The Gift of Faith?

There are two epistles written by Peter in our Bibles. The first is addressed to "those who are elect exiles of the dispersion." The second is addressed to a slightly different group: "those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours." "Yeah ... so?" you may be asking. Well, you see, knowing to whom a letter is addressed helps to answer some very basic but important questions. For instance, when the author references "you" or "us", to whom is he referring? When Peter wrote, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you" (2 Peter 3:9), it helps to know to whom the "you" is referring. The Jews? All readers? All humans? All created beings? You see, it depends entirely on the address at the beginning. So in this particular reference the "you" toward whom God is patient is not as broad as "everyone" nor as narrow as "the Jews", but references specifically "those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours." Good to know.

Now, looking at that phrase, is there anything about it that strikes you as odd? There is to me. You see, we do not typically think of "faith" as "received". Terms you will commonly hear might be "choose to believe" where faith is a choice or "called to faith" where faith is my response -- something I muster up with which to respond to a call -- but ... "received"? In what context do we ever think of "faith" as something given to us?

In my examination of the text, I tried different versions. What do they say? Well, the King James says "to them that have obtained like precious faith with us." And that is about all of our options. The available translations all use either "obtained" or "received" (or, as in the New Living Translation, "given"). Always a term of being handed, not of mustering up. So examining a variety of versions leaves me with the same question. In what sense is faith given to us?

Maybe the Greek will help. The word is lagchanō. Thayer's says it means "to obtain by lot, to receive by divine allotment, obtain to cast lots, determine by lot" and, go figure, Strong's agrees. Now how does that help any? So, Peter said that the people to whom he was writing did not provide their own faith, but had been given the faith they had and had not been given it by some merit, but "by lot". Now, understand, in the Jewish mind the purpose of casting lots was not to obtain a random outcome, but to obtain an outcome directed by God. Thus, this kind of thinking would mean that Peter was writing to "those to whom God has given by His divine choice a faith of the same kind as ours." Hmmph!

That's not very satisfying, is it? I mean, aren't we all pretty confident that faith is what we provide, what we muster, what we contribute to the equation? And, yet, here's Peter suggesting that faith is, at least originally, given by God's choice to us. Oh, now wait! Doesn't Paul say something like that? You see, Paul (writing to "all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints" -- see how the address makes a difference?) says that each (remember, "of you") is given a measure of faith (Rom 12:3). Oh, how odd! There appears to be agreement.

And let's not interrupt Peter in mid-sentence. He says he is writing "to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ." Oh, that adds a new flavor, doesn't it? I mean, we still have faith bestowed, given, transmitted, but now we have the conduit, the circuit, the method. Peter here (and it is in his address, so it is simply assumed, not debated or argued) says that the faith that we have -- the shared faith among believers -- is given to us by means of "the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ." No righteousness of God, no faith. No Savior, no faith. Linking this thought to Paul's writing, we know that "He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21). Thus, it is the concerted work of Christ on the cross and God's acceptance of that sacrifice that makes available "the righteousness of God" to us. Or, closing the loop, "those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" because God made Him to be sin on our behalf. And that kind of makes "received" mandatory, doesn't it? I mean, if faith, in order to be valuable and effective, must be predicated on the work of Christ and the righteousness of God, it would have to be given rather than produced internally, wouldn't it? We would need to first be made the righteousness of God in Christ before we are given the faith we need in order to align with this formula. Wouldn't we?