On his website, Arminian Perspectives, Ben Henshaw has a questions page at which he answers questions about Arminianism and Calvinism that visitors to his site pose in the comment section of the page. Here is questioning from a man named Ken with answers provided by Ben and another commenter with the screen name “Arminian”:
Ken: I have a friend who thinks that faith is a gift from God and that we have no part in whether we place our faith in Christ. He used 2 verses to back this up:
Hebrews 12:2 ” looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (ESV). It looks like Jesus is the one who originates our faith.
and
Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (ESV)
So here God assigns faith to each person.
Do you think these verses say what he thinks they say, or is there another way of looking at them?
Ben: No, I do not think these verses teach what your friend is suggesting.
Briefly. On Hebrews 12:2, it is true that Christ is the perfecter of our faith, but there is no reason to think that He perfects our faith irresistibly. Indeed, just the opposite is plainly implied as it is the reason we are to “look to” Him and “throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles”, that we might “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Now, if Christ irresistibly causes faith in us and irresistibly causes us to continue in the faith (or perfects our faith), such language becomes rather pointless, and so do the warnings throughout Hebrews and the NT as a whole. It would be like warning someone hooked to a respirator to “keep breathing.”
He is the “founder/pioneer” of our faith as He is the object of our faith and His life and death is the foundation of our faith. His life of endurance is the example we must look to in order to find the courage and strength to endure our own struggle (12:2-4)
Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
This verse has specific reference to spiritual giftings given to believers. It has nothing to do with unbelievers becoming believers, and again it does not imply that such giftings (including various levels of faith) are irresistible. As is the case with Hebrews 12:2, just reading the passage in context should be enough to see that this verse is being improperly used as a Calvinist proof text (12:1-8).
Ken: Thanks for your response.
One followup: I can see that “faith” in Romans 12:3 is not referring to saving faith. My friend, however, is hung up on the word “faith”. He asks, “Well, if it’s not faith that saves, then what could it be? Why would Paul use a word that seems to be used as saving faith in most other places, but then use the same word to mean something else?”
Can you think of another word to use in place of “faith” that would perhaps give a clearer picture of what Paul is saying? Or perhaps a paraphrase that might make the meaning more clear?
Arminian: The highly respected Romans commentator C.E.B. Cranfield gives the most likely understanding of Rom 12:3, namely that it refers to faith in Christ as the standard by which we are to measure ourselves (“measure of faith” can carry the meaning in Greek “standard of measure, namely, faith”). Rather than thinking of ourselves more highly than fellow believers or comparing ourselves with them, we are to think of ourselves in accordance with the faith that we all share, which is the standard God has assigned to each one of us for our estimation of oneself. This accords much better with the context, in which Paul is not wanting to give a reason for thinking of oneself more or less highly according to the quantity or quality of one’s faith in comparison to others. He is arguing for unity and humility. It would be like, if SEA members were arguing about who was the most most knowledgeable among us, and the leadership called on us not to think of ourselves too highly, but to think of ourselves by this standard, that we are all members of SEA, which unites us all and places us all on an equal footing.
Ben: I had never heard the explanation given by Arminian, but I think it is very persuassive having heard it. However, one example of a gifting of faith that is not saving is in 1 Cor. 12:9, in the context of verses 4-11.
Arminian: Yes, there is a special gift of faith that Paul talks about in 1 Cor 12, which many think is God giving someone special confidence that something is his will and so enabling them to believe him for that thing.
As for the interpretation I gave, Cranfield convincingly argues that if Paul were referring to different levels of faith that church members are supposed to think of themselves based on, this implies comparing themselves with others and thinking of themselves more or less highly on that basis, the very opposite thing he seems to be trying to accomplish. One could point to the diversity of gifts Paul mentions in 1 Cor 12 to try and support a different levels of faith interpretation. But those are different gifts, not different levels of faith. Each should exercise his gift in accordance with, literally, the faith (the faith we all share) (or even if we think of it as in accordance with each one’s faith, it would still be best taken as basic Christian faith, which every believer has by definition).
