Faith is the condition of salvation because it trusts in Christ and ascribes salvation to him. Repentance is the condition because it renounces confidence in self and disclaims the glory of salvation. So neither of them justifies as a work, for the nature of the one is to renounce works, and the nature of the other is to depend on the works of another.--Jonathan Edwards, Miscellany #620, in Works, Yale ed., 18:152
Yes! And I think of them as gifts given by the grace of God to those whom he is drawing toward salvation. And after regeneration and all during the Christian life, I still believe they are a gift of grace wrought in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We can never on our own gin up faith and repentance.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great quote.
ReplyDeleteDo you think turning from self-righteousness is a deeper turning from idolatry than all other idols (such as money and food)? The error of self-righteousness implies to me that we don't actually have righteousness, so our turning to God at justification cannot be an effort to bring good to Him, or victory over sin lest our sense of self-righteousness be justified.