I've addressed the errors of using the proof-texted verses to prove faith precedes life, regeneration, and becoming a child, so now I'll speak to the claim Colossians 2:12-13 and Ephesians 2:5-8 say "
Faith precedes quickening."
Colossians 2:12-13 (KJV)
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also
ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Ephesians 2:5-8 (KJV)
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;6 And hath raised
us up together, and made
us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in
his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:
The first observation to makes is, once again, neither passage actually states, "Faith precedes quickening." Perhaps more importantly, though, is the fact that neither text is about the unregenerate person or the unregenerate will. Both sets of statements were written by an already- regenerate believer to already-regenerate believers about those already-regenerate believers! There isn't a single mention in any of those verses about the unregenerate. Paul is simply saying his already-regenerate audience are risen and risen
through the faith of the operation of God, NOT
by the faith of the unregenerate mind or will. In other words, this passage is example of what I said from the beginning: the monergist can point to scripture that actually states God as causal, not the unregenerate's will. The faith mention in Colossians 2:12 is the faith
of God's operation, not the faith of the unregenerate and not the faith
in God's operation.
Neither passage speaks about the unregenerate. Therefore, neither passage is speaking about the faith of the unregenerate. Using these passages as if they do apply to the unregenerate is called a false equivalence, or the apples and oranges fallacy. The regenerate and the unregenerate are not the same kind of people; they are no equally comparable because one is still dead in sin and not dead in Christ and the other is dead to sin and is dead in Christ.
Neither does either passage state any sequence between the unregenerate's faith and his own salvation. It cannot do so because neither passage was written about the unregenerate. Even were we to say the two texts apply to the unregenerate there is still no sequence explicitly established between faith and quickening. The quickening and the faith can co-occur. The same two texts could also be read to say the quickening is evidence of the faith, or that it manifested the faith. Simply put, neither passage actually states, "
Faith precedes quickening," as was asserted, and the only way to render either passage that way is to eisegetically assume beforehand that is what is being said.
The above being said, a proper exegesis of either text would take a couple of posts for each because Paul is referencing some Old Testament texts and the meaning of what he's written won't adequately be understood without consulting his source material. For example, the matter of "uncircumcision of the flesh" is rooted in the Abraham covenant and all that is said about that covenant in both Old and New Testaments. It also references some of the prophets, such a Jeremiah, who speaks of "
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart," and "for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart."
Many draw separations between soteriology and eschatology and they not only don't consider the soteriological meaning of the prophets they don't believe it exists. Yet it is very clear in the New Testament Abrahamic circumcision, Mosaic circumcision, and Jeremiah's circumcision is important to life in Jesus. The irony here is that this very Colossians 2 passage speaks explicitly about this circumcision but the original poster conveniently left out that portion of scripture.
Colossians 2:8-15
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
It's not a circumcision made by hand. It is not a hand-made circumcision. (Gk. = "
acheiropoiētō"
G886)
Elsewhere Paul writes,
Philippians 3:2-4
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.....
That "we" is the saints, the regenerate, not the unregenerate. The regenerate is the circumcision that is not hand-made. Which brings me to another point.
the same selective use of scripture applies to the Ephesians 2 text because when we look at what else Paul wrote we read,
Ephesians 2:1-10
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
We see that it is God who made those dead in trespass alive. He
made us alive. In Ephesians 2:8-10, the text states we are saved by grace through faith and it is not of ourselves but the gift of God. There's a lot of debate about this because one side argues both grace and faith are gifts while the other makes distinction between the two. But the facts of the verse are that no distinction is being made and the gift is singular, not plural. It is not grace AND faith that are gifts and it is not grace AND faith that are the gift. The gift is salvation-by-grace-through-faith. It is salvation-by-grace-through-faith that is NOT OF OURSELVES!!!!!
It is by grace we have been saved through faith.
It is the by grace we have been saved through faith as a whole that is the gift and the two are inseparable when it comes to understanding the gift. The salvation by grace through faith is not of ourselves. This is further reiterated when we continue to read we are created in Christ for good works that God has already planned for us to perform.
NOT A SINGLE WORD ABOUT THE UNRGENERATE OR HIS FAITH! Not a single word about the unregenerate's faith. On the contrary, we were not circumcised by hand and the salvation by grace through faith is a gift, not of ourselves, and we are His workmanship. His "workmanship" is the making us alive, the salvation by grace through faith that is not of ourselves, the work He's already planned for the saved person before He ever saved the person. All God, none of it attributed to the unregenerate.
Neither passage quoted actually states, "
Faith precedes quickening." Neither verse actually states any sequence of events whereby faith precedes anything, much less quickening. The only way to read either passage sequentially is by assuming such a sequence, not relying on what is specifically, explicitly stated. That is an inferential reading. It is an eisegetic reading, not an exegetic one.
