Please people, please...........this is not a Grace vs. Works discussion thread.........I want to explore the partnership/fitting together of Grace and Faith. So please try and stay within the parameters of the thread. Thank you.
Early this morning as I was saying my morning prayers, I thought of the passage in Ephesians about being saved by grace, and as I was thinking of it, a thought occurred to me. Having read literally hundreds of comments posted here concerning this, I seem to recall that the vast majority of them usually end up being worded:
"We are saved by Grace...........not works"
And while I certainly agree that we are saved by grace, it seems to me that when we do not include the whole passage from Ephesians, we do Faith a disservice.
(KJV)
Ephesians 2:8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
(NIV)
[SUP]8 [/SUP]For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— [SUP]9 [/SUP]not by works, so that no one can boast.
(CJB)
[SUP]8 [/SUP]For you have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but God’s gift. [SUP]9 [/SUP]You were not delivered by your own actions; therefore no one should boast.
As I read these, I see that faith is surely present, yet it IS NOT a "work." So, I'm wondering if "faith" as described here is like the "portal or bridge" through which God's saving Grace flows from His Throne to man?
There are so very many Scriptures speaking of faith and it's importance for the believer............walk by faith and not by sight, the just shall live by faith, your faith has made you whole..........and many, many more.
It just seems to me when we are going to post a comment regarding salvation and from whence it comes, we should use the whole of the Scripture.......and not omit faith.
Hope this makes sense..........
John Gill said it this way:
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
salvation is through faith, not as a cause or condition of salvation, or as what adds anything to the blessing itself; but it is the way, or means, or instrument, which God has appointed, for the receiving and enjoying it, that so it might appear to be all of grace; and this faith is not the produce of man's free will and power, but it is the free gift of God; and therefore salvation through it is consistent with salvation by grace; since that itself is of grace, lies entirely in receiving grace and gives all the glory to the grace of God: the sense of this last clause may be, that salvation is not of ourselves; it is not of our desiring nor of our deserving, nor of our performing, but is of the free grace of God: though faith is elsewhere represented as the gift of God, ( John 6:65 ) ( Philippians 1:29 ) and it is called the special gift of faith, in the Apocrypha:
found here:
[h=3]Ephesians 2:8 Commentary - John Gill's Exposition...[/h]
Early this morning as I was saying my morning prayers, I thought of the passage in Ephesians about being saved by grace, and as I was thinking of it, a thought occurred to me. Having read literally hundreds of comments posted here concerning this, I seem to recall that the vast majority of them usually end up being worded:
"We are saved by Grace...........not works"
And while I certainly agree that we are saved by grace, it seems to me that when we do not include the whole passage from Ephesians, we do Faith a disservice.
(KJV)
Ephesians 2:8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
(NIV)
[SUP]8 [/SUP]For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— [SUP]9 [/SUP]not by works, so that no one can boast.
(CJB)
[SUP]8 [/SUP]For you have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but God’s gift. [SUP]9 [/SUP]You were not delivered by your own actions; therefore no one should boast.
As I read these, I see that faith is surely present, yet it IS NOT a "work." So, I'm wondering if "faith" as described here is like the "portal or bridge" through which God's saving Grace flows from His Throne to man?
There are so very many Scriptures speaking of faith and it's importance for the believer............walk by faith and not by sight, the just shall live by faith, your faith has made you whole..........and many, many more.
It just seems to me when we are going to post a comment regarding salvation and from whence it comes, we should use the whole of the Scripture.......and not omit faith.
Hope this makes sense..........
John Gill said it this way:
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
salvation is through faith, not as a cause or condition of salvation, or as what adds anything to the blessing itself; but it is the way, or means, or instrument, which God has appointed, for the receiving and enjoying it, that so it might appear to be all of grace; and this faith is not the produce of man's free will and power, but it is the free gift of God; and therefore salvation through it is consistent with salvation by grace; since that itself is of grace, lies entirely in receiving grace and gives all the glory to the grace of God: the sense of this last clause may be, that salvation is not of ourselves; it is not of our desiring nor of our deserving, nor of our performing, but is of the free grace of God: though faith is elsewhere represented as the gift of God, ( John 6:65 ) ( Philippians 1:29 ) and it is called the special gift of faith, in the Apocrypha:
found here:
[h=3]Ephesians 2:8 Commentary - John Gill's Exposition...[/h]
