First the Tree, Then the Fruit

Yes, of course, God's elect are saved by grace and through faith – and that NOT of yourselves. We understand that the grace that saves the sinner is not of ourselves (Romans 3:24); but for some reason the same understanding is not there regarding the faith. Yet, the statement "not of yourselves," applies to the faith that saves as well. This is so because faith is a work (1 Thessalonians 1:3) and no man is justified by works:

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, ...

The faith that saves which is not of ourselves is Christ's faith. His work of faith which He performed by dying as the Lamb of God for the sins of His elect people in the atonement.

And yes, it is true we are to have faith in Christ. But our faith is never saving faith. The faith that the elect child of God exhibits is a result of having been saved.

It is very surprising that so many people do not understand this obvious fact about faith. People who really ought to know better, no, I don't mean theologians, but rather farmers and anyone who understands agriculture and the way things grow.

Let's read what God says about faith in the lives of His elect children:

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,...

The faith that God's people show forth – is a fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit is thereby likened to a tree (the tree of life) that produces fruit in the lives of those who were saved. Observe the order of things: first, one receives the Spirit. Then the fruit. One of which is faith.

But in order to have the Spirit within, one must be saved by grace, through faith, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES. The faith that saved is not of us but of Christ (see Galatians 2:16). After we're saved then we have the Spirit indwell us, and the fruit of faith begins to show itself in our lives. This is the proper order of things. First the tree (Spirit enters us after God has saved us), then the fruit (faith we begin to show forth).

Always, always, always in the Bible, when it comes to saving faith, it is always the faith of Christ and never the faith of man. The free will gospel puts the fruit before the tree or, as the expression goes, the cart before the horse. It is therefore a backwards gospel that has inverted the proper order of God's salvation program, and in so doing, it has also taken away the glory of God's preeminence and given it to man.