Is having Faith in the gospel considered a "work"?

[Davy]

Titus 3:9
9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
KJV

 

[Deborah_]

This website can explain it better than I ever could

www.gotquestions.org/amp/monergism-vs-synergism.html

It is, however, one-sided.

Looking at the same issue from the other side:

Calvinism and Arminianism Compared by Roger E. Olson

(see point 18 for monergism/synergism)

 

[101G]

GINOLJC, to all.
not saying that any is correct or in error, but consider this.

John 6:26 "Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
John 6:27 "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
John 6:28 "Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
John 6:29 "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

1 John 3:23 "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".

Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ"


we are save by "Hope", which is the goal that is set for us, and our Faith in him goes and gets it.

PICJAG.

 

[Dave L]

“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” (John 6:29)

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

= our faith is a work of God. = you believe because God saved you.

 

[Earburner]

...is it not literally the same thing? What's the difference between believing in Jesus and believing in the Gospel?

Yes, there is a difference!
You are correct in your understanding that Jesus Himself is God's Good News to all the world. Jesus Himself is the Gospel of God. Unfortunately, not many understand that.
.
Many see the writings of the gospel, according to- Matthew, Mark Luke and John as being "the gospel".
Those writings are from their perspective of what they heard, saw and/or experienced concerning Jesus. Their writings are not the "gospel" of God, but rather are their collective thoughts about Him, WHO IS THE Gospel.
.
There are many who believe that they are to copy Jesus' actions and teachings verbatim, according to the written words of the gospel writers. So, for them to "have faith in the gospel", is to have faith in the written account of Jesus, and not in Jesus Himself.

 

[Enoch111]

I've been having a discussion with certain Calvinists lately who claim that holding Faith in the gospel should be considered a work of man, thus Total Depravity is established and Arminianism must be false, for if one chooses to obey the gospel it then becomes works-based salvation (which both sides disagree with).

Anyone who knows what is actually revealed in the New Testament should know that that (bolded) is TOTAL NONSENSE. At the same time, it would be preferable to say that believing the Gospel and responding to the Gospel call is having faith in Christ and His finished work of redemption.

We need to go strictly by Gospel truth, not the doctrines of men, including theological terms such as Monergism, Synergism, etc. Therefore we need to be clear from Scripture as to what exactly is the Gospel, and how God saves sinners purely by His grace.

1. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners: This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Tim 1:15)

2. God sent His Son into the world so that the whole world of humanity would be saved: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17)

3. Sinners are saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and calling upon the Name of the Lord: And [he] brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house... [no mention of baptism at this point, but baptism must follow immediately, as seen in the next few verses]

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 16:30,31; Rom 10:9-13).

4. The Gospel is the Good News that Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification: Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures... And therefore it was imputed to him[Abraham] for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (1 Cor 15:1-4; Rom 4:22-25)

5. We are saved (justified) by grace through faith in Christ alone, and His finished work of redemption, not by works of righteousness which we have done: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God... For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Rom 5:1,2; Eph 2:8,9)

5. Repentance is necessary for the remission of sins and for salvation: And [Christ] said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem... Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost... Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord... And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent (Lk 24:46,47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30).

Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ are the necessary conditions for salvation.

 

[Enoch111]

...is it not literally the same thing? What's the difference between believing in Jesus and believing in the Gospel?

The difference is that Christ Jesus is our salvation [YESHUA = GOD IS OUR SALVATION], and we are to believe in Him exclusively. The Gospel is the vehicle which takes us to Christ, and it is the power of God unto salvation, since the Holy Spirit applies the Gospel to human hearts and brings sinners to repentance.

 

[Enoch111]

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6.29)

This needs to be properly interpreted.

1. The Jews asked Jesus what are the works that they must do to "work the works of God".

2. Jesus responded by telling them indirectly that there is not a single thing that man can do to work the works of God. In other words no works of men can make them worthy or deserving of eternal life.

3. Thus "that ye believe on Him" is the EXACT OPPOSITE of any work by man. It is pure and simple faith in Christ and His finished work of redemption. Christ is the one who did the works of God by (1) His astounding miracles, (2) His perfect sinless life, and (3) His perfect sacrifice on the cross. Man can add NOTHING to this.

4. Faith and works of righteousness are contrasted in Romans 4, and it is because Abraham BELIEVED GOD that it was accounted for righteousness:

ROMANS 4
1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

 

[friend of]

“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” (John 6:29)

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

= our faith is a work of God. = you believe because God saved you.

Appreciated.

 

[Preacher4Truth]

I've been having a discussion with certain Calvinists lately who claim that holding Faith in the gospel should be considered a work of man...

No Calvinist believes the above, it is a straw man misrepresentation, therefore the premise of the OP is begun on a faulty assertion. I just wonder if @friend of will say OK, the OP is incorrect, or, will @friend of just continue on as if it were true and disregard this?

It is not true, it is a false assertion. No Calvinist believes what the OP states. Everything built off of the false premise is then also erroneous.

We believe because of God; Ephesians 1:19; John 6:29; and faith is received from God; 2 Peter 1:1, and is not innate; Romans 10:17. Therefore, believing is a work of God, not of man.

 

[friend of]

You need to read the entire statement I made, @Preacher4Truth, instead of taking it out of context.

I've been having a discussion with certain Calvinists lately who claim that holding Faith in the gospel should be considered a work of man, thus Total Depravity is established and Arminianism must be false, for if one chooses to obey the gospel it then becomes works-based salvation (which both sides disagree with).

This is literally your post #266 in the other thread

If we follow your logic above consistently, just as you blame man for not choosing, or what have you, you end up glorying in man because some did. Since this is the end result, your thinking and gospel understanding are errant and man-centered.

You position is that any decision for Christ on our part would constitute works-based salvation. I've already shown how that's wrong.

 

[friend of]

No Calvinist believes the above, it is a straw man misrepresentation, therefore the premise of the OP is begun on a faulty assertion. I just wonder if @friend of will say OK, the OP is incorrect, or, will @friend of just continue on as if it were true and disregard this?

I admit I probably should have phrased what I intended to say a lot better than I did but I was in a hurry. Sorry.

 

[marks]

I believe God. That's not "synergistic", which means a shared work. Explanations of soteriological synergism, to my recollection, put it in terms if God works His part, and we do our part.

Everyone here hates voting in polls lol

No place to answer. the poll gives only 1 non-works option, monergism, which I believe to be true but not in the way commonly meant.

We choose whether or not we want to reconcile to God, but there are no works we do to make that happen. God reconciled us to Himself already, we either accept that to be true or not.

Monergism, but we only enjoy the results of God's work if we want to.

Much love!
Mark

 

[friend of]

We choose whether or not we want to reconcile to God, but there are no works we do to make that happen

So then you do not believe that our decision to believe on Christ is to be considered a work on our part, correct?

 

[marks]

So then you do not believe that our decision to believe on Christ is to be considered a work on our part, correct?

If thoughts were work, my chores would be done.

;)

 

[Marymog]

If thoughts were work, my chores would be done.;)

Hi Marks,

Coveting or envying they neighbors goods is one of the ten commandments. As Christians one of the "works" we must do is obey the commandments of God and not to have impure "thoughts". Being envious or "coveting" can only come thru thoughts.

Would you please think about my chores so that they will get done also?

Mary

 

[Marymog]

So then you do not believe that our decision to believe on Christ is to be considered a work on our part, correct?

Hi Friend,

If I may join in.....Good job. You asked a very thought provoking question. Yes, believing on Christ is a work.

Mary

 

[marks]

Hi Marks,

Coveting or envying they neighbors goods is one of the ten commandments. As Christians one of the "works" we must do is obey the commandments of God and not to have impure "thoughts". Being envious or "coveting" can only come thru thoughts.

Would you please think about my chores so that they will get done also?

Mary

You know, I was talking with my wife just yesterday about that, in reference to Paul, in his using the example of coveting in Romans 7.

It's one that is only inside.

Bears thinking about.

Much love!
Mark

 

[marks]

And yet the Bible does declare salvation is not by our works, and it is by our receiving Him.

Ergo . . . the definition is plain, unless someone wants to reverse the meaning of plainly stated Scripture.

Much love!

 

[friend of]

Yes, believing on Christ is a work.

Then would you consider this work to be works based salvation?