Are Faith and Repentance Gods Work or Mans?

Are Faith and Repentance God's Work or Man's?!

Introduction
This Christian article was written after reading the brochure "Can Believers Fall Away?" (GBV Germany). This brochure is very helpful, informative, and engagingly written. It explains many texts and verses in the Bible that tell us that true Christian believers can never fall away. However, the author (name not given) made a serious error in his text, saying that faith and repentance in a person are accomplished by God.

Thus, it appears that people don't need to worry about becoming believers, since it doesn't depend on them. By confusing the concepts of faith and salvation, the author leads us to the idea that at God's judgment, a person can tell God that they are not guilty of their disobedience to God, nor of the fact that they led a sinful life and did not become a believer, because God did not give them faith. It also turns out that Jesus Christ and His Apostles wasted their ministry to people, preaching faith and repentance, which they must perform before God, since, according to the author, God will do all this for them. Therefore, to understand the author's error, one must first thoroughly understand the definitions of the words: faith, repentance, and salvation.
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Faith is a certain state of a person when their thoughts, actions, and all behavior are connected to an entity that is absent from their immediate field of vision and hearing, but exists in reality for them. Or this entity may be close to a person, but cannot be perceived by their senses of sight, hearing, touch, and so on, yet it is real to them. Faith in God is a person's deep conviction in the existence of God as the Creator of the universe and all that exists in it. Faith arises in a person as a result of their life on Earth and the search for truth in their own lives and in the lives of those around them. The Bible defines faith as follows: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

For Christians, the woGennady Gumilevskyrd "believer" means that this person believes that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, lived on earth in a human body and sacrificed Himself on the cross for the sins of mankind. It also means that this person has accepted Him as their Savior, their God, and has come to love Him. A believer in the Son of God is a reborn person and, from the moment of love for God and repentance before Him, has eternal life. Without love for God, being with Him in eternity is impossible.

Repentance means a change of mind regarding one's wrong thoughts and actions toward someone else. In the Bible, repentance means a change of mind regarding sin, one's relationship with God, and one's self-esteem, and is always associated with a sincere condemnation of oneself and one's sinful life before God. Faith usually comes to us gradually and, in most cases, precedes repentance. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).

Of course, faith and repentance can occur separately or simultaneously: in church, at home, among Christians, while reading the Bible, or in critical situations. Repentance, especially the first repentance, comes suddenly. Repentance is accompanied by our impulse, our swiftness to confess before God all the bad things in our lives, as well as our previous lack of faith in Him. Repentance for our sinful life and love for Jesus Christ are necessary conditions for receiving the Holy Spirit, for finding God within ourselves, in our hearts, as Christians say. Only love for Jesus Christ can lead us to true repentance; otherwise, it will merely be a list of our sins before God, which God already knows everything about.

Ultimately, every human life is determined by a person's love for God and for others. Those who love God cannot be unbelievers, for otherwise it would be unclear whom they love. Those who love God cannot help but experience true repentance, for love is the greatest obstacle to doing something bad to a loved one and always evokes bitter regret and remorse for what has been done that displeases the loved one. Consequently, a person asks for forgiveness, expressing sincere repentance. Those who love Him also have such repentance before God. All who love God become His chosen children. But this decision is determined and confirmed by God, not by man. God gives people the right to choose whether to be with Him in eternity or not, whether to have eternal life or not. God grants this right to people. People must make the choice; it is their business.

The salvation of a person and the salvation of a sinner—which are one and the same—are not the work of man, but of God. But this is not a coercive act from God, not the instilling in a person of God's desire for them to become believers. God chooses only those who love Him, who need Him, who seek Him. But God helps those who seek truth, who seek God, to find Him during their lifetime on Earth.

Jesus Christ explains the role of man in God's salvation of a sinner in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). In this parable, the Lord tells us about an earthly father and his son, and how the son abandoned his father and led a sinful life. But the images of father and son are implied to be God and His creation, man. In this example, the Lord shows us the entire complex relationship between God and man: that man is a sinner and cannot save himself, and that only the Father, only God, can save him. But to do this, the son needed to understand his wrong, sinful life, that he had a father (and man has a heavenly Father, God), whom he needs and from whom he must ask forgiveness. The son chose the path to his father. Choosing the path to God, which means finding faith in Him and repenting of one's sinful life, is the work of man. And God will save such a man. He promises us this because God loves all people.

Salvation comes from God. Only God can save a person; it is impossible for humans to do so. But a person must choose the path to salvation themselves. This can be achieved through their own efforts, overcoming all temptations and rejecting their own selfishness. God knows everything about the future life of people even before their conception: who they will become, who they will be, and all their actions. It cannot be otherwise, because the definition of God excludes the possibility that God cannot know something in the past, present, and future, connected in space and time. God is the One who knows everything and can do everything, and for Him nothing is inaccessible or impossible. However, God wants to grant people autonomy in their lives and the freedom to choose their own path. God does not need robots. God wants people to become His children and love Him. He tells us this in the Bible.

Other claims and their fallacies: In the book "Can Believers Fall Away" published by GBV, the author asserts that a person can become a believer only if it is God's will, not man's, that faith is a gift from God, and whether or not a person believes is not up to them. The author does not say that salvation is a gift from God, but that faith is a gift from God, although the Bible does not say so. To support his assertion, the author cites verses from Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works, lest anyone should boast."

There are two statements here about receiving salvation. The first asserts that salvation is given to us by God's grace, but only for believers. "Grace" means because of God's love for people. But there is no assertion here that faith is a gift from God. Salvation by grace is God's gift. It also says that salvation is by grace, provided a person has faith. The second statement tells us that salvation for a believer is God's work. Salvation is from God, and we cannot save ourselves by any of our works or deeds.

If we agree with the author that faith is a gift from God, then it becomes unclear that God loves all people (John 35:16), yet does not grant salvation to everyone. Therefore, a person must become a believer themselves; it is their own decision. Otherwise, by what principle does God grant faith? By the number of sins? But this is untrue, since the Bible states that God forgives believers all their sins upon repentance. Should people do nothing for their salvation? Should they resign themselves to their sinful lives and wait to see who will receive faith and who will not? Can we really speak of God like that? Of course, the author's assertion that faith is a gift from God is a grave mistake. All human life on earth is God's gift to humanity. But in every life, there are things people do that are pleasing and things that are not pleasing to God. Faith is what God always expects from people, from every person. Faith that grows into love for God—this is what God expects from all of us. Here is the answer of Paul and Silas to the jailer's question: "What must I do to be saved? And they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your house'" (Acts 16:30-31). Faith is a human endeavor!!!

The Bible says that all unbelievers will face God's judgment after their life on Earth. And if we agree that faith is a gift from God, then unbelievers can tell God that they are not to blame for not having faith, since God did not give it to them. God cannot be blamed for people's lack of faith. It is a human endeavor. God cannot send people to hell for failing to grant them faith and repentance before God, if faith is a gift from God. But God will punish with the loss of eternal life anyone who has not found faith and repented before God. We can ask God to strengthen our faith in Him, but asking God to give us faith is wrong, since anyone who asks does not deny the existence of God and therefore accepts His existence. Otherwise, why ask? Just in case, it is not a heartfelt request; it is insincere.

Everyone can understand that God exists, but we understand the word "faith" and the word "believer" (and the Bible interprets it this way) to mean not only our understanding of God's existence, but primarily that a believer loves God: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6). Without love for God, without love for others, it is impossible to become a believer. Faith and repentance precede salvation; they are human endeavors. God promises salvation to those who fulfill them. Salvation is a gift from God.

If we define the word "believer" as someone who knows, who understands, that God exists, then a much wider range of people will relate to this concept. But of this multitude of believers, only those who have come to love God and acknowledge Him as their Savior in His Son Jesus Christ come to sincere repentance. Even the demons believe otherwise, as the Bible tells us: "You believe that there is one God; you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble" (James 2:19). "Fallen angels know of God's existence, but since they are confirmed in evil and incapable of correction, their faith is not united with love for Him. They tremble, awaiting Judgment."

Sincere repentance is inextricably linked with the emergence of love for God in the believer. Repentance, like faith, is also accomplished by man, a man of faith, and the Holy Spirit assists him in this. He assists, but does not compel. When Jesus Christ began His ministry on earth, He began preaching the Gospel and calling people to repent, so that people themselves might repent. The author of the brochure made a second mistake by claiming that God influences people through the Holy Spirit to cause them to repent. As evidence, the author cites a passage from the Apostle Paul's address to believers (Philippians 2:13). It's best to cite this verse together with verse 12: "Therefore, my beloved... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

These words refer to the beloved, that is, to believers, and they should be understood to mean that when we become children of God after repentance, God treats us as a Father, not only caring for us when we need to avoid wrongdoing, but also ensuring that we perform certain actions through us that are pleasing to God. God then directs us through the Holy Spirit. It is not stated here that this also applies to unbelievers whom God inspires to repent. In the book of Acts, chapter 2 (verses 37-38), the Apostle Peter clearly and distinctly outlines what people must do to be with God, to receive salvation from Him: "When they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"

These words, spoken by the Apostle Peter two thousand years ago, resonate before people always; every day, and in every moment, they strive to penetrate people's hearts. This is a call to all of us. How will we respond to God, for God loves us and awaits our response?!