Not of Ourselves

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 9
"For by grace are ye saved [have been and are] through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2:8, 98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9). It was not necessary to say that grace was "not of ourselves," for grace means God's unmerited favor to us. But faith might be, as it has often been, argued to be of ourselves, because it is a subjective work of the Spirit in the heart. Therefore the Apostle carefully declares that this thing faith is not of us, but God's gift, that He might counteract and preclude that proneness which is in man to boast of something in himself.