Is Faith a Gift from God or a Human Exercise

The basic message that Lopez offers in his article entitled Is Faith a Gift From God or a Human Exercise is that faith is much like a human response to God as Lopez compares it to a beggar reaching his hand out for food (Lopez, 276). The content of Lopez's article thus tries to disprove the idea that faith is always considered by the Bible to be a gift from God, and as he begins his argument with an attempt to disprove the common understanding of the direct message of Ephesians 2:8, he disputes it being interpreted directly to mean that faith is a gift from God (Lopez, 260). Lopez goes on to give reason after reason to support his view that faith is generally not a gift of God as this takes much of the content of his paper, and in doing this he asks three questions, "Are unsaved people spiritually unable to respond? Is faith considered a work? Do some biblical passages teach that faith is a gift?" (Lopez, 262)

Critical Interaction

Lopez makes the case that unsaved people are able to respond to the gospel, and he supports this view with the example of Cornelius in Acts 10 (Lopez, 263). Lopez is careful to criticize the distinction that many people make between divine good works and human good works (Lopez, 265), and in doing this he builds a case that ends in the conclusion that faith can be a divine gift as in Romans 12:3 but that it is given to people that already believe (Lopez, 269) and that if faith is a gift then so is suffering because they are both in the same way granted from God (Lopez, 270). Overall, what Lopez obviously is trying to argue is that the Bible does not teach that faith is a gift from God even if it comes from God, and in this regard many things come from God that would not be considered gifts in his view.

Lopez makes his case regarding faith not being a gift from God for several underpinning reasons. First, Lopez brings out the statement that, "Nowhere does Scripture teach the inability of individuals to respond to God's drawing" (Lopez, 262), and this is sort of bated to suggest that he is responding to some people that would believe that people that want to be saved cannot be saved. Second, Lopez asks how God could blame people for not acknowledging Christ if they could not respond to the gospel (Lopez, 262). Third, Lopez describes the importance of unbelievers being able to be convinced to receive or reject Christ (Lopez, 264). Overall, clearly the underpinning case that Lopez is trying to make by rejecting faith as a gift from God is the case that God has chosen the saints to be saved through election, and he would like to argue that free will is available to everyone to be saved above and beyond God's choices in the matter of election.

Conclusion

Lopez does not make a very strong argument because as is seen in Genesis 15:17-18 God makes a covenant with Abraham that God was solely responsible for keeping, and this is why Abraham did not follow along and perform the covenant ritual with God (the covenant ritual was performed by God alone but was set up by Abraham according to the Word of God). The teaching that is conveyed is that God is keeper of the covenants alone as future covenants would build on and clarify the covenant with Abraham, but the human element of salvation involves acting upon the word of God according to faith for God to establish the covenant (this is the process in Genesis 15 that Abraham worked through prior to God giving the covenant). Overall, even if faith was not a gift from God, it would not necessary prove the underlying point that Lopez is trying to make concerning the freedom to believe in Christ.

Bibliography:

Lopez, Rene. "Is Faith a Gift from God or a Human Exercise?" In Bibliotheca Sacra number 164 (July-September 2007): 259-76.