Is Faith a Gift?

[tonychanyt]

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace [F] you have been saved through faith [F]. And this is [N] not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Barnes' Notes on the Bible:

For by grace are ye saved - By mere favor. It is not by your Own merit; it is not because you have any claim. This is a favorite doctrine with Paul, as it is with all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity;

And that not of yourselves - That is, salvation does not proceed from yourselves. The word rendered "that" - τοῦτο touto - is in the neuter gender, and the word "faith" - πίστις pistis - is in the feminine. The word "that," therefore, does not refer particularly to faith, as being the gift of God, but to "the salvation by grace" of which he had been speaking. This is the interpretation of the passage which is the most obvious, and which is now generally conceded to be the true one; see Bloomfield. Many critics, however, as Doddridge, Beza, Piscator, and Chrysostom, maintain that the word "that" (τοῦτο touto) refers to "faith" (πίστις pistis); and Doddridge maintains that such a use is common in the New Testament. As a matter of grammar this opinion is certainly doubtful, if not untenable; but as a matter of theology it is a question of very little importance.

Whether this passage proves it or not, it is certainly true that faith is the gift of God. It exists in the mind only when the Holy Spirit produces it there, and is, in common with every other Christian excellence, to be traced to his agency on the heart. This opinion, however, does not militate at all with the doctrine that man himself "believes." It is not God that "believes" for him, for that is impossible. It is his own mind that actually believes, or that exercises faith; see the notes at Romans 4:3. In the same manner "repentance" is to be traced to God. It is one of the fruits of the operation of the Holy Spirit on the soul. But the Holy Spirit does not "repent" for us. It is our "own mind" that repents; our own heart that feels; our own eyes that weep - and without this there can he no true repentance. No one can repent for another; and God neither can nor ought to repent; for us. He has done no wrong, and if repentance is ever exercised, therefore, it must be exercised by our own minds. So of faith. God cannot believe for us. "We" must believe, or "we" shall be damned. Still this does not conflict at all with the opinion, that if we exercise faith, the inclination to do it is to be traced to the agency of God on the heart. I would not contend, therefore, about the grammatical construction of this passage, with respect to the point of the theology contained in it; still it accords better with the obvious grammatical construction, and with the design of the passage to understand the word "that" as referring not to "faith" only, but to "salvation by grace." So Calvin understands it, and so it is understood by Storr, Locke, Clarke, Koppe, Grotius, and others.

From the vertical point of view, faith is a gift from God. Humans cannot boast about that. At the same time, from the horizontal (human) point of view, God tests the strength of our faith in Him. We are responsible to believe. Both are true. This is an example of Co-Reality.

 

[BBAS 64]

Ephesians 2:8


The following is from Barnes' Notes on the Bible
For by grace are ye saved - By mere favor. It is not by your Own merit; it is not because you have any claim. This is a favorite doctrine with Paul, as it is with all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity;

And that not of yourselves - That is, salvation does not proceed from yourselves. The word rendered "that" - τοῦτο touto - is in the neuter gender, and the word "faith" - πίστις pistis - is in the feminine. The word "that," therefore, does not refer particularly to faith, as being the gift of God, but to "the salvation by grace" of which he had been speaking. This is the interpretation of the passage which is the most obvious, and which is now generally conceded to be the true one; see Bloomfield. Many critics, however, as Doddridge, Beza, Piscator, and Chrysostom, maintain that the word "that" (τοῦτο touto) refers to "faith" (πίστις pistis); and Doddridge maintains that such a use is common in the New Testament. As a matter of grammar this opinion is certainly doubtful, if not untenable; but as a matter of theology it is a question of very little importance.

Whether this passage proves it or not, it is certainly true that faith is the gift of God. It exists in the mind only when the Holy Spirit produces it there, and is, in common with every other Christian excellence, to be traced to his agency on the heart. This opinion, however, does not militate at all with the doctrine that man himself "believes." It is not God that "believes" for him, for that is impossible. It is his own mind that actually believes, or that exercises faith; see the notes at Romans 4:3. In the same manner "repentance" is to be traced to God. It is one of the fruits of the operation of the Holy Spirit on the soul. But the Holy Spirit does not "repent" for us. It is our "own mind" that repents; our own heart that feels; our own eyes that weep - and without this there can he no true repentance. No one can repent for another; and God neither can nor ought to repent; for us. He has done no wrong, and if repentance is ever exercised, therefore, it must be exercised by our own minds. So of faith. God cannot believe for us. "We" must believe, or "we" shall be damned. Still this does not conflict at all with the opinion, that if we exercise faith, the inclination to do it is to be traced to the agency of God on the heart. I would not contend, therefore, about the grammatical construction of this passage, with respect to the point of the theology contained in it; still it accords better with the obvious grammatical construction, and with the design of the passage to understand the word "that" as referring not to "faith" only, but to "salvation by grace." So Calvin understands it, and so it is understood by Storr, Locke, Clarke, Koppe, Grotius, and others.

It is the gift of God - Salvation by grace is his gift. It is not of merit; it is wholly by favor.

Good Day, Tony

https://faithconnector.s3.amazonaws.com/chafer/files/v12n2_4is_faith_a_gift_from_god_according.pdf

Snip..."In Calvin’s commentary on Ephesians, Bloomfield has the following editorial comment: It has been not a little debated, among both ancient and modern commentators, to what noun tou=to [“this”] should be referred. Some say, to pi/stewj [“faith”]; others, to xa/riti [“grace”]; though on the sense of pi/stij [“faith”] they differ in their views. The reference seems, however, to be neither to the one nor to the other, but to the subject of the foregoing clause, salvation by grace, through faith in Christ and his gospel; a view, I find, adopted by Dr. Chandler, Dean Tucker, Dr. MacKnight, and Dr. A. Clarke. And to show that this interpretation is not a mere novelty, I need only refer the reader to Theophylact, who thus explains: Ou0 th\n pi/stin le/gei dw~ron Qeou= a0lla\ to\ dia\ pi/stewj swqh\nai tou=to dw=ro/n e0sti Qeou=. “He does not say that faith is the gift of God; but to be saved by faith, this is the gift of God.” Such also is the view adopted by Chrysostom and Theodoret.29

Calvin in his commentary on Ephesians 2:9 wrote, “And here we must advert to a very common error in the interpretation of this passage. Many persons restrict the word gift to faith alone. But Paul is only restating the former sentiment. His meaning is, not that faith is the gift of God, but that salvation is given to us by God, or that we obtain it by the gift of God.”30

Wood’s conclusion is interesting.

To what does tou=to (touto, “this”) refer? The neuter is compatible with dia\ pi/stewj (dia pisteōs, “through faith”) or again it might be related to a verbal notion derived from pi/stij (pistis, “faith”). Against this, however, is the connection with ou0k e0c u9mw~n (ouk ex hymōn, “not from yourselves”) and ou0k e0c e1rgwn (ouk ex ergōn, “not of works”). To state that faith is neither of ourselves nor of works is to elaborate the obvious. For these reasons most modern commentators refer kai\ tou=to (kai touto, “and this”) either to e0ste sesw|sme/noi (este sesōsmenoi, “you have been saved”) or preferably to the complete clause (RHG, p. 1182).3"

 

[tonychanyt]

Good Day, Tony

https://faithconnector.s3.amazonaws.com/chafer/files/v12n2_4is_faith_a_gift_from_god_according.pdf

Snip..."In Calvin’s commentary on Ephesians, Bloomfield has the following editorial comment: It has been not a little debated, among both ancient and modern commentators, to what noun tou=to [“this”] should be referred. Some say, to pi/stewj [“faith”]; others, to xa/riti [“grace”]; though on the sense of pi/stij [“faith”] they differ in their views. The reference seems, however, to be neither to the one nor to the other, but to the subject of the foregoing clause, salvation by grace, through faith in Christ and his gospel; a view, I find, adopted by Dr. Chandler, Dean Tucker, Dr. MacKnight, and Dr. A. Clarke. And to show that this interpretation is not a mere novelty, I need only refer the reader to Theophylact, who thus explains: Ou0 th\n pi/stin le/gei dw~ron Qeou= a0lla\ to\ dia\ pi/stewj swqh\nai tou=to dw=ro/n e0sti Qeou=. “He does not say that faith is the gift of God; but to be saved by faith, this is the gift of God.” Such also is the view adopted by Chrysostom and Theodoret.29

Calvin in his commentary on Ephesians 2:9 wrote, “And here we must advert to a very common error in the interpretation of this passage. Many persons restrict the word gift to faith alone. But Paul is only restating the former sentiment. His meaning is, not that faith is the gift of God, but that salvation is given to us by God, or that we obtain it by the gift of God.”30

Wood’s conclusion is interesting.

To what does tou=to (touto, “this”) refer? The neuter is compatible with dia\ pi/stewj (dia pisteōs, “through faith”) or again it might be related to a verbal notion derived from pi/stij (pistis, “faith”). Against this, however, is the connection with ou0k e0c u9mw~n (ouk ex hymōn, “not from yourselves”) and ou0k e0c e1rgwn (ouk ex ergōn, “not of works”). To state that faith is neither of ourselves nor of works is to elaborate the obvious. For these reasons most modern commentators refer kai\ tou=to (kai touto, “and this”) either to e0ste sesw|sme/noi (este sesōsmenoi, “you have been saved”) or preferably to the complete clause (RHG, p. 1182).3"

Thanks for the useful info. There are some copy-and-paste problems with the Greek letters in your post.

 

[d taylor]

-
​

Faith is a gift is the sense that God has gifted humans with the ability to exercise faith in people, objects, medicine, government, theories, etc...and of couese God.

 

[Blade]

If we read in Rom "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith". We see this was not said to the world but to those that believe. We that believe all have the measure of faith.

That being said there is the gift of faith that comes by the sweet sweet holy Spirit

 

[eleos1954]

Ephesians 2:8


The following is from Barnes' Notes on the Bible:

For by grace are ye saved - By mere favor. It is not by your Own merit; it is not because you have any claim. This is a favorite doctrine with Paul, as it is with all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity;

And that not of yourselves - That is, salvation does not proceed from yourselves. The word rendered "that" - τοῦτο touto - is in the neuter gender, and the word "faith" - πίστις pistis - is in the feminine. The word "that," therefore, does not refer particularly to faith, as being the gift of God, but to "the salvation by grace" of which he had been speaking. This is the interpretation of the passage which is the most obvious, and which is now generally conceded to be the true one; see Bloomfield. Many critics, however, as Doddridge, Beza, Piscator, and Chrysostom, maintain that the word "that" (τοῦτο touto) refers to "faith" (πίστις pistis); and Doddridge maintains that such a use is common in the New Testament. As a matter of grammar this opinion is certainly doubtful, if not untenable; but as a matter of theology it is a question of very little importance.

Whether this passage proves it or not, it is certainly true that faith is the gift of God. It exists in the mind only when the Holy Spirit produces it there, and is, in common with every other Christian excellence, to be traced to his agency on the heart. This opinion, however, does not militate at all with the doctrine that man himself "believes." It is not God that "believes" for him, for that is impossible. It is his own mind that actually believes, or that exercises faith; see the notes at Romans 4:3. In the same manner "repentance" is to be traced to God. It is one of the fruits of the operation of the Holy Spirit on the soul. But the Holy Spirit does not "repent" for us. It is our "own mind" that repents; our own heart that feels; our own eyes that weep - and without this there can he no true repentance. No one can repent for another; and God neither can nor ought to repent; for us. He has done no wrong, and if repentance is ever exercised, therefore, it must be exercised by our own minds. So of faith. God cannot believe for us. "We" must believe, or "we" shall be damned. Still this does not conflict at all with the opinion, that if we exercise faith, the inclination to do it is to be traced to the agency of God on the heart. I would not contend, therefore, about the grammatical construction of this passage, with respect to the point of the theology contained in it; still it accords better with the obvious grammatical construction, and with the design of the passage to understand the word "that" as referring not to "faith" only, but to "salvation by grace." So Calvin understands it, and so it is understood by Storr, Locke, Clarke, Koppe, Grotius, and others.

It is the gift of God - Salvation by grace is his gift. It is not of merit; it is wholly by favor.

Romans 12:3 ESV​

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Romans 10:17 ESV​

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Ephesians 2:8 ESV​

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Each are given a measure of faith (a gift-through His grace) ... and faith increases through spending time in His written word.