Faith - a Gift of
God
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God:
God is not in all his thoughts. Psalm 10:4
Pride
is the enemy of faith. The two can not live together. A man can think
soberly and humbly only as the result of the faith that God gives.
"Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but the
just shall live by his faith." Habakkuk 2:4. The man who has
confidence in his own strength and wisdom, will not depend upon another.
Trust in the wisdom and power of God comes only when we recognize and
acknowledge our own weakness and ignorance.
That
faith which God deals to man is indicated in Revelation 14:12: "Here
is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of
God, and the faith of Jesus." God does not give faith to the saints
only, any more than he gives the commandments to them alone; but the
saints keep the faith, and others do not. The faith which they keep is the
faith of Jesus; therefore it is the faith of Jesus that is given to
men.
"Man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even
we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith
of Christ" (Galatians 2:16).
Waggoner on Romans, p. 179a |
