I have been re-reading Thomas Schreiner's book Paul: Apostle of God's Glory in Christ. It is a great book and really makes me think about the deep things of God, missions, salvation, discipleship, ethics, etc. One of the areas I've been reading lately deals with salvation and faith.Schreiner makes a couple of comments that have me thinking and felt I should let you ponder them as well.
"Faith receives what God gives to us instead of laboring to give something to God. Since faith is fundamentally receptive, it accords with grace." What a great picture of the role faith plays in our lives. It is not the passive, cheap grace and mental assent that some want turn faith in to for salvation, but it is not the man-generated, self-centered works salvation that some try to disguise as faith. Real faith recognizes that God has done all that was necessary for salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and receives the forgiveness of sin through Jesus.
"Faith, in other words, is fundamentally humble, for it acknowledges our inability to save ourselves by our works." This statement is a two-edged sword cutting against two kinds of pride. For those who think they can save themselves, faith says salvation is found only in the work of Christ. At the same time, those who would take pride in their "election" would be wise to recall that there is nothing meritorious to our lives that makes one worthy of salvation. In other words, for the believer, there is nothing there to take pride in except Jesus.
I would encourage you to find a good author like Schreiner and wade into the deep-end of the theological pool from time to time. The spiritual and mental exercise stretches our faith and thinking about God and our walk with Christ.
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