🔥 The Gospel of Grace — Hebrews 11:6 Revealed as the Faith God Requires and the Faith God Supplies Through the Life of Jesus Christ
✍️ The Gospel of Grace: AUTHOR
By Carl Timothy Wray
🔥
Carl Timothy Wray is a prolific author and teacher devoted to unveiling the full counsel of God from Genesis to Revelation. Through hundreds of books and teachings, his work centers on revealing the finished work of Christ, the plan of the ages, and the unity of Scripture as one divine mind.
Wray’s message calls believers out of religious striving, self-effort, and fragmented doctrine, and into the rest and clarity of the Gospel of Grace. With a strong emphasis on Scripture, he teaches that what God requires, His grace fulfills, and that the life of Jesus Christ within the believer is the source of faith, righteousness, and transformation.
🔍 SEO PARAGRAPH
The Gospel of Grace — Hebrews 11:6 Revealed: What God Requires, Grace Fulfills is a powerful biblical teaching that unlocks the true meaning of Hebrews 11:6 within the full counsel of God. This book answers one of the most important questions in Scripture: if faith is required to please God, where does that faith come from? By examining key passages such as Hebrews 11:1, Ephesians 2:8, Romans 10:17, John 6:44, and Philippians 2:13, this work reveals that faith is not self-produced, but supplied through the life of Jesus Christ. Readers will discover how grace fulfills what God requires, how faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and how salvation unfolds according to divine order. This book is ideal for those seeking truth about faith, grace vs works, the finished work of Christ, and the full counsel of God.
📖 INTRODUCTION — HEBREWS 11:6 IN THE FULL COUNSEL OF GOD
There are few verses in Scripture as absolute, as weighty, and as uncompromising as Hebrews 11:6:
“But without faith it is impossible to please him…”
Not difficult.
Not unlikely.
👉 Impossible.
This is not a suggestion.
This is not a recommendation.
This is a divine requirement.
And immediately, the weight of that statement presses upon the natural mind:
Do I have enough faith?
Can I produce faith?
What if I cannot believe?
And without the full counsel of God, the verse that was meant to reveal truth becomes a source of pressure, striving, and uncertainty.
Because it sounds like this:
👉 God requires faith…
👉 now man must produce it
But the same Scriptures that declare “without faith it is impossible” also reveal the condition of man apart from God:
Ephesians 2:12 — without God, man has no hope
John 15:5 — without Christ, man can do nothing
1 Corinthians 2:14 — the natural man cannot receive the things of God
Not weak.
👉 Unable.
So now the question must be asked:
If faith is required…
and man has no ability to produce it…
👉 where does that faith come from?
The answer is not found in one verse.
It is found in the full counsel of God.
The same God who requires faith
is the God who gives life.
The same God who says “without faith”
is the God who speaks, reveals, draws, and works within man.
Faith is not self-generated.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves…” — Ephesians 2:8
Faith comes by hearing:
“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” — Romans 10:17
And the will to respond is not independent:
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do…” — Philippians 2:13
This book is written to bring Hebrews 11:6 out of isolation and into the full counsel of God.
Not to remove the requirement of faith—
but to reveal the source of that faith.
Because the Gospel of Grace does not say:
👉 “God requires faith—now produce it.”
The Gospel declares:
👉 God reveals
👉 God speaks
👉 God quickens
👉 God works
And the man now believes.
This is the revelation:
🔥 What God requires, grace fulfills.
The faith God requires
is the faith God supplies.
And when this is seen, the burden is lifted,
the striving ends,
and the soul enters into rest.
📖 CHAPTER 1 — WITHOUT FAITH: THE ABSOLUTE REQUIREMENT
🔥 “WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE”
Hebrews 11:6
“But without faith it is impossible to please him…”
This is one of the most absolute statements in all of Scripture.
Not difficult.
Not rare.
👉 Impossible.
God does not lower the standard.
God does not adjust the requirement.
Faith is not optional.
Faith is not one path among many.
👉 Faith is the only way that pleases God.
⚔️ THE WEIGHT OF THE REQUIREMENT
The moment a man hears this verse, something begins to press upon him:
“Do I have faith?”
“Is my faith strong enough?”
“What if I don’t believe enough?”
And without understanding, the verse produces:
- pressure
- striving
- uncertainty
Because it sounds like:
👉 God requires something…
👉 and now I must produce it
But this is where the danger begins.
Because the requirement is real—
👉 but the understanding is incomplete.
📖 FAITH IS NOT A SUGGESTION — IT IS A REQUIREMENT
Romans 8:8
“So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Hebrews 10:38
“Now the just shall live by faith…”
Romans 14:23
“…whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
These are not optional statements.
They form a unified declaration:
👉 Without faith — no pleasing God
👉 Without faith — no life
👉 Without faith — no righteousness
Faith is not an accessory to the Christian life.
👉 Faith is the foundation of all relationship with God.
🔥 THE STANDARD IS PERFECTION — NOT EFFORT
God does not say:
“Try to have faith”
“Do your best to believe”
He says:
👉 Without it — impossible
This means:
- partial faith is not the standard
- emotional belief is not the standard
- human effort is not the standard
👉 The requirement is absolute.
And that creates a problem.
⚔️ THE PROBLEM CREATED BY THE REQUIREMENT
If faith is absolutely required…
then the question must be faced honestly:
👉 Who has it?
Not who claims it.
Not who talks about it.
👉 Who actually possesses the faith that pleases God?
Because Scripture does not describe man as capable.
It describes man as:
- dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1)
- without hope (Ephesians 2:12)
- unable to receive spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14)
- able to do nothing without Christ (John 15:5)
So now the tension appears:
👉 God requires faith
👉 but man has no ability to produce it
🔥 THE REQUIREMENT REVEALS THE NEED
This is not a contradiction.
This is a pattern found throughout all Scripture.
God requires…
- righteousness → man cannot produce it
- obedience → man cannot fulfill it
- holiness → man cannot attain it
👉 And now:
God requires faith
👉 and man cannot produce it
The requirement was never given to prove man’s strength.
👉 It was given to reveal his need.
📖 THE LAW AND THE PATTERN OF GOD
Romans 3:20
“By the law is the knowledge of sin.”
The Law demanded perfection—
not to empower man,
but to expose him.
Galatians 3:24
“The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ…”
The pattern is always the same:
👉 God requires
👉 man fails
👉 God fulfills
And Hebrews 11:6 follows that same pattern.
🔥 HEBREWS 11:6 IS NOT ISOLATED
When read alone, it sounds like:
👉 “Produce faith so you can please God”
But when read in the full counsel of God, it reveals:
👉 Faith is required
👉 but the source of that faith must be found
Because God never requires anything from man
that He has not already determined to supply through Christ.
⚔️ THE MISUNDERSTANDING THAT CREATES STRIVING
When this verse is misunderstood, it creates a false gospel:
👉 “God requires faith… now you must produce it”
This leads to:
- striving to believe
- trying to generate faith
- emotional effort mistaken for spiritual reality
And the man finds himself:
👉 reaching into a nature that cannot produce what God requires
🔥 DEAD MEN CANNOT PRODUCE FAITH
Ephesians 2:1
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead…”
A dead man does not believe.
A dead man does not produce faith.
A dead man does not respond to God.
👉 Life must come first.
This is the key that unlocks everything.
📖 THE QUESTION THAT OPENS THE DOOR
So now the real question is not:
👉 “Do I have enough faith?”
The real question is:
👉 “Where does faith come from?”
Because if faith is required…
and man cannot produce it…
👉 then the source must be God.
🔥 THE REVELATION THAT BEGINS TO BREAK THROUGH
Hebrews 11:6 is not revealing:
❌ what man must accomplish
It is revealing:
👉 what must be present
And the rest of Scripture will reveal:
👉 where that comes from
💥 FINAL DECLARATION OF CHAPTER 1
“Without faith it is impossible to please God—but the same God who requires faith is the God who reveals, supplies, and produces the faith that pleases Him.”
📖 CHAPTER 2 — THE FATAL QUESTION: WHO HAS FAITH?
🔥 THE QUESTION THAT CANNOT BE AVOIDED
We have established:
“Without faith it is impossible to please him…” — Hebrews 11:6
This is not negotiable.
This is not symbolic.
👉 Faith is absolutely required.
But now we must face the question that most avoid:
👉 Who actually has this faith?
Not who claims it.
Not who talks about it.
👉 Who possesses the faith that truly pleases God?
Because if we answer this wrong, we will build a gospel on illusion instead of truth.
⚔️ THE CONDITION OF MAN WITHOUT GOD
The Scripture does not describe man as weak.
It describes man as:
👉 dead
Ephesians 2:1
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins…”
Not struggling.
Not partially alive.
👉 Dead.
🔥 DEAD MEANS NO ABILITY
A dead man cannot:
- believe
- respond
- produce faith
- reach for God
Ephesians 2:12
“Having no hope, and without God in the world.”
👉 No hope = no source
👉 No hope = no ability
This is not exaggeration.
This is God’s diagnosis of man.
📖 THE NATURAL MAN CANNOT RECEIVE
1 Corinthians 2:14
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God… neither can he know them…”
Notice:
👉 Not “will not”
👉 But “cannot”
This is inability—not rebellion alone.
The natural man lacks the capacity to receive spiritual truth.
⚔️ WITHOUT CHRIST — NOTHING
Jesus removes all confusion:
John 15:5
“For without me ye can do nothing.”
Not a little.
Not partially.
👉 Nothing.
That includes:
- believing
- producing faith
- initiating relationship with God
🔥 THIS DESTROYS SELF-PRODUCED FAITH
If man is:
- dead
- without hope
- unable to receive
- able to do nothing
Then faith cannot come from:
❌ human will
❌ human effort
❌ the Adamic nature
👉 It is impossible.
📖 NONE SEEK GOD ON THEIR OWN
Romans 3:10–12
“There is none righteous, no, not one… there is none that seeketh after God.”
This removes the final illusion:
👉 Man does not initiate the search for God.
Even the desire to seek must come from somewhere beyond himself.
🔥 THE FATAL CONTRADICTION
Now we see the tension clearly:
👉 Hebrews 11:6 — Faith is required
👉 Scripture — Man cannot produce it
So we are left with a contradiction—unless we see the full counsel:
👉 God requires something man cannot produce
And this is not new.
This is the pattern of God.
⚔️ THE PATTERN REPEATED
God required:
- righteousness → man could not produce it
- obedience → man failed
- holiness → man fell short
Now:
👉 God requires faith
👉 man cannot produce it
This is not failure in God’s design.
👉 This is the design.
🔥 THE REQUIREMENT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE MET BY MAN
The requirement was not given to prove man’s ability.
👉 It was given to expose his inability.
So that man would stop looking within himself
and begin to look to God.
📖 THE PURPOSE OF EXPOSING INABILITY
Galatians 3:22
“The scripture hath concluded all under sin…”
Why?
👉 “That the promise… might be given…”
God shuts every door to human ability
so that only one door remains open:
👉 Grace.
🔥 SO WHO HAS FAITH?
Now we return to the question:
👉 Who has the faith that pleases God?
The answer is:
👉 Not the man in himself
👉 Not the flesh
👉 Not the natural mind
Faith must come from a source beyond man.
⚔️ THE QUESTION THAT OPENS THE NEXT DOOR
So now the question shifts:
Not:
👉 “Do I have faith?”
But:
👉 “Where does true faith come from?”
Because if man cannot produce it…
👉 then God must supply it.
🔥 THE BEGINNING OF THE REVELATION
The same God who requires faith
is the God who gives life.
The same God who says “without faith”
is the God who speaks, reveals, and draws.
And when He does—
👉 faith begins to appear.
💥 FINAL DECLARATION OF CHAPTER 2
“Faith is required—but it is not found in man. It must come from God, because man in himself has no life, no ability, and no source to produce what God demands.”
📖 CHAPTER 3 — FAITH COMES BY HEARING: THE SOURCE REVEALED
🔥 THE QUESTION NOW DEMANDS AN ANSWER
We have established:
👉 Faith is required (Hebrews 11:6)
👉 Man cannot produce it (Ephesians 2:1, 1 Corinthians 2:14)
So now the question can no longer be avoided:
👉 Where does faith come from?
Because if it does not come from man…
👉 then it must come from God.
📖 FAITH COMES BY HEARING
Romans 10:17
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
This verse does not say:
👉 Faith comes by trying
👉 Faith comes by effort
👉 Faith comes by deciding
It says:
👉 Faith comes
That means:
👉 Faith has a source
👉 Faith has an origin
👉 Faith is supplied
🔥 FAITH IS NOT SELF-PRODUCED — IT IS RECEIVED
Notice the language:
👉 “Faith cometh…”
Not:
👉 “Faith is created by man”
This changes everything.
Faith is not something a man generates.
👉 It is something that comes to him.
⚔️ THE WORD IS THE SOURCE
Romans 10:17 continues:
“…and hearing by the word of God.”
Faith comes through hearing…
👉 and what is heard is the Word.
John 1:1
“In the beginning was the Word…”
👉 The Word is not just information
👉 The Word is Christ Himself
🔥 THE WORD DOES NOT JUST INFORM — IT IMPARTS
John 6:63
“The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
The Word is not:
- mere teaching
- intellectual knowledge
- external instruction
👉 The Word carries life
📖 WHEN THE WORD IS HEARD, LIFE IS IMPARTED
Isaiah 55:10–11
“So shall my word be… it shall not return unto me void…”
The Word does not come empty.
👉 It comes with power
👉 It comes with purpose
👉 It comes with effect
And when it is heard—
👉 something happens within the man.
🔥 FAITH IS THE RESULT OF THE WORD WORKING
Hebrews 4:2
“…the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”
This shows:
👉 Faith is connected to the Word
👉 Faith arises in relation to what is heard
But the key is this:
👉 The Word itself carries the power to produce the response
⚔️ THIS DESTROYS HUMAN EFFORT
If faith comes by hearing…
Then it does not come from:
❌ striving
❌ emotional intensity
❌ self-will
A man does not sit down and decide:
👉 “I will now produce faith”
Faith does not originate in man.
👉 It originates in what he hears from God.
🔥 THE ORDER IS BEING REVEALED
Now we begin to see the divine sequence:
👉 God speaks
👉 The Word is heard
👉 Life is imparted
👉 Faith comes
👉 The man believes
Not the other way around.
📖 THE HEARING IS NOT NATURAL — IT IS SPIRITUAL
This hearing is not just with the ear.
It is with the heart.
Because many hear the Word outwardly—
👉 but not all receive it inwardly.
When God opens the heart:
Acts 16:14
“Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken…”
👉 God opens
👉 the Word enters
👉 faith comes
🔥 FAITH BEGINS WITH GOD — NOT MAN
Now we see clearly:
Faith does not begin when man reaches for God.
👉 Faith begins when God speaks to man.
Faith does not begin with decision.
👉 Faith begins with revelation.
⚔️ THE TRUE DEFINITION OF FAITH (NOW UNDERSTOOD)
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith is:
👉 substance
👉 evidence
But where does that come from?
Not from imagination.
Not from effort.
👉 It comes from God revealing what is true
🔥 FAITH IS SEEING WHAT GOD REVEALS
Faith is not:
❌ trying to believe something unseen
It is:
👉 seeing what God has revealed before it appears
When God speaks—
👉 the unseen becomes real within the man
And that is faith.
📖 THE SOURCE IS NEVER THE MAN
So now we can say it clearly:
👉 The source is not the man
👉 The source is not the will
👉 The source is not effort
👉 The source is the Word of God
🔥 THE BURDEN BEGINS TO LIFT
Now the man no longer says:
👉 “I must produce faith”
He begins to see:
👉 “Faith comes to me as God reveals Himself to me”
And the pressure begins to break.
⚔️ HEBREWS 11:6 NOW MAKES SENSE
“Without faith it is impossible…”
Yes.
Faith is required.
But now we understand:
👉 Faith does not originate in man
👉 Faith comes through God speaking
💥 FINAL DECLARATION OF CHAPTER 3
“Faith does not begin with man seeking God—it begins with God speaking to man. And when God speaks, faith comes.”
📖 CHAPTER 4 — DRAWN FIRST: NO MAN COMES ON HIS OWN
🔥 NO MAN COMES UNLESS HE IS DRAWN
John 6:44
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…”
This is one of the clearest statements Jesus ever made.
Not:
👉 “No man may not come…”
👉 “No man might not come…”
👉 No man can come.
This is not permission.
👉 This is ability.
⚔️ THIS DESTROYS HUMAN INITIATION
If no man can come…
Then man does not:
- initiate salvation
- begin the process
- reach for God on his own
👉 The starting point is not man.
👉 The starting point is God.
🔥 THE FATHER MUST DRAW
Jesus did not say:
👉 “Men will come if they decide”
He said:
👉 “The Father must draw them.”
This means:
- God initiates
- God begins
- God moves first
Faith does not start with man moving toward God.
👉 It starts with God drawing man.
📖 THIS IS REPEATED AGAIN
John 6:65
“No man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.”
Now it becomes even clearer:
👉 Coming to Christ is given
👉 It is not self-produced
🔥 THE GIVING AND THE COMING ARE CONNECTED
John 6:37
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me…”
Notice the order:
👉 The Father gives
👉 Then the man comes
Not:
❌ Man comes → then God responds
But:
👉 God gives → and the man comes
⚔️ THIS REVEALS DIVINE INITIATION
This removes all confusion:
👉 The movement toward God does not begin in man
It begins in:
👉 the will of the Father
📖 GOD OPENS THE HEART
Acts 16:14
“…whose heart the Lord opened…”
Lydia did not open her own heart.
👉 The Lord opened it.
And when the heart was opened—
👉 she responded.
🔥 LOVE DRAWS — NOT HUMAN EFFORT
Jeremiah 31:3
“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
God does not draw by force.
He draws by:
👉 revelation
👉 love
👉 truth
And when He draws—
👉 something begins to awaken within the man.
⚔️ THIS CONNECTS TO FAITH
Now we tie it together:
Romans 10:17
“Faith cometh by hearing…”
But hearing only happens when:
👉 God draws
👉 God opens
👉 God reveals
So now we see:
👉 The drawing produces the hearing
👉 The hearing produces faith
🔥 THE TRUE ORDER IS NOW CLEAR
Here is the divine sequence:
👉 God draws
👉 God opens the heart
👉 The Word is heard
👉 Faith comes
👉 The man responds
Not:
❌ Man decides → then comes
❌ Man produces faith → then believes
📖 THIS REMOVES ALL BOASTING
If man came on his own…
👉 he could boast.
If man produced faith…
👉 he could take credit.
But Scripture removes that completely:
Ephesians 2:8–9
“…not of yourselves… lest any man should boast.”
🔥 THE RESPONSE IS REAL — BUT NOT THE SOURCE
The man truly comes.
The man truly believes.
The man truly responds.
But:
👉 he is not the source of that response
The source is:
👉 God drawing
👉 God opening
👉 God working
⚔️ THE ERROR OF THE NATURAL MIND
The natural mind says:
👉 “I came to God”
👉 “I chose Him”
👉 “I decided to believe”
But the full counsel reveals:
👉 God drew you
👉 God opened your heart
👉 God brought you to Himself
🔥 HEBREWS 11:6 SEEN THROUGH THIS LIGHT
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him…”
Yes—faith is required.
But now we see:
👉 The same God who requires faith
👉 is the God who draws the man into the place where faith can come
📖 NO MAN COMES FIRST — GOD MOVES FIRST
This is the unchanging truth:
👉 God is always first
1 John 4:19
“We love him, because he first loved us.”
The pattern never changes:
👉 God initiates
👉 man responds
🔥 THE BURDEN CONTINUES TO FALL AWAY
Now the man no longer says:
👉 “I must come to God on my own”
He begins to see:
👉 “God is drawing me—and I am responding to Him”
And the pressure begins to break.
💥 FINAL DECLARATION OF CHAPTER 4
“No man comes to God on his own—God draws, opens, and brings the man to Himself, and within that drawing, the man truly responds in faith.”
📖 CHAPTER 5 — QUICKENED FIRST: LIFE BEFORE FAITH
🔥 THE ORDER MUST BE RIGHT
If the order is wrong, everything becomes confusion.
The natural mind says:
👉 “Believe first… then receive life”
But the full counsel of God reveals:
👉 “Receive life… then believe”
This is not a small adjustment.
👉 This is the difference between truth and error.
📖 MAN IS NOT WEAK — HE IS DEAD
Ephesians 2:1
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins…”
Scripture does not describe man as struggling toward God.
👉 It describes him as dead.
Not partially alive.
Not reaching upward.
👉 Dead.
⚔️ DEAD MEN DO NOT BELIEVE
A dead man cannot:
- hear spiritually
- understand spiritually
- respond to God
- produce faith
1 Corinthians 2:14
“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God… neither can he know them…”
👉 Not because he won’t
👉 But because he cannot
🔥 LIFE MUST COME FIRST
Before there can be faith…
👉 there must be life.
John 5:21
“For as the Father raiseth up the dead… even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.”
Life is not requested.
👉 Life is given.
📖 QUICKENED — MADE ALIVE BY GOD
Ephesians 2:5
“Even when we were dead… hath quickened us together with Christ…”
Notice the order:
👉 Dead → then quickened
Not:
❌ Alive → then quickened
🔥 THE NEW BIRTH IS NOT HUMANLY INITIATED
John 1:13
“…born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
James 1:18
“Of his own will begat he us…”
The new birth does not begin with man’s will.
👉 It begins with God’s will.
⚔️ REGENERATION IS THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING
Titus 3:5
“…the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost…”
Regeneration is:
- the giving of life
- the awakening of the heart
- the beginning of response
👉 It is the source of everything that follows
🔥 FAITH FOLLOWS LIFE — NEVER PRECEDES IT
Now we can see clearly:
👉 Life comes first
👉 Then faith arises
Romans 10:17
“Faith cometh by hearing…”
But hearing requires:
👉 life
👉 awakening
👉 quickening
A dead man does not hear.
👉 A living man does.
📖 THE WORD IMPARTS LIFE
John 6:63
“The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
The Word does not just inform.
👉 It imparts life
And when life is present:
👉 faith begins to arise.
⚔️ THE ERROR OF REVERSING THE ORDER
The natural mind teaches:
👉 “Believe → then you will receive life”
This creates:
- striving
- pressure
- self-effort
Because it demands something from a dead man.
🔥 THE TRUE ORDER OF GOD
The full counsel reveals:
👉 Man is dead
👉 God quickens
👉 The Word brings life
👉 Faith comes
👉 The man believes
This is the divine sequence.
📖 GOD SHINES FIRST — THEN MAN SEES
2 Corinthians 4:6
“For God… hath shined in our hearts…”
God does not wait for man to see.
👉 He shines first.
And when He shines:
👉 the man sees
👉 the man understands
👉 the man believes
🔥 FAITH IS THE RESPONSE OF LIFE
Faith is not the cause of life.
👉 Faith is the result of life.
It is not the root.
👉 It is the fruit.
⚔️ HEBREWS 11:6 NOW UNDERSTOOD
“Without faith it is impossible…”
Yes.
Faith is required.
But now we see:
👉 God does not ask a dead man to believe
👉 He makes him alive
👉 and the believing follows
🔥 THE BURDEN IS REMOVED
Now the man no longer says:
👉 “I must believe so I can live”
He begins to see:
👉 “God has given life—and now I believe”
And striving begins to end.
💥 FINAL DECLARATION OF CHAPTER 5
“God does not ask a dead man to believe—He makes him alive, and the faith He requires arises as the response of the life He gives.”
📖 CHAPTER 6 — GOD WORKS THE WILL: THE SOURCE OF RESPONSE
🔥 THE QUESTION OF THE WILL
We have seen:
👉 Faith is required (Hebrews 11:6)
👉 Man cannot produce it (Ephesians 2:1)
👉 Life comes first (John 5:21)
Now the question goes deeper:
👉 Where does the will to believe come from?
Because even after life is given…
👉 the man still responds
👉 the man still believes
So what is the source of that response?
📖 GOD WORKS THE WILL
Philippians 2:13
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Not just the doing.
👉 The willing.
This is one of the most powerful revelations in Scripture.
The will that responds to God…
👉 is not self-originated
👉 it is God working within
🔥 THE WILL IS NOT INDEPENDENT
Man does have a will.
Man does make choices.
But the source of the will that turns toward God is not:
❌ the flesh
❌ the natural mind
❌ independent human effort
👉 It is God working within the man
⚔️ THIS DESTROYS SELF-INITIATED FAITH
If God works the will…
Then faith does not begin with:
👉 man deciding
👉 man choosing
👉 man producing belief
Faith begins with:
👉 God working something inside the man
📖 A NEW HEART IS GIVEN FIRST
Ezekiel 36:26
“A new heart also will I give you…”
Ezekiel 36:27
“And I will put my spirit within you…”
God does not ask the old heart to respond.
👉 He gives a new one.
🔥 GOD CAUSES THE WALK
Ezekiel 36:27
“And I will cause you to walk in my statutes…”
Not:
👉 you might walk
👉 you should walk
👉 I will cause you
This is divine operation.
⚔️ IT IS NOT OF HIM THAT WILLS
Romans 9:16
“So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”
This does not remove the will.
👉 It removes the will as the source.
📖 GOD WORKS WHAT PLEASES HIM
Hebrews 13:21
“…working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight…”
What pleases God?
👉 Faith.
So what does God do?
👉 He works in the man what pleases Him.
🔥 GRACE IS POWER — NOT JUST FORGIVENESS
2 Corinthians 12:9
“My grace is sufficient for thee…”
Grace is not just:
- pardon
- forgiveness
- covering
👉 Grace is divine ability
Grace supplies:
- life
- faith
- response
- power
⚔️ THE RESPONSE IS REAL — BUT NOT THE SOURCE
Now we must keep the balance:
The man truly:
- believes
- responds
- follows
But:
👉 he is not the source of that response
The source is:
👉 God working within him
📖 THE VINE AND THE BRANCH EXPLAIN IT
John 15:5
“I am the vine… ye are the branches…”
The branch:
👉 truly bears fruit
But:
👉 it does not produce the life
The life flows from the vine.
🔥 FAITH IS THE FRUIT OF GOD WORKING
Now we see:
👉 God gives life
👉 God gives a new heart
👉 God places His Spirit
👉 God works the will
And the man:
👉 believes
👉 responds
👉 walks
⚔️ THE ERROR OF THE NATURAL MIND
The natural mind says:
👉 “I chose God”
👉 “I made the decision”
👉 “I produced the faith”
But the full counsel reveals:
👉 God worked the will
👉 God produced the desire
👉 God brought forth the response
📖 EVERYTHING FLOWS FROM HIM
Romans 11:36
“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things…”
Faith is not outside this.
👉 Faith is included in “all things”
🔥 HEBREWS 11:6 IN FULL LIGHT
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him…”
Yes.
Faith is required.
But now we see:
👉 The same God who requires faith
👉 works within the man
👉 to produce the very faith that pleases Him
💥 FINAL DECLARATION OF CHAPTER 6
“The will to believe is not self-created—it is God working within man, bringing forth a real response of faith that pleases Him.”
📖 CHAPTER 7 — THE ERROR OF SELF-PRODUCED FAITH
🔥 THE SUBTLE DECEPTION
After hearing that faith is required…
and after feeling the weight of:
“Without faith it is impossible…”
the natural response of man is:
👉 “Then I must produce it.”
This is where the deception begins.
Not in open rebellion…
👉 but in religious effort.
⚔️ THE SHIFT FROM GRACE TO SELF
The moment a man believes:
👉 “I must generate faith”
he has shifted from:
👉 grace
to
👉 self-effort
Even if he uses spiritual language…
the source has changed.
📖 BEGINNING IN THE SPIRIT — TRYING TO FINISH IN THE FLESH
Galatians 3:2–3
“Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
This is the error.
👉 Starting with God
👉 then trying to continue by self
🔥 THE FLESH CANNOT PRODUCE SPIRITUAL REALITY
No matter how sincere…
No matter how disciplined…
The flesh cannot produce:
- faith
- righteousness
- spiritual life
Romans 8:8
“They that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
⚔️ THIS CREATES A FALSE FAITH
When faith is self-produced, it becomes:
- emotional belief
- mental agreement
- outward confession without inward life
It may look like faith…
👉 but it has no source in God.
📖 GRACE AND WORKS CANNOT MIX
Romans 11:6
“And if by grace, then is it no more of works…”
Faith that comes from grace:
👉 is supplied by God
Faith that comes from effort:
👉 is a work of man
And the two cannot mix.
🔥 RELIGION TRAINS MEN TO PRODUCE WHAT GOD SUPPLIES
Religion says:
👉 “Try harder to believe”
👉 “Work up your faith”
👉 “Confess it until it becomes real”
But the Gospel of Grace declares:
👉 Receive what God has already supplied
⚔️ THE OUTWARD FORM WITHOUT POWER
2 Timothy 3:5
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…”
Self-produced faith has:
👉 the appearance
👉 the language
👉 the structure
But it lacks:
👉 the power of God
📖 LIPS WITHOUT HEART
Matthew 15:8–9
“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth… but their heart is far from me.”
Self-produced faith often lives in:
👉 words
👉 declarations
👉 outward expressions
But true faith comes from:
👉 a heart touched by God
🔥 ASCETICISM AND SELF-EFFORT EXPOSED
Colossians 2:20–23
“…which things have indeed a shew of wisdom…”
Man-made systems of effort:
- look spiritual
- sound disciplined
- appear powerful
But they have:
👉 no power against the flesh
⚔️ THE ROOT PROBLEM
The problem is not sincerity.
The problem is source.
A man can be sincere…
👉 and still be producing from himself
And anything that comes from self:
👉 cannot please God
📖 TRUE FAITH HAS A DIVINE SOURCE
We must return to the truth:
Romans 10:17
“Faith cometh by hearing…”
Faith does not come from:
❌ effort
❌ repetition
❌ striving
👉 It comes from God speaking
🔥 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REAL AND FALSE FAITH
❌ False faith:
- produced by man
- sustained by effort
- rooted in emotion or intellect
✅ True faith:
- comes from God
- flows from life
- is sustained by grace
⚔️ THE END OF STRIVING
When a man tries to produce faith, he enters:
- frustration
- doubt
- exhaustion
Because he is trying to produce something:
👉 he was never designed to produce
📖 THE CALL IS NOT TO PRODUCE — BUT TO RECEIVE
The Gospel never says:
👉 “Produce faith”
It says:
👉 “Hear”
👉 “Receive”
👉 “Believe”
And even that believing…
👉 flows from God working within
🔥 THE BURDEN IS EXPOSED
Now the man begins to see:
👉 “I have been trying to produce what only God can supply”
And in that moment—
👉 striving begins to break.
⚔️ HEBREWS 11:6 RECONSIDERED
“Without faith it is impossible…”
Yes.
But now we see clearly:
👉 God does not require man to produce faith
👉 He reveals Himself
👉 He speaks
👉 He works
And faith comes.
💥 FINAL DECLARATION OF CHAPTER 7
“Self-produced faith is the effort of man trying to create what only God can supply—but true faith comes from God, flows through the Word, and is sustained by grace alone.”
📖 CHAPTER 8 — THE ELDERS OBTAINED A GOOD REPORT
🔥 THE WITNESS OF THOSE WHO WENT BEFORE
Hebrews 11 now brings us into a powerful reality:
“For by it the elders obtained a good report.” — Hebrews 11:2
This chapter is not theory.
👉 It is witness.
It shows us men and women who walked in faith—
and it answers the question:
👉 What does real faith look like?
⚔️ FAITH IS NOT ABSTRACT — IT IS DEMONSTRATED
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith.
Hebrews 11:6 requires faith.
But Hebrews 11:2–40…
👉 demonstrates faith.
And what we are about to see will confirm everything we’ve built:
👉 Faith is never self-originated
👉 Faith is always a response to God
📖 BY FAITH… BUT WHAT CAME FIRST?
Throughout Hebrews 11, we read:
- “By faith Abel…”
- “By faith Enoch…”
- “By faith Noah…”
- “By faith Abraham…”
But the question must be asked:
👉 What came before “by faith”?
Because none of these men acted in isolation.
🔥 ABEL — FAITH RESPONDS TO REVELATION
Hebrews 11:4
“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice…”
But Abel did not invent this offering.
God had already revealed:
👉 the pattern
👉 the sacrifice
👉 the way
Abel’s faith was not creative—
👉 it was responsive.
⚔️ NOAH — FAITH RESPONDS TO GOD SPEAKING
Hebrews 11:7
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet…”
Notice:
👉 “being warned of God”
Noah did not imagine the flood.
👉 God spoke.
And Noah responded.
📖 ABRAHAM — FAITH FOLLOWS THE VOICE
Hebrews 11:8
“By faith Abraham, when he was called…”
👉 “When he was called”
Abraham did not wake up one day and decide:
👉 “I will walk by faith”
God called him.
👉 And Abraham responded.
🔥 MOSES — FAITH SEES WHAT GOD REVEALS
Hebrews 11:27
“For he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.”
Moses did not create this vision.
👉 God revealed Himself.
And Moses responded to what he saw.
⚔️ EVERY EXAMPLE FOLLOWS THE SAME PATTERN
Look at the pattern:
👉 God speaks
👉 God reveals
👉 God initiates
And then:
👉 “By faith…”
The faith did not come first.
👉 God came first.
📖 FAITH IS ALWAYS A RESPONSE — NEVER AN ORIGIN
Not one person in Hebrews 11:
- initiated faith on their own
- created belief from themselves
- produced something out of nothing
Every one of them:
👉 responded to God
🔥 THE GOOD REPORT WAS NOT HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT
Hebrews 11:39
“And these all, having obtained a good report through faith…”
Their report was good—
not because they were strong…
👉 but because they responded to God.
⚔️ THIS DESTROYS THE MYTH OF SELF-GENERATED FAITH
Hebrews 11 is often taught as:
👉 “Look at what these men did”
But the deeper truth is:
👉 Look at what God revealed to these men
And how they responded.
📖 FAITH FOLLOWS REVELATION
Every act of faith in Hebrews 11 follows this order:
👉 God reveals
👉 man sees
👉 man responds
Faith is not blind.
👉 Faith is response to revelation.
🔥 FAITH IS SEEING WHAT GOD SHOWS
Hebrews 11:1
“…the evidence of things not seen.”
But these men did see—
👉 not with natural eyes
👉 but through God revealing
⚔️ THIS CONNECTS TO EVERYTHING WE’VE BUILT
Now we see clearly:
👉 Hebrews 11:6 — Faith required
👉 Hebrews 11:1 — Faith defined
👉 Hebrews 11:2–40 — Faith demonstrated
And in every case:
👉 God is the source
👉 man is the responder
📖 THE SAME GOD WORKS TODAY
This is not just history.
This is pattern.
The same God who:
- spoke to Abraham
- warned Noah
- revealed Himself to Moses
👉 is the same God who works today
🔥 THE RESPONSE IS REAL — BUT GOD IS THE SOURCE
We must keep the balance:
The elders:
👉 truly acted
👉 truly believed
👉 truly obeyed
But:
👉 they were not the source
God was.
⚔️ HEBREWS 11:6 NOW CONFIRMED
“Without faith it is impossible…”
Yes.
But now we see:
👉 The faith that pleases God
👉 is the faith that comes from God
📖 THE TRUE MEANING OF “BY FAITH”
“By faith” does not mean:
❌ “by human effort”
It means:
👉 by responding to what God has revealed
🔥 THE BURDEN IS COMPLETELY BROKEN
Now the man no longer says:
👉 “I must become like these men”
He begins to see:
👉 “The same God who worked in them is working in me”
💥 FINAL DECLARATION OF CHAPTER 8
“The elders obtained a good report not because they produced faith, but because they responded to God—faith is always the result of God revealing, speaking, and working within man.”
📖 CHAPTER 9 — THE VINE AND THE BRANCH: CHRIST THE SOURCE
🔥 THE FINAL PICTURE JESUS GAVE
After all the teaching…
after all the revelation…
Jesus gave one of the simplest and most powerful pictures in all of Scripture:
John 15:5
“I am the vine, ye are the branches… for without me ye can do nothing.”
This is not symbolic language to admire.
👉 This is reality to understand.
⚔️ “WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING”
We must not soften this.
Not:
👉 “You can do a little”
👉 “You can try your best”
👉 Nothing.
This includes:
- believing
- having faith
- producing righteousness
- responding to God
Without Christ—
👉 there is no ability.
📖 THE VINE IS THE SOURCE
Jesus said:
👉 “I am the vine”
The vine is:
- the source of life
- the source of nourishment
- the source of everything that flows
The branch is not the source.
👉 The branch is the receiver.
🔥 THE BRANCH DOES NOT PRODUCE LIFE
The branch does not:
- generate life
- create fruit
- produce anything from itself
It only:
👉 receives
👉 abides
👉 expresses
What flows from the vine.
⚔️ THIS DESTROYS INDEPENDENT FAITH
If the branch cannot produce fruit…
Then it cannot produce:
👉 faith
Faith is fruit.
Faith is life expressed.
👉 And life comes from Christ.
📖 CHRIST LIVES IN THE BELIEVER
Galatians 2:20
“Christ liveth in me…”
The believer is not:
👉 the origin of life
Christ is.
🔥 FAITH FLOWS FROM CHRIST’S LIFE
If Christ is the life…
Then everything that flows from that life includes:
👉 faith
Not from:
❌ effort
❌ striving
❌ self-will
But from:
👉 His life within
⚔️ THE KEY WORD: ABIDE
John 15:4
“Abide in me, and I in you…”
Abiding is not:
- striving
- producing
- working
It is:
👉 remaining in the source
📖 APART FROM HIM — NO FRUIT
John 15:6
“If a man abide not in me… he is cast forth as a branch…”
Without connection to the vine:
👉 no life
👉 no fruit
👉 no faith
🔥 THE SIMPLE ORDER OF GOD
Now everything becomes simple:
👉 Christ is the vine
👉 the believer is the branch
👉 life flows from Christ
👉 fruit appears in the branch
⚔️ FAITH IS FRUIT — NOT ROOT
Faith is not the root of the Christian life.
👉 Christ is the root.
Faith is:
👉 the fruit of His life flowing through the believer
📖 EVERYTHING FLOWS FROM HIM
Romans 11:36
“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things…”
Faith is included in:
👉 all things
🔥 THE END OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY
The greatest deception is independence:
👉 “I must produce”
👉 “I must generate”
👉 “I must believe”
But Jesus removes that completely:
👉 “Without me… nothing.”
⚔️ THE TRUE POSITION OF THE BELIEVER
The believer is not:
👉 the source
👉 the producer
👉 the origin
The believer is:
👉 the vessel
👉 the branch
👉 the receiver
📖 HEBREWS 11:6 IN LIGHT OF THE VINE
“Without faith it is impossible…”
Yes.
But now we see:
👉 Faith is fruit
👉 Christ is the vine
👉 therefore faith must come from Him
🔥 THE BURDEN IS COMPLETELY GONE
Now the man no longer says:
👉 “I must produce faith”
He sees:
👉 “I abide in Christ—and His life produces everything”
⚔️ THE FINAL SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL
The Gospel is not complex.
It is:
👉 Christ the source
👉 man the vessel
💥 FINAL DECLARATION OF CHAPTER 9
“Christ is the source of all life, and faith is the fruit of His life flowing through the believer—apart from Him, nothing can be produced.”
📖 CHAPTER 10 — THE GOSPEL OF GRACE FULLY REVEALED: WHAT GOD REQUIRES, GRACE FULFILLS
🔥 THE QUESTION THAT STARTED IT ALL
We began with one verse:
“But without faith it is impossible to please him…” — Hebrews 11:6
And one question:
👉 If faith is required…
👉 where does that faith come from?
Because if we answer that wrong—
👉 we build a gospel of burden instead of grace.
⚔️ THE ERROR WE HAVE EXPOSED
Without the full counsel of God, the natural mind concludes:
👉 God requires faith
👉 now man must produce it
This creates:
- striving
- pressure
- uncertainty
- mixture
A gospel of:
👉 God + man
📖 THE TRUTH WE HAVE SEEN
But the Scriptures have revealed clearly:
Ephesians 2:1
👉 Man is dead
Ephesians 2:12
👉 Man has no hope
1 Corinthians 2:14
👉 Man cannot receive
John 15:5
👉 Man can do nothing
👉 Therefore:
Man cannot produce faith.
🔥 GOD IS THE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING
We have seen:
John 6:44
👉 God draws
John 5:21
👉 God gives life
Philippians 2:13
👉 God works the will
Romans 10:17
👉 Faith comes by hearing
👉 God is the source from beginning to end.
⚔️ THE ORDER HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED
The divine sequence is now clear:
👉 Man is dead
👉 God quickens
👉 God draws
👉 God speaks
👉 Faith comes
👉 The man believes
Not:
❌ Man believes → then God responds
📖 THE CROSS SETTLED EVERYTHING
John 19:30
“It is finished.”
The Cross was not:
❌ an offer waiting on man
It was:
👉 a finished work accomplished by God
Hebrews 10:14
“By one offering he hath perfected for ever…”
🔥 FAITH DOES NOT COMPLETE THE WORK
Faith does not:
- activate salvation
- complete the Cross
- make the work effective
👉 Faith receives what is already finished.
⚔️ FAITH IS THE RESULT — NOT THE CAUSE
Romans 10:17
“Faith cometh by hearing…”
Galatians 2:20
“…the life which I now live… I live by the faith of the Son of God…”
Faith is not:
👉 self-generated
It is:
👉 the life of Christ expressed within the believer
📖 THE VINE SETTLED IT FOREVER
John 15:5
“Without me ye can do nothing.”
With Him:
👉 everything flows
Without Him:
👉 nothing exists
🔥 HEBREWS 11:6 FULLY REVEALED
Now we return one final time:
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him…”
Yes.
Faith is required.
But now we see:
👉 God does not require something and leave man to produce it
👉 God requires
👉 and God supplies
⚔️ THE GOSPEL OF GRACE DEFINED
The Gospel of Grace is not:
👉 God doing His part and waiting on man
It is:
👉 God loving
👉 God giving
👉 God quickening
👉 God revealing
👉 God working
And man:
👉 responding to what God has done
📖 WHAT GOD REQUIRES, GRACE FULFILLS
This is the revelation that unlocks everything:
👉 God requires faith
👉 grace supplies faith
👉 God requires righteousness
👉 grace supplies righteousness
👉 God requires life
👉 grace supplies life
🔥 THE END OF STRIVING FOREVER
Now the man no longer says:
“I must produce faith”
“I must try harder”
“I must complete the work”
He sees:
👉 “God has done it—and I am receiving it”
⚔️ NO MIXTURE REMAINS
Romans 11:6
“If by grace, then is it no more of works…”
It is not:
❌ God + man
It is:
👉 God fulfilling His own requirement
📖 ENTER INTO REST
Hebrews 4:10
“He that is entered into his rest…”
Rest from:
- striving
- self-effort
- trying to produce
🔥 THE FINAL PROCLAMATION
God is not waiting on man.
👉 God is working in man.
God is not asking man to produce.
👉 God is supplying everything He requires.
💥 FINAL DECLARATION OF THE BOOK
“The Gospel of Grace reveals that faith is not the work of man reaching for God, but the result of God working in man—bringing forth life, faith, and response according to His will. What God requires, grace fulfills.”
The Gospel of Grace — Hebrews 11:6 Revealed: What God Requires, Grace Fulfills
By Carl Timothy Wray
The Gospel of Grace Series
- The Gospel of Grace — The Finished Work Proclaimed
- The Gospel of Grace — John 3:16 Revealed by the Full Counsel of God
- The Finished Work of Christ: Meaning, Key Scriptures & FAQs
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