The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word, by which also, and by the administration of the sacraments, and prayer, it is increased and strengthened.
Faith is a gift or grace, as plainly taught in the second chapter of Ephesians. This point is worth emphasizing, as it differs from conventional evangelical thought, which commonly sees all men as capable of faith. This I dispute strenuously. As the Confession states, the Holy Spirit works sovereignly within the hearts of those whom the Father has chosen and enables them to believe effectively--see the previous discussion of effectual calling.
The ordinary means by which grace comes into the life of a Christian are the word of God, the sacraments, and prayer. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The sacraments are the gospel preached to our other senses (sight, touch, taste, smell). And prayer is the vehicle of our daily communication with God, by which we may saturate our souls with his word. There are other means of grace (Christian fellowship, for example) but these are chief and the Confession concentrates upon them.
Tomorrow: The effects of true faith.
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