I am certainly not a scholar on these things, but I believe every person has the ability to have faith in Christ. I believe faith is a personal choice and under the control of every individual.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. 20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. 21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
It is clear here that Israel could have believed on Christ if they so chose to do. And many in fact did, all of the first believers were Jews. But the majority did not. Notice that failing to believe is termed as disobediant (vs 16, 21). So clearly it is a personal choice.
Faith simply means to trust, depend upon, rely upon, lean upon, look to, call upon, wait on or upon, etc... We exercise faith daily. Everytime you drive your car you trust the brakes to safely stop your vehicle. When you buy a can of soup at the grocery you are trusting the product inside to be safe. Faith is not some mystical thing, it is something we all express everyday.
We derive our faith in Christ from God's Word. If not for the scriptures, we would not know of Jesus that he is God's Son, that he died for our sins, and rose from the dead. This is why Rom 10:14 says;
"and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?"
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