Translation of Disputation XXIII: Living, Saving Faith is God’s Gift to the Elect
The illustrious Professor of Theology, Dr. Gomarus writes: “Since a most grave controversy is being agitated concerning the saving faith of Christians between the Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and other enemies of Grace: therefore, for the sake of illustrating and asserting the truth, we propose to examine this sincere doctrine, separately and distinctly, according to our ability, beginning with the words of Scripture.”
THESIS 1
In Hebrew Emunah, in Greek Pistis, in Latin Fides — these terms are harmonious both in their origin and in their signification.
For Emunah is derived from Aman (“to make firm” — as in Ne’eman, “to be firm”), and properly signifies firmness or steadfastness; improperly, however, it designates faith — either through metaphor (as truth) or through metonymy derived from it.
Pistis, on the other hand, proceeds from peithō and pepeismai (“to persuade” / “it has been persuaded”).
Finally, Fides is derived from the same source (as the learned generally hold), although some conjecture that it comes from the Sabine language; and Cicero, with a Stoic allusion, suggests a Latin origin because fiat (“let it be done” / “it comes to pass”), which also fits the meaning.
II. Furthermore, faith (that is, fides), first properly and generally, is a persuasion of the mind concerning the truth of something. Whence Philoponus says: “Pistis is the knowledge (agnitio) of that which is persuaded.”
Then, improperly, it is used by metonymy in two ways.
III. Firstly, it is used to signify that which produces or causes faith. And thus it is taken either for the argument/proof of the thing (i.e., evidence), or for fidelity (that quality which is most suitable for persuading).
In this sense, “the faith of God” (that is, the truth of the promises in God) is sometimes spoken of; and God Himself, the word of God, and faithful men are also called by this name.
The second use is that it denotes the object of faith, or the word that is believed, and particularly the Gospel concerning Christ exhibited [or presented].
IV. Properly understood, however, faith is divided according to the variety of both its ground (or evidence) and its object. In the first place, faith is of two kinds:
One proceeds from what is probable and contingent.
The other proceeds from what is true and necessary.
This faith is either conceived by human reason (such as when we believe principles that are credible in themselves, or conclusions deduced from them, or the evident evidence of a thing rightly perceived by the senses), or it exists by divine authority.
In this latter sense, it is sometimes called the faith of God (that is, faith toward God).
V. Furthermore, this faith toward God, according to the object divinely proposed, is also divided into different significations. Indeed, one kind is the faith of miracles (for performing or obtaining them); another is called the faith of the Gospel. The same distinction is indicated by Chrysostom through the difference between faith of signs and faith of doctrines (dogmas).
VI. Moreover, the faith of the Gospel is understood either absolutely, with respect to the whole, or relatively, with respect to a part. The former is a certain persuasion concerning the truth of the whole Evangelical doctrine about God and Christ the Savior. Basil delineates it in this way: “faith is an undoubted assent to the things that have been heard, together with full assurance of the truth of those things which have been preached by the grace of God.”
But the latter is a certain assent concerning the Christian liberty delivered in the Gospel. This is sometimes designated by the word “faith,” taken synecdochically.
VII. Furthermore, of the faith of the whole Gospel, one kind is dead and useless for salvation; the other is living and salvific. This distinction is established by a notable metaphor. Thus, each kind is considered either as an inherent habit [i.e., a permanent quality dwelling in the soul] or as a transient act (an action passing through the soul).
VIII. Dead faith, however, is the bare and unfruitful knowledge of the truth of the doctrine concerning God and Christ the Savior, which belongs to the unregenerate (those not born again). This is commonly called — somewhat more narrowly and obscurely — historical faith. But more fully and plainly, it would be called bare faith.
IX. And this dead faith is partly the faith of demons, but joined with horror and hatred of God and Christ. It is partly the faith of the reprobate, who either openly betray their dead faith by the wickedness of their life, or for a time deceive themselves and others by a superficial delight in the truth of the Gospel and by fleeing the abundant impurity of the world.
X. This faith, whether it fails when overcome by the terror of enemies [Luke 8:13], the error of seducers, or the enticements of the flesh [2 Thess. 2:10-11; 2 Tim. 2:18] whence it is commonly called temporary faith [Matt. 13:21; Luke 8:13]; or whether it endures to the end of life [Matt. 7:22]; nevertheless, does not cease to be dead and useless for salvation [Matt. 7:23; James 2:26]. Such was also the faith of those who believed in Christ, yet to whom He did not entrust Himself [John 2:23-24].
XI. True living faith (which is active, coherent, and fruitful) is part of the new birth (regeneration), and because it is inseparably joined with the related virtues of love and charity, it is efficacious through them. For this reason, it is also called living and sincere faith (being of such a kind as Christ requires for salvation and alone approves) and is commonly termed living faith. This faith, for a fuller understanding of the matter, can be illustrated in the following way, once a definition has been proposed and explained.
XII. Living faith is a supernatural virtue, infused by God freely into the hearts of the Elect (those who desire repentance for sin and deliverance), through the Gospel and regeneration, for their justification and salvation, and for His own glory. By this faith they acknowledge the truth of the divine Word, and especially that Jesus is the Christ, the only and perfect Son of God of all true believers, and therefore, their own Savior.
XIII. It is called ‘virtue’ (virtus), because it is a habit of the mind conformed to the command of God. It is called a ‘habit’ (habitus), because it is a lasting quality that renders the soul fit and ready for believing. Hence, to such a faith is attributed solidity and duration; and those equipped with it are called steadfast and believers. Moreover, it is conformed to the command of God because it is both commanded at the beginning of the Gospel doctrine [Mark 1:15; 1 John 3:23] and constitutes the end [John 20:31] and the obedience of that doctrine [Romans 1:5; 10:16].
XIV. It is furthermore called supernatural, because it is neither innate by nature from birth, nor acquired — either wholly or in part — by its own powers (whether by the sharpness of intellect, or by the choice of free will, or by the diligence of repeated action).
Proof Texts:
John 1:13: “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Ephesians 2:3: “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
Acts 16:17-18: “The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.”
Romans 8:7: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
1 Cor. 2:14: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Matt. 11:27: “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.”
Matt. 16:17: “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”
Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
John 6:44: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:65: “And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.”
XV. For although the ability to hear the preached Gospel belongs to nature ability, and to understand its message belongs to instruction and diligence (as the examples of unbelieving enemies of the Church clearly show), yet the assent and faith in the Gospel that has been heard and understood (that is, the acknowledgment of its truth, which is sometimes called understanding or assenting knowledge) is a supernatural power. Without this, the wisdom of the doctrine of faith appears as foolishness to mere human reason. And for this reason, it is called the mystery of faith [1 Tim. 3:9]. This will clearly be evident from the causes [which follow].
XVI. For the efficient cause — that is, the Creator and Giver of faith — is God alone: the Father [1 Phil. 1:29; Eph. 1:17-19, 2:8; 2 Thess. 1;11; John 6:44-45], the Son [Matt. 11:27; John 1:18; Eph. 2:10; 1 Peter 1:21; 2 Peter 1:3; 1 John 5:20] and the Holy Spirit [2 Cor. 4:13]. This will be shown by the moving causes of this gift and the manner in which it is given.
XVII. The internal moving cause is not [in any way due to] the merit of men themselves, but the undeserved and eternal grace of His love and election unto salvation. The external moving cause, however, is the obedience of Christ, the Mediator and Savior, given by the Father, even unto death. By this obedience He acquired for us — in the same way — both eternal life and faith in the Savior (as the necessary instrument of salvation), just as the divine promise and justice of the New Covenant, of which He is the Surety, require to be fulfilled. Therefore, we are said to have obtained faith through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
XVIII. The mode of effecting the gift of faith, however, is the twofold revelation and illumination of God. The first of these is external and ministerial, namely the announcement of the Gospel, which is called the testimony of God. This is either immediate and extraordinary (such as was employed in the faith of Abraham, coming from God alone), or mediate and ordinary, through the ministers of the Gospel.
XIX. The latter [revelation/illumination], however, is the internal and principal one: the enlightenment through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. Without this, the former (external announcement) is not sufficient to generate living faith, on account of the blindness of the mind and the hardness of the heart.
For as the announcement of the Gospel sets forth things to be believed and calls people to believe, so God, by the sole power of His Spirit — dispelling the blindness of the mind, softening the hardness of the heart, infusing the light of faith, and inwardly enabling the soul to behold the light of the Gospel and to obey the call — brings them to faith.
By reason of this efficacy, just as faith is called the efficacy of God, so the effecting of it is called a calling from darkness into light, and those who are called are termed the elect (ἐκλεκτοί).
This is what concerns the efficient cause, [which is God].
Proof Texts:
John 1:12-13: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Ephesians 1:17-18: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”
Ephesians 2:10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
James 1:18: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”
1 Peter 1:22-23: “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”
Ephesians 4:18: “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”
1 Cor. 2:11-12, 14: “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God… But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
1 Cor. 3:7: “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”
Ezekiel 36:26-27: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
Ephesians 1:17-19: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.”
Matthew 16:17: “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”
1 Cor. 3:5-7: “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Col. 2:11: “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.”
1 Peter 1:8-9: “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”
XX. The matter [substance] of faith, however, is twofold: one is subjective, the other is objective; and the subjective matter exists either as proximate or remote.
XXI. The remote subjective matter [substance] of faith are the elect alone, chosen unto eternal life (whence faith is said to be not of all, but of the elect). These are specifically those who, driven by the terror of the Law — which reveals and condemns sins — to repentance (which is therefore commonly called legal repentance), and despairing of their own strength, anxiously desire deliverance.
XXII. The proximate subjective matter [substance] of faith, however, is the mind or the intellect (understanding). This is because it is the proper subject both of faith in general and of the act of believing, as well as of the periphrastic descriptions of it — such as: “to esteem the one promising as faithful,” “to be fully persuaded by the preached Gospel,” “to be persuaded by the accepted promises,” and “to be fully assured” — and likewise of the contrary unbelief and doubt.
XXIII. The word “heart” is sometimes used to refer to this, but not as the entire soul (mind and will together). Instead, in its most common meaning, it refers to the intellect or mind alone.
XXIV. The objective matter [substance] of faith, however, is:
- Universally: the sole and entire Word of God, proposed for belief and fully contained in Holy Scripture.
- Particularly: the word of reconciliation and the word of salvation, or the Gospel — namely, the doctrine of God concerning the person of Jesus Christ, His attributes, together with His offices and benefits.
XXV. The sum of which is: that Jesus is the Christ, the only and perfect Son of God, the Savior of all true believers. By reason of this object, just as the Gospel is called the law (that is, the doctrine) of faith and the word of faith, so conversely the faith of the Gospel is called faith in God, faith in Jesus Christ, faith in the Son of God, knowledge of salvation, acknowledgment of the grace of God, and acknowledgment of Christ.
This concerns the matter [substance] of faith.
XXVI. The form of faith [i.e., the component that makes it a living faith], however, is the infused and fruitful acknowledgment of this object through regeneration — an acknowledgment that is productive of true persuasion concerning the righteousness and salvation through Christ both of all believers and (consequently) of one’s own.
For by this it is living faith, and it differs from all other kinds of faith.
XXVII. For although some shadow of it may appear in the faith of certain reprobate persons, nevertheless, the truth [of living faith] is missing because it is destitute both of the grace of regeneration and of fruitfulness.
XXVIII. And by reason of this form, which is common to all believers (both before and after the advent of Christ), it is called common faith and one faith. Nevertheless, while the core form of faith is the same for all believers, each person has their own personal faith, which differs in strength (measure) and in the effects it produces.
XXIX. Furthermore, the highest end of faith is the glory of God the Redeemer.
This glory is manifested in two ways:
- Partly by God Himself, when by granting faith to His [once] blind adversaries (according to the New Covenant, for the sake of Christ), He reveals to believers the virtues of His truth, righteousness, grace, mercy, and power [Luke 1:77-79; John 3:33; Eph. 1:18-19; 2:7-8; 3:10, 12, 18-19; Romans 3:26, 5:8, 10:19-20; 1 Tim. 1:16; 2 Peter 1:3].
- Partly by those to whom faith is given, when with grateful mind and heart, with tongue, and with deeds, they celebrate and proclaim these virtues of God both in themselves and in others [John 3:33; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Thess. 1:3, 2:13].
XXX. The subjective end of faith, however — and its organic fruit (from which especially the faith of believers is called precious and very precious) — is union with Christ and communion with His benefits. From this flows justification, adoption, and eternal life. The instrument of these is faith working (operative faith): not by itself or by any inherent power of its own (as natural instruments act), nor by its own merit (because it is owed to God, and is imperfect on account of the remaining contamination of the flesh), but accidentally [i.e., serving as the God-appointed instrument] through the grace and promise of God, as well as the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thus far concerning the causes of faith.
XXXI. The effects of faith (which it produces by both its own power and by divine assistance), are first partly proper [having a distinct characteristic] and proximate:
- Immediately flowing from its form: the living act of believing the Gospel concerning the salvation of all believers.
- Mediately consequent: the certain persuasion of each faithful person concerning his own salvation through Christ.
This is commonly (and sometimes also in Holy Scripture) called ‘confidence’ (fiducia) by catachresis.
XXXII. Although the certainty of this [persuasion] is not expressly named in the Word of God, it is nevertheless solidly concluded from God’s doctrine concerning faith and from the very nature of faith (as a true and certain antecedent of practical reasoning). For the Gospel sets forth this proposition, confirmed by divine authority: “Whoever believes with living faith in the Gospel of God concerning the free justification and salvation of all true believers through Christ, is justified and shall be saved” [John 3:16; 20:31; Romans 8:30; 10:10; Gal. 5:6].
The assumption is dictated by the certain experience of the conscience: “I believe in this way” [1 Tim. 1:16; 2 Tim. 1:12, etc.]. From this it necessarily deduces the conclusion: “Therefore I am justified and shall be saved.”
This conclusion is individually sealed and confirmed in the souls of believers by the testimony and judgment of their own spirit and conscience, together with the agreeing testimony of the Holy Spirit (coming as an earnest and seal).
XXXIII. However, this action of faith is indeed proper [to living faith], but it is not perpetual. For sometimes, through the temptations of the flesh, the world, and Satan (by which either the memory of that proposition established in the Gospel, or the memory of the assumption of the conscience, is clouded), it becomes weak or is for a time suppressed; yet it is never extinguished.
In the same way, the Holy Spirit, being provoked by the sins of believers to chastise them, may for a time defer His sealing of faith and His consolation until serious repentance, but He does not take it away entirely.
And this is what concerns the proper [distinctive] effects of faith.
XXXIV. These works of love, hope, and confidence in God come directly from the power of those virtues themselves. However, they come ultimately from living faith, which presents God’s saving grace in Christ as the strongest motivation and encouragement for doing them. This is why faith is called:
- Faith working through love (fides per charitatem efficax),
- The true foundation (or substance) of things hoped for,
- And why Christian confidence is regarded as the offspring of faith.
This concludes the discussion of the effects of faith in general.
XXXV. Finally, a certain adjunct of this faith is its preservation and perseverance through the grace and power of God unto the end of life, although in unequal degrees.
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