if the person responds in FAITH, God then responds with SALVATION.
So you say that "
WE HAVE TO GIVE HIM OUR FAITH"
You say that
MAN initiates the salvation process,
that
MAN is Sovereign in salvation.
But the Bible says that "faith" is not OURS...
it is a GIFT OF GOD.
The Bible says GOD is Sovereign and
GIVES FAITH to those who
He "
chooses" or "
elects"... not based on some "work" they do,
based
ONLY on His Good Pleasure... and that is the ONLY way
to have saving FAITH... Who do we believe? You or the Bible?
Eph 2:8-9
For by grace are
ye saved through faith;
and that [faith is] not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
You are preaching the false "works gospel" called
the
BOASTER'S GOSPEL.
The
BOASTER'S GOSPEL says that
MAN is Sovereign and
MAN initiates the salvation process by doing some good work.
(in your case the good work is to "
GIVE HIM OUR FAITH")
And then, when God
SEES what a good work that man has done
God is then
obligated to save us. So
MAN initiates the process
(Man is sovereign) and God is
obligated to finish the process.
The
BOASTER'S GOSPEL says "
DO WHAT I DID TO BE SAVED"
If you just "
do what I did" then God
MUST save you from hell.
MEN have the power to
MAKE God save them... just decide
to "
do what I have done". And you will be saved.
Of course that is pure heresy.
And the Bible teaches no such thing.
The Bible is very clear, men are born
DEAD and cannot save
themselves... any more that Lazarus could save himself.
Since the beginning of the church there have been TWO gospels.
The True Gospel teaches that all men are born spiritually
DEAD
and they
cannot seek God [Rom 3:10-12]
NO MAN seeks God,
no, not even one.
(1) So God must "choose" or "elect" who He will have mercy on,
and (sometime during that person's life) God will "draw" that
man to Christ and Christ will lose NONE the Father gives Him.
John 6 teaches
NO MAN can come to Christ unless the Father
first "draws" him and
ALL MEN the Father draws "shall come"
and Jesus will lose NONE of "His Sheep". God is Sovereign.
(2) The second "works" gospel is the
BOASTER'S GOSPEL it says
MAN is
NOT born spiritually
DEAD that man has enough life in him
to decide to do some "work" to save himself. And when God
SEES
that good work that man has done... God is obligated to save him.
In the Boaster's Gospel MAN is sovereign and MAN initiates his own
salvation... that is why he can
BOAST about his good decision.
While the True Gospel says
NO MAN will seek God.
The Boaster's Gospel says
SOME MEN will seek God.
The True Gospel says God is Sovereign and initiates salvation.
The Boaster's Gospel says
Man is Sovereign and initiates the process.
One of these Gospels is the
narrow way that leads to life.
One of these Gospels is the
BROAD WAY leading to destruction.
The vast majority of Christians follow the
Boaster Gospel.
The vast majority of Christians follow the
BROAD WAY.
Because
MANY are called ["called" by hearing the Gospel]
But
FEW are chosen ["chosen" or "elected" to become saved]
.