Over the last century there has been a great change in the way many Christians view saving faith. It is becoming increasingly more common to believe that the salvation of any given person is left up to themselves and their own choice to believe in Jesus Christ. This is not historical, however, and neither is it taught in the pages of scripture. Instead the Bible teaches very clearly that mankind is dead in sin, and saving faith is a gift given by God to those whom he chooses.

It states quite plainly in the book of Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast." Here we read clearly that the faith with which we are saved through is not from ourselves, but instead it is a gift from God. Those who teach that men contain within themselves the ability to have true saving faith are essentially teaching that men can save themselves.

The problem with this teaching is that it goes directly against the teachings of these verses. After all, if we are to believe that the reason any given person becomes saved is because of their faith, then are we to say that one person is "better" than another person in some way? Would we then be saying that those who choose to believe in Christ are smarter than those who do not? The verses mentioned state that salvation is wholly from God, therefore no man can boast. Unfortunately, if we think that our salvation is a result of anything from our own self then we are in fact boasting whether we think so or not.

It must be mentioned that we are not speaking of a general belie God or Jesus Christ. The bible says that Satan and the demons believe, and they tremble. Therefore, a person can indeed can have a general belief in the existence of God and not be saved. This is because true saving faith is a special faith that can only result from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit of God in our hearts. Remember that Ephesians teaches that salvation is not of our own works, but it is a gift from God Himself. To teach that men can produce their own saving faith is a dangerous teaching indeed.