be not fully regenerated; at least not yet. No one can _know_ God then proceed to choose this secular world over Him. Our trust in Him is purely a one sided gift from Himself. After God reveals Himself, specifically His aspect of never changing and complete reliability, no one in the right mind would choose otherwise. Thus faith in God is not a choice we make. Not even a fool would choose a thousand dollars over an infinite amount of riches. None of us are supposed to have the ability to know truly know Him by perceiving Him, as we were all blinded by sin. He opened our eyes and gave us new hearts so that we may “see” Him and have no real choice but to choose Him. God bless. Amen.

[@stove2717]

Hold the banana boat!! I know we are studying Greek grammatically and that is a great thing, but are we doing this to the SIMPLE exclusion of context? I mean the very previous verse john6:28 and the following verse 30?? It makes it abundantly clear. The people asked “what shall we do to do the works of God” Jesus then did not dismiss them by saying reformed garb of “nothing”, He validates the question by saying “the work of God is to believe on He who He sent”. He validated their question with the response, and Jesus NEVER answered bad questions or was “trapped” by deceitfully-framed questions. So we go on verse 30 John 6:30 (NKJV) Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? What will you do to persuade us so that WE may believe… they are asking Him to provide evidence or persuasion of some sort to cause them to believe. They are the ones responsible to believe or reject, not God. The amount of evidence given (see tyre and Sidon would have repented) IS up to Gods discretion, and that evidence presupposes any faith, and that is the gift (the evidence). The faith itself is absolutely a human faculty and therefore we are held responsible if we do not believe. Calvinism is WRONG on this!

[@alanmunch5779]

I agree. Those promoting Calvinism use verse 29 as a ‘proof text’ and miss the context and obvious meaning, which is that what God requires of them is not some work, but for them to believe in Him (Jesus) who has been sent by God (the Father). They argue (wrongly) that faith must be a work done by God, since otherwise it would be a work done by man - implying man saves himself by his works. Then, based on this false reasoning, they deduce various erroneous ideas, such as regeneration must precede faith. Their logic makes faith somewhat like a ‘thing’, rather than a simple response of trusting God, as in the example of Abraham. I always ask Calvinist friends, who try to alter John 3:16’s plain message, to explain the simple story in Numbers which Jesus based this on. I agree with you that context is key, often more so than detailed study of grammar and words. This is the case too in understanding any text in English, I think.

[@stove2717]

@@alanmunch5779 well explained. I am curious as to the reference to a Numbers passage you made, could you please cite more specifically so I can check that out? Thanks

[@SamSam-iy5gm]

Thank you for the fascinating retraction and explanation. Good job on searching for the truth. I'd like to encourage you to reexamine the Philippians 1:29-reference. Obviously, God's gracious granting involves both faith and conflict (persecution for Christ's sake). But instead of using this passage to advocate personal faith as being a gift from God, I see the context as God's incredible gifts of opportunity to believe (with its obvious benefits) and opportunity to suffer for His sake (with its benefits, a la James 1:2-4, etc.). Clearly, God doesn't Himself administer conflict or persecution to us, nor does He administer personal faith to us, since we are commanded to believe. Just a thought about Philippians 1:29. I do appreciate your help with the Greek scriptures. God bless you.

[@bevinjohn]

My dear brother, you are again been swayed by your Calvinistic pre-suppositions. God can grant us the ability to believe and suffer for His sake but that is not the same as “effectually causing it.” (Phil 1:29). That is putting into the text what is not there. Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:11-14). The gospel is not impotent. It has saving power when one puts his/her trust in its saving potential.. Again in Eph 2:8, very briefly, both grace and faith are feminine nouns while gift is "neuter." So, at least in Eph 2:8, neither grace or faith is the gift of God. The whole phrase "saved by grace through faith" is the "gift" of God. Salvation is a gracious gift of God that we can encash by placing our trust in God's gracious work at the Cross. It does not say that God effectively showed down my throat this gift! Again that is reading into the text (eisegesis). Again, I do not mean to be contentious but we need to be careful, very careful, not to read into the text what is not there. My due apologies if I am disrupting the good work that you are doing.

[@sethtbaguley]

Videos like this are really helpful for trying to persuade others of the value of learning a Biblical language. It's kind of like having a video library of the book Exegetical Gems from Biblical Greek. Thanks for always adding value, Darryl

[@patienceboyd8858]

Hi Darryl, my first thought is that this is a pretty mild Calvinist perspective! Of course it’s a short video, so you didn’t have time to get into details, but even as an Anabaptist I truly agree with a lot of what you said. I agree that Biblically, faith is not some kind of static object/quality/”thing” that we possess; it is a verbal idea. It's also obvious that faith is not strictly a “work” by Biblical definitions, since Paul and James both go to great lengths explicitly juxtaposing the two in Romans, Galatians and James. It is a choice, a mental action. I also agree that faith is a gift. It’s possible we might run into some disagreement when it comes to exactly what that means and looks like. My life, my mental capacity, and my salvation, my very existence are all gifts from God. There is a very real sense in which everything I am and have is a gift, including faith. The real question is, is faith a gift that God selectively gives some people and not others? And is it something that can be rebuffed or not? I believe that salvation and faith are undeserved gifts from God that are truly and freely offered to all of humanity through the preaching of the Gospel, and, based on all of Scripture being predicated on man’s responsibility for his sin and God’s imploring humanity to return to Him, that each person has the freedom and capacity to accept or reject God’s gifts, and that God has not eternally foreordained their choice. I basically agree with your interpretation of Philippians 1:29, but again I feel there could be some eventual disagreement on whether “to you it has been granted” inherently implies 1) no choice of reception in the grantee 2) exclusive selection of the grantee not applicable to other people. Totally agree with the Mark 7 idea that all our sinfulness comes from within us. Totally agree with your Romans 2 interpretation , that we all naturally turn away from God and in our sin nature do not seek Him, though I also believe that God genuinely calls all people back to Himself through the Gospel and we may freely choose to respond to Him. In 1 John 5:1 (minute 11.20) I don’t see how this verse is saying anything about new birth causing belief (or vice versa). It seems to just be making a gnomic statement about inherently concurrent states of being. (Darryl, please inform me if I’m missing something here in the grammar!) Based on passages like Romans 10:10 I’m pretty certain it’s belief that causes new birth, but I think we need to go to passages other that 1 John 5:1 for either of those views. Minute 12.10, I’m totally on board with your first word choice of “enables” describing the Holy Spirit’s work! “Cause”… eh, not so much. Love your encouragement to develop a robust Biblical view of human nature! I think that my loosely-Arminian view paints a morally higher view of God and lower view of humanity than Calvinism. (Calvinists please take no offence, I know you love God and have a very high view of Him! I’m not trying to say that you don’t.) I believe we are certainly born with a nature to sin, and people can increasingly harden their hearts by continuing down that path to the point that God lets them go or even enables them to carry out their desires for His purposes (like Pharaoh, or the Romans 1 situation). People do not commit evil because they are unequivocally destined to do so and can’t choose to repent when they hear the Gospel, but because they genuinely choose to love the darkness rather than the light because their deeds are evil. Nasty. Darryl, thanks so much for your chill attitude and willingly correcting yourself! And for reading long (boring?) comments 😉 You are an inspiration.

[@bma]

Thanks Patience! I appreciate your thoughtful comments!

[@waterbaby2463]

If our nature dictates our choices then we are simply never going to go against the flesh unless our nature is changed. I'm not sure how the Armenian view would elevate God when the idea places Him on His knees begging His creation to love Him. Remember that God told Moses that He would harden Pharaoh's heart from the start so I don't think it's safe to assume that this hardening was based on Pharaoh's freedom to harden his own. I do think the hardening was specific to the task that God was accomplishing much like the evil of Joseph's brothers to throw him into a pit and then later place him into slavery. That's what I gather from the text. God Bless you guys!

[@rhantingrhino8449]

Thank you for clarifying the mistake you made, and for having the humility to post such a clear explanation online. I do land on the same side as yo with regard to the whole trajectory of reasoning regarding faith in Eph 2:8. I am encouraged by your thoughtful and high expectation of those who wish to engage about this issue. Your channel has helped me quite a bit and as a pastor I deeply appreciate the 'gentle' nudge regarding rules of engagement. Thanks again, keep labouring for Christ brother. Peace and strength.

[@kevinobie1]

Thank you for this excellent treatment of the texts. This really helps with applications for understanding the differences in head knowledge vs faith, reason and rational vs irrational thought, etc., between believers and unbelievers. I detect some insights from your Ph.D. strengths. :) Blessings!

[@crusaderboy1976]

The REB, NLT CEB, CEV and GNB also takes the genitive phrase as objective. I have found with my journey with Greek over the past five years that more dynamic translations are often very good at handling the syntactical nuance compared to the more literal approach. Also, I appreciate the humility shown by this video.

[@BSaltandLight]

Great Explanation. I am thankful for all I am learning through Biblical Mastery Academy!

[@globalrevival]

1:26 “This is the deed that God requires” John 6:29 (NET). Thanks for clarifying this is the correct translation from the Greek. Sadly, one could have only hoped that the mainstream Bible translators would have been as honest as you in their translations used by millions of people worldwide. While you steadfastly still supported the errant translation’s idea of this verse by using other verses, it is commendable that this one verse should not be used that way any further by anybody. This is truly valuable. Thank you.

[@keitharchie8120]

Very very good! I do want to challenge a common reading of Eph. 2:8 that you shared, that being that the "faith" in view in v8 is the faith of the sinner. Based on everything else you stated in the vid that's an impossible idea. 1). As stated, faith proceeds regeneration therefore it can't be the cause of salvation. 2). v.8 reads "saved through faith" - given man's fallen nature no faith emanating from the sinner can satisfy the requirements of salvation - that is a perfect and pure faith. With that then, the "faith" of Eph. 2:8 can only be the "faith of Jesus Christ" as properly translated in the KJV (Rom 3:22; Gal 2:16; 2:20; 3:22; Phil 3:9) Only a perfect faith can satisfy the justice and law of God - being the stand in on behalf of sinners unto salvation. Thanks for your video and humility. Keep up the good work.

[@Biblia1]

Hey, I also teach Greek, and when I raised the argument from Phil 1:29, but someone points out that “believing” is a present participle meaning that the gift granted is to Christians since it indicates to continue to believe. So, that had beloved already, but suffering requires the continuity of faith, or something like that. What would you say?

[@outofsilent]

Can it be understood in this way: Faith is a gift from God, where the act of trusting or having faith (work is required in parallel with faith) is by us, but that trust can only exist when there is an object of trust available, which is a gracious gift from God?

[@GaylandFinch]

Look at the Greek definition for faith, I believe this will help.

[@RevScott]

So well done. Bravo!

[@enjoyb7176]

Thankfully the Lord gifted me with faith. I wouldn’t be able to have it by my own reasoning.

[@GuillaumeStein-sf7fj]

I have a question about the vocab pack. I’ve started “Beginning With New Testament Greek” which is the grammar you recommended. Should I wait until I finish this grammar to get the pack? Also, should I buy pare greek and flash greek or do you recommend something else to practice?

[@CameronSzwed]

How can you tell whether it is a subjective or objective genitive? I was watching another of your videos, on that very subject, and you were explaining how: if the verb comes before the genitive then it is the subject of the verb, and if it comes after the genitive then it is the object of the verb. I’m aware that word order in Greek is tricky business… But, in John 6:29, the verb does come before the genitive - so why would it not be subjective? Especially considering the context of the whole of Scripture, it makes sense if it is describing something that God does - since He works faith in us in the other passages you referenced. Thanks for the video! I’d appreciate any feedback!

[@bma]

Thanks for your question. The order of the verb and genitive doesn't indicate whether it is subjective or objective - I reordered the words to make it clearer. The best way to tell is to reorder them in your head to help you determine which of those two is the more likely choice the author had in mind. The context here argues for an objective genitive rather than subjective. The instruction to "work not for the food that does not perish but for the food that continues into eternal life" (v27) sets up ἔργον τοῦ θεοῦ in verse 29.

[@CameronSzwed]

@@bma Hey! I appreciate the response! I do see what you mean in your final point… but, referring to the video regarding parsing genitive verbs (kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXixdqygbt-GgsU ; time 6.42), I distinctly remember seeing the words “If the verb precedes the genitive it is subjective” and “if the verb follows the genitive it is objective”

[@patanthony9286]

John 6:29 in Greek says This is the work of God, that you believe into whom sent that One. Meditate on that for a while.

[@Spud3418]

It’s simple. Sin is the reason, and the heart is deceitful above all things. Man’s nature is at its base sin. Thank you Jesus for my undeserved salvation. I love you more than words can express my Lord and my God.

[@realitywins6457]

For years I’ve been saying that we ARE saved by works, BUT the work is not ours (basing that specifically on this translation of Jn6.29). So here’s another reason to learn the original language.

[@NicholasproclaimerofMessiah]

I think the antecedent in John 6 v29, is that which Lord Jesus is doing, His speaking words which are Spirit and life, His giving of His body and blood, the things of His sermon; Lord Jesus' thenpresent ministry is the work of God to the result of belief. "Touto" is in an emphasized form, indicating that the antecedent is the Lord's own speaking, which is a typical case of Lord Jesus answering a question in an unexpected way. The hearers respond by asking what sign He'll show so that they may believe, so the hearers seem to have agreed with me regarding the antecedent. I don't know why translators fail to notice the emphasis on the word "touto" and the response of the hearers, which each and both indicate that Lord Jesus has deepened the context of His answer beyond what was asked for in the question. I do understand that the more common answer is simpler, but in context it is not correct.

[@LVTRFEV]

Love this kind of teaching Thank you

[@joshuabenes]

I've never heard faith (or trust) put that way, as having three parts. That's a really interesting way to put it. It sounds like faith is something that should really be viewed as active and not passive. Though I imagine passive would be more like the belief that the demons had; it's not agreeing or acting on the knowledge that is there. And I suppose if you wanted to look at it from the point of works, it's not that it would be a work like building a house, rather it would be more like an agreeing with and having a willingness to move forward in whatever God wills.

[@peterh.8027]

Faith has three usages in the New Testament 1) to trust (verbal) 2) fidelity (adjectival) 3) the Christian Faith (broader idea encapsulating the entire group of people and faith tradition)

[@bma]

Agreed. Though 2 is just 1 applied differently. The 3rd is a broader meaning.

[@penglim224]

Layman understanding after listening to your explanation, GOD is the author of our faith in HIM. HE is regenerating our heart to have faith in HIM. Through faith, we know HIS saving grace, agree to HIS grace and act/accept on HIS grace. However it is our will to grow in faith or not to grow in faith to HIM. If we do not want to have faith in GOD, it is probably our conscience has been dull by the lure of sins. Please check my understanding.

[@dusttalking6871]

If faith was given then we can say the Lord has no right to demand repentance or condemn those who don’t believe.

[@marcbrule3205]

Great comments! When I look at Ephesians 2:8-9, I wonder how much Paul was referring to the Patron/Client relationships that were well understood by the Jews and commonly practiced in the Roman Empire. The Patron provided "charis" in helping someone get work or a position that he had no access to and in response, the Client owed them their "pistis", which carried the multi-faceted aspects of trust and faithfulness. Their response was to be loyal and to give honour to the Patron. This has helped me grasp the interaction of grace and faith in salvation. God, our Patron, has provided salvation. Our response as his Clients, is to give honour to, trust in, and be loyal to Him alone. This removes the "pray this prayer and you're all set" mentality that has permeated a lot of western Christianity. Thoughts? An interesting read: Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King by Matthew W. Bates.

[@bma]

That sounds like an interesting read. Certainly one of the marks of the new heart God promised to give in the new covenant results in the loyalty to Him that failed to materialize in the Mosaic covenant. I'll take a look, thanks!

[@AndrewPotter-xl4mf]

​@bma in john 6: 29 the "believe on" in the Greek is there a preposition? As in the eis? Does this only cover the accusitive?

[@shanelouie6085]

What if someone doesn't have access to the word of God and its resulting power in their lives. Maybe they are illiterate. Ruth would be a good example of saving faith. What about the dark ages when the word of God wasn't available to the common person.

[@LucianaPelota]

Thank you for this.

[@missionsbibleministry]

this was good, glad your corrected your error. Blessings!

[@ejwoods2457]

I don’t think one particular verse is going to answer this question. I think you should try to analyze what you’re asking a little more; what is meant by is faith a gift of God? That faith is something God gives us? I suppose, but maybe our categories here are quite accurate. Faith or belief is an act of a human agent or a will. We are definitely the one’s performing the belief or our wills are acting therein. But I think it’s what happens in the effectual calling and New birth is what is given us. The Spirit grants us spiritual life or a new spiritual disposition which in turn leads us to repent and believe in Christ most willingly. Now the righteousness apprehended/laid hold of via faith is a gift. We can’t see or enter the kingdom until we our born from above. Faith would be our key to entering the kingdom. So the new disposition wrought by the Spirit is certainly a gift of grace and faith directly issues from it. But we shouldn’t undermine the human agency involved in believing. When we will faith in Christ we are justified. I think some Calvinist fail to keep this in mind being over zealous about election and predestination. But no Reformed Theologians I know of have denied human agency.

[@Music-zm5bi]

Biblical Mastery Academy: Is there anyway you could please help me understand the unpardonable sin? Is there anything in the greek that would indicate it as a continuous sin of hardening your heart and not just a one time thing like cussing at the Holy Spirit in a moment of anger? And I think the NIV makes it sound like its slander and not just any Blasphemy. And is it directed at the Spirits witness of Christ and not Himself? I heard of a lady who got mad at her mom when she was young and went in her room and said horrible things against the Spirit and wondered if she can't be forgiven now. I have as well and I asked for forgiveness, but I am worried. Is it just rejecting Christ who is the basis for forgiveness? In Matthew before He gives the warning He says: he who is not with me is against me...therefore I tell you (what's the therefore therefore, indicating that its rejecting Christ). Anyway, I am just confused and concerned and it's been driving me crazy. If there is any wisdom or help you could offer I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

[@damc8415]

Makes sense to me.

[@rg0147]

You're speaking too fast for someone with no background in Greek such as me, so it is difficult to keep up with you. Would you mind slowing down a little? Thank you

[@pierreabbat6157]

Nothing to do with this topic, but I just found a minimal pair of words that differ by the kind of accent: τρυγῶν - gathering grapes; τρυγών - turtledove.

[@bma]

One is a noun and the other is a verb - or a participle form of a verb... good spotting!

[@LesMartin]

Well done, brother.

[@fernandojrapodaca]

Hello AWSOME video sir , so would the contemporary English version accurately translate john 6:29? Jesus answered ‘God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.” Or Good new bible Jesus answered “what God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent.” Gods Word translation,Jesus replied to them”God wants to do something for you so that you would believe in the one whom he has sent.”

[@bma]

Given the context, something like "this is the work God requires, that you believe in whom He sent" (though "requires" should be in italics) - so more like your "what God wants you to do is to believe" though "want" is not quite the right verb here.

[@ChrisLegg17]

Faith is simply to believe, which is to be persuaded that something is true.

[@bma]

I'm not so sure. I think there is much more to it than mere cognitive agreement. For example, Paul talks about "the obedience of faith" which suggests that faith affects what we do too.

[@GreenLifeEnergy]

Hebrews 11 is a good place to start 🙏❤️

[@professorburris]

Great explanation!

[@jdmalm123]

How can faith be equivalent to trust, if trust is a verb and "pistis" (the faith) is a noun? And, if we are trusting in christ, he told us to repent and be baptized among many other things which we then must do for salvation.

[@bma]

Good question. πιστις is what is referred to as a verbal noun, so even though it is a noun, we understand that is has a verbal idea. The same applies to nouns like "speech" or "travel."

[@jdmalm123]

@@bma If "pistis" is always a noun (in Greek), can you point me to verses in the Greek text that use "pistis" (not another form) as a verb?

[@jdmalm123]

@@bma I know you're busy, but are you able to help with my follow up question? Thanks!

[@bma]

Sorry about the delay. I didn't say the noun is used as a verb, I said it is a verbal noun - that is a noun that refers to a verbal ideal. Other examples of such words would be "love" which refers to the act of loving. It gets a bit tricky in English because "love" as a noun looks the same as "love" as a verb, but in Greek it is much clearer. I hope that helps.

[@jdmalm123]

@@bma that does help, can you show me the verses wherein "pistis" is working this way?

[@rinkevichjm]

Jn 6:29 And Jesus did answer and did say to them “this is God’s own work that you shall commit to whom He did send” πιστεύητε to the Ancient Greek does not mean believe (that is a different verb in the passive) but to be faithful or committed. It’s about action not some mental concept. This is a horrible translation if it means merely to believe. The ancient Greeks didn’t use it that way.

[@kjvacp]

Where did you get the idea that God did ANYTHING in Philippians 1.29?? All they need to do to believe is "hear the gospel". - "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? >> and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

[@kenchilton]

Instead of John 6, look down a bit to John 8:31ff. Jesus is talking “to the Jews who had believed him.” The Bible says they believed. A few verses later, they wanted to kill Jesus. Their is a huge difference between believing, that is, just agreeing and placing validity on the word and being born again. A major theme of John’s gospel is to show that just agreement is not enough, but saving faith is given to his sheep and they follow.

[@junglialoh]

We do not have any faith apart from Him. Therefore our faith is actually His faith in us. With His faith (not my faith), we endure this journey by His faith which in us. Faith is not ours, but His. He is all in all.

[@DuncanLambert85]

🙏🏼

[@johnnilan8240]

i would that you saw faith as the gift of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:9 and in measure Romans 12:3 but this first. Acts 1 Wait until you have received the promise of the Father from the Baptizer -- Jesus. Matt. 3:11 Luke 3:16. Paul would not let you get away with mental faith but demands you finish in the Spirit. 1 Cor 2:1-5 and my favorite -- Dear Idiots ... (JB Phillips Galatians 3: 1 et seq.)

[@mysticmouse7261]

You're still wrong. There are other verses that prove faith is a gift. "We are justified by faith apart from works." Also the word required does not show up in John 6 29 according to Greek interlinear. " Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

[@oxigenarian9763]

I'm not I following you on the meaning of faith. Faith is a substance (Heb 11:1) and is something received from God (Heb 11:7). It is real evidence which has spiritual form and spiritual weight. It is God answering hope. While trust is a good reaction to faith, it is clear to me that faith is a gift from God and trust comes in that when God tells you something is ahead, we can fully trust that it IS going happen (Heb 11:13 et all). Abraham believed God. What did he believe? God spoke to him - a gift of substance, a gift of faith. Abraham trusted God and believed what He said, what He promised. (Gen 15:6) So, is faith trust? I think we receive faith from God and we're to trust what God has given us.

[@bma]

I think you've misread Heb 11:1 - the English word "substance" is misleading here. But I think we agree that faith is a gift of God. 😎

[@oxigenarian9763]

@@bma I would be grateful if you would elaborate.

[@dusttalking6871]

I’m not reformed so no, faith isn’t a gift from the Lord.

[@ejj1939]

Looks like as you are going through the verses you are knocking them off one by one regarding what you believe. Take the next step and dig deeper into Philippians 1:29. Granting is not an irresistible action or one that has to be accepted. If I grant you access to the gym that does not mean you are at the gym.

[@briancoles4249]

You keep looking at all this closely and you just might give up Calvinism

[@bma]

Haha! I don't think my calvinism (as you call it) comes from not looking closely enough 😜

[@Given119]

Your mistake is in "correcting" yourself in John 6. It does make sense unless you insist believing in God is a work of man. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@tableseven8133]

Your teaching from a corrupted Calvinist angle. Faith can be a gift but in context, the gift is salvation brought to us by God sending his Son to pay for all of the sins of the whole world. Salvation through Christ is the gift in Ephesians, You have to have the context verse 7 and the ones before make that very clear. Especially if you read it in KJB. Salvation through belief in Christ is open to all, faith in his work and in his payment for eternal life/heaven.

[@gracemercywrath8767]

First thank you for pointing out where you miss spoke. I would encourage you to watch Soteriology101 to help explain the other verses. We can not receive anything unless it is granted to us from God. There is no limit to who salvation has been granted. God so loved the world that he granted Jesus so whoever believes should not perish. Blessings.

[@CANIGAW]

Believing in God is a work that we are commanded to do. Read verse 28, bible explains itself! Context or cross reference other passages. “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” - 1 John 3:23 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” - Romans 10:17 The bible is all you need, greek is useless

[@briancoles4249]

NT written in greek

[@user-we4ex4pe4z]

Calvinist theology, false theology