POTW, you said:
Quote:
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When Peters faith was so little, that Christ had to say to him "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt" the doubt was in himself, he was thinking as a man, acting as a man, instead of trusting that Christ was faithful enough, NOT to let Peter drown, he is saying to him , "Its me, the Lord your God! I can do anything and you can do nothing without me", if any of the disciples had a vast measure of faith in themselves it was worthless unless they believed that Christ was faithful enough to deliver his promise. The Lord would have not said to Peter "O thou of little faith" if he had believed Christ was faithful enough to not let him drown.
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I think some here misunderstand me as well. I am quite aware that Jesus is the object of our faith, we are to look at Jesus and not to ourselves. I have always known that Peter took his eyes off of Jesus,
"But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid". I understand this well. And I actually see this as a very comforting passage, for I know all too well that I myself, often let a situation frighten me, as when my shop closed several years back and I was out of work. That can be a discouraging and even a little frightening experience when jobs are hard to find. So it is comforting to know that even the disciples who saw Jesus in person (that alone I cannot comprehend) sometimes were afraid. And I can honestly say at that time that I reminded myself of how God has promised to care for us and I did not worry. In 6 weeks I found a new job and in just 4 years I am making nearly 50% more than I was. I thank the Lord always for taking good care of me, he has proved it to me many times.
My questions are concerning "imputed faith", which I have never heard of before. Now, I realize that faith comes from God, but I have always believed faith came from hearing the Word of God.
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
This verse is very specific, it does not say faith is a gift. It says faith comes by
hearing.
So, I do agree faith comes from God, but I have always believed it came through hearing and believeing God's Word (and still do). But righteousness is imputed to us, it is put on our account. And the Bible specifically says that. When God looks at us he sees Christ's righteousness. And this righteousness is not incomplete or imperfect.
But I have never seen "imputed faith" in the Bible, that alone makes me careful to accept this doctrine.
And we have seen several instances where Christ pointed out lack of faith, and the language certainly (to me anyway) seems to indicate the fault is with the believer.
What I am saying, is that if faith is a gift, it does not seem right for God to criticize someone for having little faith.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
These verses here clearly (to me) say that faith is a person's own responsibility. I can understand vs 7 to mean nothing else.
My understanding is very similar to CKG's last post (#38).