Just meditating on the nature of saving faith today, and how the commandment God makes to the lost sheep to believe the gospel of their salvation is similar in essence to the creative commandment God said in the beginning:
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
It can be said that the Holy Spirit commands faith in his elect, saying "Let there be faith: and there was faith."
This is salvation. It is the new covenant. It is not a work of man, but rather a work of God. And just as our very conciousness does not create our existence in this life, so also, faith does not create spiritual life, but on the contrary is a very conciousness of it. And just as when we look into our mirrors at home and are filled with an awareness of our own existence, so also is faith rectified and strengthened when it looks into the Word of God, into the reflection of the gospel of its salvation, and the Spirit bears true witness that we are; that is, that we exist; we who are His, are new creatures in Christ Jesus, and faith as a commanded gift of God begins to shine the moment God creationally commands it! Praise Him!
2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
