Faith and Freewill

Many religious doctrines see faith as a gift from God. It is true God intervened into the world with many things that can help produce faith. Without God's intervention faith would have never come as we have faith today. Receiving faith was not against man's will but was apart from man's will.

A baby being born is conceived apart from his own will. It isn't against his will but apart from it. Likewise a man coming to faith is often brought to faith without his will, he/she may simply have been where the Gospel was preached without knowing what was going to be said or done, in the New Testament miracles were actually done in front of those not actually expecting them.

Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Heb 2:4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

Faith producing miracles came by God's will, not our own.

Because miracles were by God's will, Augustine and Calvin saw this as a process apart from man's will.

Unfortunately they didn't consider the rest of the process, faith had to be exercised by man's will. Plus man could sto his ears from hearing or continue listening.

Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;

After faith is produced by God's work, man must then exercise his will in complying with faith.

Faith must obey, which is from man's will. In other words man's will works within the faith produced by God.

Mankind was created with the ability to obey or disobey what he is told, this was at creation and not after the fall of Adam, man always had the ability to obey and disobey by his own choice. As Joshua told Israel, "Choose you this day whom you will serve"...

Rom 16:26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

It was by God's commandment that it might be through obedience, and not at faith alone.

Rom 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

Grace, God producing faith in his subjects, did not stop the need for freewill, but was the beginning of the process to free will.

Even Abraham's faith was followed by obedience.

Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Thus grace and faith preceeds obedience.

Faith coming by God's will, obedience to faith by our will. "Faith Only" doctrine began when men left out parts of the process.