Lets take a look at a much disputed verse, Ephesians 2:8.
For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; (NET)
And for comparison, here is the NASB version, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Pretty much the same message. We have "are saved" and "have been saved" but the verb carries both meanings, you have been saved and you are saved. So nothing to quibble about.
Then we get "this" is not from yourselves and "that" is not of yourselves." And of course the dispute arises over whether the pronoun (this or that) refers to faith, or grace, or being saved? Calvinists say "faith" is included in the gift, whereas non-Calvinists say the gift is salvation by grace.
And of course, what points toward the non-Calvinist view is "through" (Greek "dia") faith which says we obtained or received the gift based on God crediting our faith as righteousness. Our faith had to exist before obtaining the gift because the gift was through faith.
So if the verse was translated as: For by grace you are saved through faith, and this salvation is not from yourselves, for your salvation is from God, all the needless wrangling would end.
