Faith: A Gift of the Spirit

Christians have long treated Paul's treatise on grace as a simple equation: one can follow the law, perform the right works, and in their mind this earns salvation. But reformed theology, or at least its interpretation, has emphasized that we need instead only faith... and then we earn salvation The problem is not in the faith/works side of the equation, its in the earn part of the equation. The reformed view makes faith just another herculean task where we always fall short—another work we employ to earn our way. I think it’s a very human way of seeing our relationship with God. It’s very transactional, which in our world, is the way things work, we perform an action to earn an affirmation. But that is not God's economy.

Paul’s teaching on justification by faith isn't about our faith, but about God's unyielding faithfulness. God's plan for salvation isn't dependent on us being perfectly faithful; it's rooted in God's saving act. This is God’s faithfulness—His commitment to covenant promises and divine intervention—a faithful action made manifest in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

When we assume faith is all about us, it becomes a static list of requirements we must comply with. Instead, Paul presents our faith as a dynamic response to the faithfulness of God that moves us into God’s family. This understanding aligns with the idea that faith isn't a work we perform, but a fruit of the Spirit—a gift cultivated in us by God's own grace.

Faith, even the slightest inkling of faith, is not a task to be performed but a response to God’s saving action. Perhaps faith is discovered when we live in the community of God’s Faithfulness, the church, the community that moves and acts with God’s redeeming work in this world. A community that sees beyond the social identity markers of the world and faithfully proclaims God's saving action.