“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
After studying the Greek I think the Aramaic Bible in Plain English captures the truth better than some of the other English translations…
“For it is by His grace that we have been saved through faith, and this faith was not from you, but it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8 Aramaic Bible in Plain English)
So from where does this saving faith come if this faith “was not from you”?
“Because we know that a man is not justified by works of The Written Law, but by the faith of Yeshua The Messiah, we also believe in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, that we should be made right by the faith of The Messiah, and not by the works of The Written Law, because no one is made right by the works of The Written Law.” (Galatians 2:16 Aramaic Bible in Plain English)
Did you catch that – it is not YOUR faith, but the faith “of Yeshua The Messiah”.
Claiming to be saved as a result of a decision we make, or our baptism, or our repentance of sin, or our profession of faith, or our good works, or our membership in a church, yada yada yada….is to “boast”. We had nothing to do with our salvation.
“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God...the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 3:23;6:23)
One of the reasons that Salvation is by the Grace of God bestowed freely on sinners is to prevent us from bragging about it...or working for it. We should rejoice and brag on God for His free gift.