Is Faith a gift of God? Ephesians 2:8 in Biblical Greek

Reading New Testament Greek to interpret Ephesians 2:8

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[ChildofGod]

I’m struggling with my faith. Please pray for me. Prayers are all we need. I’m a single mom, my husband passed away years ago, I’m all alone. I’m struggling to provide for my children. I feel like a failure. But no matter what I will keep faith in Jesus. I can’t seem to get back on my feet. I lost my job for declining the vaccine. I declined due to my health conditions. I suffer from lupus, and heart disease. I’m now waitressing and so thankful to be working but I’m not making nearly enough to get by. I have two beautiful sons both are autistic. I’m overwhelmed because they require so much from me. I recently started homeschooling them because they were having so many issues including bullying. With homeschooling them my hours to work are now limited. Every month is a struggle to not end up on the streets with my boys. I’m so tired of not being able to afford simple things like groceries. But I know God will provide. He has this far. Jesus hear my prayers. I have so much love for you. I know you will carry me through this difficult journey. All Praise to THE MOST HIGH!

My mother is such an amazing Scripture teacher. She taught me this years ago even without knowledge of Greek. Her words were "and THIS... the very fact that you are saved by grace through faith... is not OF YOU, but a gift OF GOD."

[markanthonyedrosolano]

Thank you so much! This is my 3rd time watching "this" now I understand, I believed it's all God's Grace now I understand and have Faith

[interpretingscripture]

Great Point! Grammatically speaking..."this" CAN'T refer to grace or faith but rather the over all context of salvation which is the topic.

Even if faith is a gift...so is everything we have...even the breath of life....but the grammar in this passage does not allow "gift" to apply to other previous gifts but rather the subject at hand...."salvation".

[patienceboyd]

I think this interpretation of Ephesians is spot on. Thanks for the thoughtful video! As a non-Calvinist, I disagree with the interpretations of the other two verses.
In Romans 12, the passage is all about spiritual gifts and cooperation in the body of Christ, not about salvation and redemption. Just as words like “apostle, ” “church, ” etc. can have different meanings depending on the context, “faith” can be the same. In this context Paul is discussing the faith (and amounts thereof) pertaining to spiritual and miraculous gifts, not necessarily the basic faith in the resurrection of Christ for salvation. Of course, we don’t want to completely separate those two ideas, but there is some distinction, and the context should be taken into consideration. Basically, Paul is telling them that God chooses who gets what spiritual gifts, and that they ought not think that their spiritual gifts are bigger than they really are, and to acknowledge that others may have greater gifting than they do. (Somebody want to go preach this one to Bethel and NAR? 😉)
For the passage in John, Jesus is speaking in response to the question “what should we do that we may work the works of God?” From the context it seems clear to me that this genitive “of God” is not talking about something that is God’s in the sense that He is doing it, but rather in the sense that it belongs to Him or is under His jurisdiction. (I’m sure Wallace has some official sperate categories for these!) As in something like, “This is Mom’s chore, that you wash the dishes.” Obviously Mom isn’t the one washing the dishes or causing you to wash the dishes (except in that she is instructing that it be done).
Hey, this is a great video, just thought I’d throw in my two Arminian cents! I agree that this is a large topic that involves way more passages than these. Thanks Darryl for your helpful videos and for being a great Greek teacher here and on BMA. Really appreciate it, keep up the good work.

[EpicChaosLord]

This is very helpful, especially having grammar before theology. thanks!

[nhcrawford]

Great video! I think Philippians 1:29 is another text that seems to indicate that faith is a gift of God: “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, ”
(Philippians 1:29 ESV). As faith is granted to believers by God, so is suffering, which means faith is a gift from God.

[NewTestamentDoc]

I concur.. and I also have years of Greek study and work

[raifcluster]

The fact that I was awakened from a state of spiritual death is something that daily runs through my mind even 50 years after that February day in 1972. It would be nice to claim that in gratitude to that regeneration, I have been a live-wire since. But to be honest, so many days, weeks and years of my walk with Christ Jesus seem to resemble Weekend at Bernies rather than " "self-motivation". I am reminded that "it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure". My part is to daily "work out my salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12-13). It removes the insufficient "Weekend at Bernies" metaphor.

[davidshockley-xfxw]

This video was very helpful. I have been struggling with Eph.2:8 for decades . The NASB 2020 has changed the wording of this passage from their 1977 and 1995 versions. They now align with the NIV, ESV, NET and numerous others with "this" instead of "that" like the KJV and NKJV.

[interpretingscripture]

Thank You! I learned this in my 1st year of Greek years ago but it's difficult to explain to folks lol.

In the Greek of this passage, it is clear that the gift referred to is Salvation...not faith or grace etc.

Then we get into everyone's theology which leads you and I to different conclusions on the "hinting" of faith being a gift. Lol. I would say that there is no hinting at all in this passage. Lol, but I'm not a calvanist either:)

However one could argue everything we have from God is a gift but that also means the breath of life itself....however this context is not referring to other gifts given prior....but the gift of salvation.

I do agree In other contexts faith is referred to as a gift...and I also acknowledge all we have comes from God....but those must be established as gifts elsewhere in scripture.

God Bless
:)

[lucasdewitartist]

With regards to Romans 12:3: The faith that Paul is referring to has to do with the function of believers in the body - note v.4:

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

V. 4 starts with "for" it refers back to what has just been said, and then not v.6 "if your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith. It is crystal clear that it refers to the function that God has graciously given each of the members of the body of Christ.

[jimmorris]

Thanks for your well thought out explanation of Ephesians 2:8. You just made my day!

[Biblia]

Hello, you have articulated very well your thoughts, and I agree with you. Thank you!

[skylerstorm]

So then grace and faith are both gifts. The argument cannot be made: “τούτο is referring to a concept, not faith. The concept is ‘being saved by grace through faith.’ Therefore the τούτο is referring to the salvation. Therefore it’s referring to the grace as a gift and not the faith.” Now that person would be back at square one saying that τούτο refers to a single word and not the entire concept. NO. Both the grace and the faith come as a package deal. One blessed gift. Good video!

[Jfarmdog]

This is and excellent explanation of Eph. 2:8. Especially when you add in John 6:29 and Romans 12:3. All of salvation is what is being referred to as the gift of God, faith is only a part of it with grace being the dominant component of salvation, through faith that is only a part of the gift of God.. All good gifts come from the father of light per James.

[dusty_roads_bbq]

Thanks for this. I have heard the explanation of Eph 2:8 before from another Greek scholar, but it is great to see someone else explain it the same way.

[andys]

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

My question for those who lean towards Calvinism is if passages like Romans 12:3 means that a measure of faith is given IN ORDER for us to come to saving faith, or does this mean that God gifts all believers with a measure of faith to equip each believer in their walk with Christ? I'd tend towards the latter. But as to the former, Romans 10:16 says that faith comes as a result of hearing God's word, which is the instrumental cause through which faith comes and not that God gives faith to some and not others so that they can be saved.

[monicadoucet]

Thank you! Very interesting 🤔 It changed what I need to meditate on this morning 🙂🌄

[marcbrule]

Clear and well presented! Regardless of a person's position on the Arminian/Calvinist scale, it's valuable to see this passage for what it really says. English can sometimes be so foggy with its grammar! Thanks!