Can you demonstrate by the Greek that the gift refers to the Grace, and not the Faith? I'm not going to argue the Greek until you do, but I think it is pretty obvious by the simple meaning of the word, Grace, that it is not a gift, but perhaps the nature of the giver, or the means of the giving.
Thanks Mark. I'll try but I think grace is indeed a gift... an unmerited gift/favour. If you think that "Faith" here is the "Gift" then please demonstrate that. OK so here is the passage again
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
I'm no Greek scholar so I have to draw from commentaries:
The antecedent of “this” at the beginning of the statement could be “saved,” “faith,” or (most likely) the entirety of the previous claim (Best 2004, 228; Hoehner 2002, 342–43; Stott 1979, 83).
Charles H. Talbert, Ephesians and Colossians, Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007), 67.
The pronoun “this” is neuter, not feminine like the noun “faith,” and the neuter normally encompasses the entire previous sentence; thus “by grace you have been saved.”
Grant R. Osborne, Ephesians: Verse by Verse, Osborne New Testament Commentaries, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017), 55.
The entire previous sentence: “For by grace you have been saved through faith” I summarise as “grace” because the content of grace is salvation appropriated through faith.
Contextually the focus is on grace. There is no contrast between faith and works as the method to receiving salvation:
#1 - “grace” contrasted with “works”, thus
by grace | not your own doing
the gift | not a result of works
#2 - “grace” defined. The meaning of “grace” is controlled by the following parts:
- not your own doing
- gift of God
- not of works
#3 Some of Paul’s other usage.
2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5-7 (contrasting grace with works)
Romans 3:23-24 (grace as gift)