Justifying Faith is PASSIVE, never active

It is not THAT we believe that saves us—but WHAT we believe (i.e., God’s free grace alone in Christ alone—which is an imputed righteousness of our Surety and Redeemer's active and passive obedience to our accounts, a covering righteousness outside of us—promised to us in the Gospel alone). The Bible teaches that we are justified solely by the object of our faith, never the act or quality of it (Philippians 3:9). It is only WHO Jesus Christ is and WHAT Christ alone did for us that justifies us. Again, it is not the quality or strength of our faith that justifies. Saving Faith is the free gift of God that PASSIVELY receives the imputed righteousness of Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 1:29). This means that justifying faith is passive—never active—in our legal acquittal before God's tribunal. Justification is monergistic and by grace alone (Titus 3:4-7). Those who suggest faith is active in justification are asserting the papist heresies of synergism and man's free will. Again, and by contrast, it is standard Roman Catholic teaching that faith is active in justification, for this implies that our works give faith its saving form (Fides Caritate Formata—a.k.a., justification by faith and works). This popish dogma is a complete rejection of the Biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone (Sola Fide). Papists write: "CANON IX.-If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the MOVEMENT of his own will; let him be anathema." Council of Trent, Sixth Session, Canaon 9, emphasis mine) Note the Jesuits of Trent indicate that faith is active in justification by motion of the will (movement). These casuists are implying the traditions of human free will and synergism, while rejecting salvation by grace alone and God’s absolute predestination of all things. Today, nominal Protestants, who advocate for Federal Vision and Lordship Salvation, will teach similar variations of this papist heresy. Their goal is to claim faith is active in justification, and so redefine Sola Fide to mean justification by faith and works. Examples of men doing this on the internet are: Douglas Wilson, James R. White, Jeff Durbin, Joel Webbon, the late John MacArthur, the late R.C. Sproul, and so on. A lesser known example would be David Hutch, who incessantly promotes the Jesuit view of saving faith all over Facebook. His name used to be David Hutchings, but he recently changed it to "David Hutch." Hutch has been outed as a self-contradicting Arminian for years on the net, so that may be one reason he changed his name. Hutch now spends his days shiling for the heretical denomination known as the Protestant Reformed Churches. This tiny fake-Calvinist denomination teaches synergism, and pushes the papist notion that the Gospel in its proper and saving sense demands us to join an institutional church to achieve justification. This cult believes and teaches that one must perform the works of joining an institutional church, obey its elders, pay tithes, and never leave to merit justification (see the PRC's books "Bound To Join" (and "A Defense of the Institutes." That is an enormous mixing of Law and Gospel, which screams the false gospel of justification by faith and works. Even so, that's who David Hutch shills for. At any rate, in one of his recent absurd rants, Hutch defines justifying faith to be: "an ACTIVITY of soul distinct from knowledge and assent." In other remarks, Hutch continuously emphasizes that faith is active in justification by claiming faith is a “MOTION” of the soul. Hutch has the Jesuit view of justifying faith. John Calvin rejected active faith in justification. Calvinism teaches that faith is passive in justification, never active. Calvin writes: "For with respect to justification, faith is a thing merely passive, bringing nothing of our own to conciliate the the favor of God, but receiving what we need from Christ." (Institutes 3. 13. 5.) Notice Calvin’s remark indicates that ‘receiving’ is passive, not active. ‘To believe,’ ‘to assent,’ ‘to receive,’ ,’to trust,’ and ‘to accept’ are not only synonyms, but they are all stative verbs, not action verbs. Obviously, this basic grammar asserts that justifying faith is passive, not active.