What is the connection of faith and love:
The word "faith" and "belief" in the New Testament are the same Greek word. (Not sure if they are in the Hebrew; been a while since I looked at that.) In both the Old and New Testaments though; to "have faith" means to trust God. And trusting God covers a lot of ground.
Scripture says that faith is a gift of God: (Keep in mind here that other Scripture translations more accurately state "faith of Christ" and not "faith in Christ".
1 Samuel 26:23, Romans 12:3, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 3:2, Galatians 3:5, Galatians 3:22, Ephesians 3:12, Philippians 3:9, Colossians 2:12, Jude 3, 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (faith is a work) 2 Thessalonians 1:11
Now the instilling of faith in a human being happens because of the love of God. And in response to the love of God; a human reciprocates that love to God (and also other things God has created = other people, animals, even plants. I.E. some people are just gifted at training animals, farming or gardening. That's their "gig" in life.)
does saving faith contain a seed of love (for God)
Yes. Love toward God is demonstrated in obedience to Him. And I would say that it also demonstrates an emotional "attachment" to God. Now how "emotional attachment" demonstrates itself in the life of any person does vary. Some people are far more "mushy" than others. But because Jesus demonstrated emotional affection toward people; I find as evidence that God created humans with that capacity as some reflection of His own nature.
Humans though aren't the only living things that have what we'd classify as "emotions". There is fondness, affection, friendship, and care between humans and animals and even among animals with each other. And as strange as this may sound; there is a form of this among plants. House plants grow better and respond better in homes where there's "positive sound waves" than homes where there's a lot of yelling, fighting and strife. Plants also like to be around other plants and do better in groups.
And so all of this, I think is a demonstration of an aspect of the nature of God in what is called "life".
s faith accompanied with love, or does love follow immediately from faith?
Not sure if I understand your question, or even if a "yes" or "no" answer matters. It's like fire needs a fuel to burn, heat and oxygen. If any of those are missing, there's no fire. Faith and love are kind of like two legs of the three legs of the manifestation of regeneration. The third leg I would say is obedience. And this is why I think James says "faith without works is dead".
I think there is faith involved in believing one or other of the historic christian creeds,
Faith is more than an intellectual ascent to an idea though. A lot of people understand and will acknowledge that the doctrines of grace are true. Yet they don't obey God. Their disobedience could be in a variety of things. They may be immoral. They may be hateful. They may say that yes they know X, Y, or Z truths are true; but they are just going to ignore them because they refuse to bow to a lifestyle change.
So yes, intellectual recognition of truth is "a step in the right direction" but that doesn't necessarily constitute genuine saving faith.
I think there is faith that is more like a gift of God, but I don't think God does the believing for us, so it also involves cognitive acts, acknowledgement.
Being regenerated by the Spirit of God is what causes one to trust Him. They believe as a consequence of His action; yet that belief is still manifest in them and is "their belief". Now how much "cognitive acts" or "acknowledgement" that manifests as can be difficult to determine because of what the individual may or may not be able to intellectually grasp, explain or express.
I've known several developmentally disabled people who would not be able to explain basic Christianity; but they both trusted and professed that trust in Christ. That was evidenced by the way they lived their lives. Not that they were perfectly faithful or perfectly obedient. In many respects they were much like dealing with children, particularly in their lack of ability to control their frustration. Some of them also had other neurological issues going on, but they trusted God. They couldn't give you an in-depth theological dissertation on what the death burial and resurrection meant; but they lived by the belief that Jesus rose from the dead and His "job" was to redeem sinners.
I think there is a sort of faith which is trust in God and his goodness and wisdom when we experience difficult times in our lives. I don't think that means resignation.
I agree with you here. Faith is not fatalism, although there are times we acknowledge that "only one who's able to get me out of this is God". I had one such experience when I was in a catastrophic car accident. I knew when they loaded me onto the helicopter, that if I was going to survive; it was going to be on the power and will of God; because I had pretty much been rendered helpless and I knew that.
But I am more interested in the relationship of faith and love, and the relation of faith as a gift and faith as a human act
Well, we already covered that the origin of faith and love comes from God. The "gift of faith as a human act" though is a real thing. If someone has genuine faith, that will manifest in their material life in obedience to God.
And this doesn't just mean "covering the basics of moral obedience". I was faced at one point in my marriage with the question of wether or not I was going to stand in defense of my son's safety even if it ended my marriage? I chose to defend the child because that was morally right. It was up to his father to grow up enough to learn how to be a non abusive father. And if calling the police to protect the kid made my husband hate me; well than, the consequence of the end of the marriage was of my husband's own moral failing not mine. I did what God required of me; despite the fact that it personally cost me a lot.
So yes, "faith as a human act" is a real thing that has material world consequences.
One of the fights between Arminian-leaning believers and Reformed believers centers around the notion by the Arminian-leaning, that if the human is not alone the one to choose between options, the choice is not real. To the Reformed, such choices (made alone by the human, apart from Christ), are necessarily weak, silly, ignorant, lacking in resolve, self-important, presumptive, unreliable, and so on. (When a lost person chooses, by their own will, uncaused by God, to yield to God, it will not be a sure thing, since it depends on so many things that person lacks. But when the Spirit of God changes the person, the person desires the things of God.) The integrity of (reality of) the choices of the believer, according to the Reformed, is the integrity of the Holy Spirit (it is he who makes our choices real). THIS requires the unity with God we acknowledge and desire. That unity is love for (and from) God. Only the Holy Spirit possesses that kind of love, understanding and will. Thus we love, because of who resides in us, and so we are changed.
Mark makes some good points here. The paradox between what arminians accuse of reformed theology, does not mean that human action is of no consequence, or that it's "micro managed" by God. Part of what it means to be omnipotent is that God has the wisdom and power to act "in real time" to influence and direct the outcomes for both His elect as well as the actions of the condemned.
For the unredeemed, all God has to do for them to manifest how corrupt they can absolutely be, is to remove His hand of restraint. "The law" (which can only condemn men of sin) will decide the extent of their punishment dependent on what their own decisions are, as to how far they are willing to take their own wicked intentions. Unlike fallen angels, humans (and animals actually) still retain a decision making process of to what extent they will disobey God. (Fallen angels are depraved totally. That is part of what they knew would happen to them upon their decision to disobey God. This is why there is no redemption plan for angels.)
Humans though (and in particular apart from animals) having the law of God written on their conscience; are not void of the ability of their own volition to violate (or not violate) their conscience. (This is the manifestation of what it means to be created in God's image and why humans are accountable for their sin, when animals aren't.) Humans suffer from "total depravity"; but not that we exercise our own volition by acting depraved totally. That's what "the wages of sin" is about. Those wages are earned based on choices humans make, that they deliberately conclude to violate the conscience they know is instituted by God. This is why they are "without excuse" as Romans says.
Now in contrast; the redeemed are "cleaved" upon by the Holy Spirit; which has brought them from their state of death to a state of life. That is an "added factor" that works apart from how the law interacts with the conscience. The law that condemns based on deliberate violation of the conscience is wha the "Old Testament moral law" is made up of. This remains "in tact" for those who are "under the law" despite that the ceremonial aspect of it has been fulfilled.
But yes, just because God is the agent of regeneration; this does not negate that evidence is made in the life of a believer that regeneration has happened.
Therefore, until we are changed, we do not want enough, know enough even what it is to want Christ, we do not understand the Gospel well enough, nor the other things of God, we don't know what we are doing when we receive Christ. But the Spirit knows completely, wants completely, and loves completely, and has the power to bring to pass, the will of God. Our hearts, minds and will follow, according to the measure of grace he gives. We DO decide, and he is why. That is love. If it is not love, it is not faith by the Spirit of God. And whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.
AMEN! - Well said bro!
