For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God;

“I have greatly rejoiced with you in our Lord Jesus Christ, because ye have followed the example of true love [as displayed by God], and have accompanied, as became you, those who were bound in chains, the fitting ornaments of saints, and which are indeed the diadems of the true elect of God and our Lord; and because the strong root of your faith, spoken of in days long gone by, endureth even until now, and bringeth forth fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sins suffered even unto death, [but] "whom God raised from the dead, having loosed the bands of the grave." "In whom, though now ye see Him not, ye believe, and believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory;" into which joy many desire to enter, knowing that "by grace ye are saved, not of works," but by the will of God through Jesus Christ.”

“"For by grace," saith he "have ye been saved." In order then that the greatness of the benefits bestowed may not raise thee too high, observe how he brings thee down: "by grace ye have been saved," saith he, "Through faith;" Then, that, on the other hand, our free-will be not impaired, he adds also our part in the work, and yet again cancels it, and adds, "And that not of ourselves." Neither is faith, he means, "of ourselves." Because had He not come, had He not called us, how had we been able to believe? for "how," saith he, "shall they believe, unless they hear?" So that the work of faith itself is not our own. "It is the gift," said he, "of God," it is "not of works." Was faith then, you will say, enough to save us? No; but God, saith he, hath required this, lest He should save us, barren and without work at all. His expression is, that faith saveth, but it is because God so willeth, that faith saveth. Since, how, tell me, doth faith save, without works? This itself is the gift of God.”

“Above, in recounting the benefit of God by which we have been freed from sin, the Apostle had interjected that we were saved by the grace of Christ; but now he intends to prove that. Concerning this he does two things. First, he sets forth his intention; second, he makes clear what he had proposed, at the place "and that not of yourselves," etc. He says, therefore, first: I said well that it is by grace that you are saved; and indeed I still say it confidently — for "for" here stands for "because" — you are saved by grace. 1 Corinthians 15:10: "By the grace of God I am what I am." Romans 3:24: "justified freely by his grace." For to be saved and to be justified are the same thing. For salvation implies liberation from dangers; hence the perfect salvation of man will be in eternal life, when he will be immune from all dangers, just as a ship is said to be saved when it comes into port. Isaiah 60:18: "Salvation shall occupy your walls, and praise your gates." Now men receive the hope of this salvation while in the present they are justified from sin, and according to this they are said to be saved, according to that word of Romans 8:24: "for we are saved by hope." But this salvation of grace is through the faith of Christ. For in the justification of the ungodly, together with the infusion of grace, there concurs, in adults, a movement of faith toward God. Luke 8:48: "Go in peace, your faith has made you safe." Romans 5:1: "being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace." Then, when he says "and that not of yourselves," etc., he makes clear what he had said, first as to faith, which is the foundation of the whole spiritual edifice; second as to grace, at the place "for we are his workmanship," etc. Concerning the first he excludes two errors, of which the first is this: since he had said that we are saved through faith, someone could believe that faith itself was from us, and that to believe is something established within our own free will. And so, excluding this, he says "and that not of yourselves." For free will does not suffice for believing, because the things that belong to faith are above reason. Ecclesiasticus 3:25: "Many things are shown to you above the understanding of man." 1 Corinthians 2:11: "the things that are of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God," etc. And therefore that man believes — this he cannot have of himself, unless God gives it, according to that word of Wisdom 9:17: "But your sense who shall know, unless you give wisdom, and send your holy spirit from on high?" For which reason he adds "for it is the gift of God," namely, faith itself. Philippians 1:29: "For unto you it is given for Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him," etc. 1 Corinthians 12:9: "to another is given faith in the same spirit." Second, he excludes another error. For someone could believe that faith was given to us by God by the merit of preceding works; and, to exclude this, he adds "not of works" — namely, preceding works — by which we did not at any time merit this gift, that we should be saved, since this is of grace, as was said above, according to that word of Romans 11:6: "but if by grace, now it is not of works, otherwise grace is no more grace." He then adds the reason why God saves men through faith, without preceding merits: so that no one may glory in himself, but all the glory may be referred to God. Psalm 113:1: "Not to us, Lord, not to us," etc. 1 Corinthians 1:29: "that no flesh should glory in his sight; but of him you are in Christ Jesus." Then, when he says "for we are his workmanship," etc., he makes clear what he had said as to grace. Concerning this he does two things. First, he makes clear the infusion of grace; second, he declares the predestination of grace, at the place "which God has prepared," etc. Now two things pertain to the nature of grace, which have also already been stated; of these the first is that what exists through grace should not be present in man through himself, or from himself, but from the gift of God. And as to this he says "for we are his workmanship," because, namely, whatever good we have is not from ourselves, but from God who makes it. Psalm 99:3: "He made us, and not we ourselves." Deuteronomy 32:6: "Is not he your father, who has possessed, made, and created you?" And it is continued immediately with what precedes, so that it is said: lest anyone glory, namely because we are his workmanship. Or it can be continued with what he had said above: "for by grace we are saved." Second, it pertains to the nature of grace that it should not be from preceding works, and this is expressed in that he adds "created." For to create is to make something out of nothing; hence when someone is justified without preceding merits, he can be said to be created, as if made out of nothing. Now this action, namely the creation of justice, is done by the power of Christ, who gives the Holy Spirit. For which reason he adds "in Christ Jesus," that is, through Christ Jesus. Galatians, last chapter: "for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." Psalm 103:30: "Send forth your spirit, and they shall be created." Further, not only is the habit of virtue and grace given to us, but interiorly we are renewed by the Spirit unto acting well. Hence he adds "unto good works," because, namely, the good works themselves are from God to us. Isaiah 26:12: "for you have wrought all our works in us." And because "whom he predestined, these he also called," namely by grace, as is said in Romans 8:30, therefore he adds concerning predestination, saying "which," namely the good works, "God has prepared." For predestination is nothing other than the preparation of the benefits of God, among which benefits our own good works are also reckoned. Now God is said to prepare certain things for us, insofar as he has disposed that he will give them to us. Psalm 64:10: "you have prepared their food," etc. But lest anyone should understand that good works are thus prepared for us by God in such a way that we contribute nothing to them through free will, he therefore adds "that we should walk in them," as if to say: he has so prepared them for us, that we ourselves should fulfill them for ourselves through free will. "For we are God's co-workers," as is said in 1 Corinthians 3:9. For which reason the Apostle said of himself, in 1 Corinthians 15:10: "his grace in me has not been void, but I have labored more abundantly than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God with me." He says pointedly "let us walk," so as to designate the progress of good work, according to that word of John 12:35: "walk while you have the light." Below, 5:8: "walk as children of light."”

“For by grace are ye saved,.... This is to be understood, not of temporal salvation, nor of preservation in Christ, nor of providential salvation in order to calling, and much less of being put in a way of salvation, or only in a salvable state; but of spiritual salvation, and that actual; for salvation was not only resolved upon, contrived and secured in the covenant of grace, for the persons here spoken to, but it was actually obtained and wrought out for them by Christ, and was actually applied unto them by the Spirit; and even as to the full enjoyment of it, they had it in faith and hope; and because of the certainty of it, they are said to be already saved; and besides, were representatively possessed of it in Christ their head: those interested in this salvation, are not all mankind, but particular persons; and such who were by nature children of wrath, and sinners of the Gentiles; and it is a salvation from sin, Satan, the law, its curse and condemnation, and from eternal death, and wrath to come; and includes all the blessings of grace and glory; and is entirely owing to free grace: for by grace is not meant the Gospel, nor gifts of grace, nor grace infused; but the free favour of God, to which salvation in all its branches is ascribed; as election, redemption, justification, pardon, adoption, regeneration, and eternal glory: the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, "by his grace", and so some copies; and it may refer to the grace of all the three Persons; for men are saved by the grace of the Father, who drew the plan of salvation, appointed men to it, made a covenant with his Son, in which it is provided and secured, and sent him into the world to obtain it; and by the grace of the Son, who engaged as a surety to effect it, assumed human nature, obeyed and suffered in it for that purpose, and has procured it; and by the grace of the Spirit, who makes men sensible of their need of it, brings it near, sets it before them, and applies it to them, and gives them faith and hope in it: hence it follows, 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, Joh 6:65 and it is called the special gift of faith, in the Apocrypha: "And blessed is the eunuch, which with his hands hath wrought no iniquity, nor imagined wicked things against God: for unto him shall be given the "special gift of faith", and an inheritance in the temple of the Lord more acceptable to his mind.'' (Wisdom 3:14) ----- (I asked the following question from a Greek and Hebrew professor: "In this verse, to what does the word "that" refer to? Adam Clarke, Wesley & company say that it is neuter plural and "Faith" is feminine hence it cannot refer to faith, (Such an admission would destroy their theological system.) However "Grace" is also feminine as is "Salvation".'' His reply was: "Here you ask a wonderful theological/exegetical question to which I can only give an opinion, and not a definitive answer. The problem is that there is NO precise referent. Grace is feminine. Faith is feminine. And even Salvation (as a noun) is feminine. Yet it must be one of these three at least, and maybe more than one, or all three in conjunction. Since all three come from God and not from man, the latter might seem the more likely. However, it is a tautology to say salvation and grace are "nor of yourselves," and in that case it certainly looks more like the passage is really pointing out that man cannot even take credit for his own act of faith, but that faith was itself created by God and implanted in us that we might believe (i.e. the normal Calvinistic position). In which regard the whole theological issue of "regeneration preceding faith" comes into play. So, that is basically my opinion, though others obviously disagree strenuously, but from an exegetical standpoint, the other positions have to explain away the matter of the tautology.'' Whether you accept the reply or not, it is sufficient to show that the Greek is not as definitive in this verse as some scholars would have you believe. Editor)”

“For by grace are ye saved, through faith - As ye are now brought into a state of salvation, your sins being all blotted out, and you made partakers of the Holy Spirit; and, having a hope full of immortality, you must not attribute this to any works or merit of yours; for when this Gospel reached you, you were all found dead in trespasses and dead in sins; therefore it was God's free mercy to you, manifested through Christ, in whom ye were commanded to believe; and, having believed by the power of the Holy Spirit, ye received, and were sealed by, the Holy Spirit of promise; so that this salvation is in no sense of yourselves, but is the free gift of God; and not of any kind of works; so that no man can boast as having wrought out his own salvation, or even contributed any thing towards it. By grace arc ye saved, through faith in Christ. This is a true doctrine, and continues to be essential to the salvation of man to the end of the world. But whether are we to understand, faith or salvation as being the gift of God? This question is answered by the Greek text: τῃ γαρ χαριτι εστε σεσωσμενοι δια της πιστεως· και τουτο ουκ εξ ὑμων· Θεου το δωρον, ουκ εξ εργων· ἱνα μη τις καυχησηται· "By this grace ye are saved through faith; and This (τουτο, this salvation) not of you; it is the gift of God, not of works: so that no one can boast." "The relative τουτο, this, which is in the neuter gender, cannot stand for πιστις, faith, which is the feminine; but it has the whole sentence that goes before for its antecedent." But it may be asked: Is not faith the gift of God? Yes, as to the grace by which it is produced; but the grace or power to believe, and the act of believing, are two different things. Without the grace or power to believe no man ever did or can believe; but with that power the act of faith is a man's own. God never believes for any man, no more than he repents for him: the penitent, through this grace enabling him, believes for himself: nor does he believe necessarily, or impulsively when he has that power; the power to believe may be present long before it is exercised, else, why the solemn warnings with which we meet every where in the word of God, and threatenings against those who do not believe? Is not this a proof that such persons have the power but do not use it? They believe not, and therefore are not established. This, therefore, is the true state of the case: God gives the power, man uses the power thus given, and brings glory to God: without the power no man can believe; with it, any man may.”

“For--illustrating "the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness." Translate as in Eph 2:5, "Ye are in a saved state." through faith--the effect of the power of Christ's resurrection (Eph 1:19-20; Phi 3:10) whereby we are "raised together" with Him (Eph 2:6; Col 2:12). Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "through your (literally, 'the') faith." The instrument or mean of salvation on the part of the person saved; Christ alone is the meritorious agent. and that--namely, the act of believing, or "faith." "Of yourselves" stands in opposition to, "it is the gift of God" (Phi 1:29). "That which I have said, 'through faith,' I do not wish to be understood so as if I excepted faith itself from grace" [ESTIUS]. "God justifies the believing man, not for the worthiness of his belief, but for the worthiness of Him in whom he believes" [HOOKER]. The initiation, as well as the increase, of faith, is from the Spirit of God, not only by an external proposal of the word, but by internal illumination in the soul [PEARSON]. Yet "faith" cometh by the means which man must avail himself of, namely, "hearing the word of God" (Rom 10:17), and prayer (Luk 11:13), though the blessing is wholly of God (Co1 3:6-7).”