Quote:
Originally Posted by MC1171611
Gal. 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (emphasis mine)
I srongly and emphatically believe that to mean that we are justified by Jesus's faith; also, the "gift" of Ephesians 2:8-9 is faith, not Salvation, if the sentence is dissected properly. Most teach that we have faith and by that we accept Jesus Christ as our saviour, but based on the Scriptures, I believe that even faith itself is a gift, based on the word "of" in Gal. 2:16: "the faith of Jesus Christ."
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The “gift” of Ephesians 2:8-9 is salvation, not faith. Romans 6:23 tells us “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Ephesians 2: 8 & 9 tells us there is something that is the gift of God. This something is given to us and it is something that we can’t work for; “Not of works”. I’ve heard of people working for salvation, working for eternal life, working for God’s approval…etc, but I’ve never heard of anyone working for faith. That doesn’t make any sense. Salvation is the gift that is given by God’s grace and is received by us by faith. The idea that faith is the gift of God comes from Calvinism. Calvinists teach that the lost man has no will so God has to give him the faith to believe; a concept foreign to Scripture.
What about “the faith” of Jesus Christ as mentioned in Galatians 2:16 & 20? Jude 3 tells us to earnestly contend for “the faith”. “The faith” referred to in Jude 3 is the body of truth that has been delivered to the saints (and is now available to us in God’s Word, the Authorized Version or KJV). Galatians 2:16-21 is contrasting justification by works versus justification by faith. “The faith” of Jesus Christ or “the faith” of the Son of God is not taking about Jesus’ faith. It’s referring to the truths of Jesus’ work on cross and resurrection so that we can be justified by faith versus being justified by works which also includes our co-crucifixion with Him and Him now being our life. If you will read Galatians 2:16 & 20 in the light of “the faith” of Jesus Christ referring to the truths about Jesus’ work on the cross and not His faith they will make a lot more sense.
“For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)” (Romans 5:17)