8038	Forums / Theology Forum / Which One Is The Gift?	on: January 10, 2007, 03:09:25 PM
Quote Quote Quote "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. "... What i'm wondering is whether the "gift of God" of which Paul speaks is the faith or the being saved from hell. I've heard both ideas taught. I'm wondering what idea is better supported by the context and grammar. The explanation from Robert Picirilli's Grace, Faith, and Free Will is that "this" (Greek "touto") is in the neuter form.  "Faith" (Greek "pistis") is a feminine noun.  If "this" referred back to "pistis", it would be in the feminine form "haute".  Therefore, "this", the gift of God, refers back to entire preceding clause "By grace you have been saved, through faith". Hey Joker: Reading MBG's recent quote, he might agree that the word this does not refer to only one having been saved from hell, rather that the word refers to both faith and being saved from hell. However, i'm thinking, from what you said in the quote above, that the gift is not just faith and heaven.  My opinion now is that grace is also part of the gift. That is the gift is not just eternal life, nor just faith, nor just undeserved love and mercy.  The gift of God is one package including all three and then some (such as righteousness, as indicated in Romans 5). I guess the next question would be this: "If faith is a gift from God, does that mean that it is caused by Him alone, or by our own free will, or perhaps by both?"  (I'm taking the word faith to mean trust in Christ alone, in who He is and in what He did, to save one from hell). What do you think? Also, are there any thoughts from anyone else? Salvation happens all at one time. \" this\" is all the parts of salvation that are one. It is all of grace. There is no island of human righteousness in the paradigm of salvation. Nothing that belongs to man is in salvation. It is all of God.  There is no germ of human work. When we speak of faith in Christ it is saving faith. There is no such thing as a human work apart from pre-  grace. So that pure grace precedes sanctification and each individual work. It is evangelical obedience.