Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

Murray) Foreknowledge means that salvation has its origin in the mind of God, not man. To know,
in the biblical sense, is to love; to foreknow is to “forelove.” Foreknowledge thus focuses our
attention on the everlasting love of God, according to which some persons are graciously chosen to
be conformed to the character of Jesus Christ. (J. Boice)
Someone once said to Charles Spurgeon, “God foresaw that you would have faith, and therefore He
loved you.” To which Spurgeon replied: What did He foresee about my faith? Did he foresee that I
should get that faith myself, and that I should believe on Him of myself? No; Christ could not
foresee that, because no Christian man will ever say that faith came of itself without the gift and
without the working of the Holy Spirit. I have met with a great many believers, and talked with them
about this matter; but I never knew one who could put his hand on his heart, and say, “I believed in
Jesus without the assistance of the Holy Spirit.” It is this that accounts for Paul’s placing
sanctification by the Spirit prior to faith in the truth. It is his way of asserting that belief in Christ is
possible only after and because of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. (J.
Schreiner) A salvation which can be achieved by labor is hardly the justification-by-faith-alone kind
of salvation offered elsewhere. Neither is any notion of obedience being the evidence of true faith
found in this passage. (J. Dillow)
There is no reason, contextual or grammatical, to accept the fact that two of the three substantival
elements (grace and salvation) are a “gift,” while the third, faith, is a strictly human contribution.
Paul’s entire theology, including the fact that he specifically refers to faith as something that is
“granted” to us, would indicate that all three elements together constitute a singular gift of God, for
surely grace is His to freely give; salvation is His to freely give, and likewise, saving faith is the gift
of God given to His elect ... How does “granted to you to believe in Him” become “granted to you
the opportunity to believe in Him?” Such is pure eisegesis. No, the simple meaning of the passage is
that God has granted faith to His elect people and that those people well know the path to glory: it is
the path of suffering, trod by their Saviour. The Reformed does not argue that we do not exercise
faith. Instead, it is argued that we are not capable of exercising saving faith until enabled by God
(John 6:65). That ability is a gift from God given to His elect as part of the work of regeneration ...
Unfounded implications to the contrary all come from the same source: the over-riding belief in
creaturely freedom, a freedom that, sadly, is more important than the confession of the Potter’s
freedom to do with His creation as He sees fit, all to His glory and honor. (J. White)
Arminians attribute higher abilities to the mind and will of the natural mind than Scripture allows.
They are therefore tempted to make faith an act of will instead of a response to testimony. The
biblical solution, however, is to admit that for the natural man faith is impossible and to attribute it to
the gift of God. It is given through the creation of a capacity for faith on the basis of the evidence
submitted. It starts with illumination, softening of the heart, and a quickening of the will. As a result,
a man freely believes on the basis of the evidence submitted to him in the Gospels. This creation of
capacity is called regeneration. The biblical evidence that faith itself is a gift is impressive and has
often been repeated. It comes not of one’s strength or virtue but only to those who are chosen of God
for its reception (1 Thess. 2:13); hence, it is a gift (Eph. 6:23, 2:8-9; Phil. 1:29). It comes through
Christ (Acts 3:16; 1 Peter 1:21), by means of the Spirit (2 Cor. 4:13; Gal. 5:5), and by means of the