"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast."
"And here we must advert to a very common error in the interpretation of this passage. Many persons restrict the word gift to faith alone. But Paul is only repeating in other words the former sentiment. His meaning is, not that faith is the gift of God, but that salvation is given to us by God, or, that we obtain it by the gift of God." - John Calvin
I have copied the text in question within its context
.
The open-minded, discerning reader will soon see that Calvin in no way denies faith is the gift of God.
"8. For by grace are ye saved. This is an inference from the former
statements. Having treated of election and of effectual calling, he arrives at
this general conclusion, that
they had obtained salvation by faith alone.
First, he asserts, that the salvation of the Ephesians was entirely the work,
the gracious work of God. But then they had obtained this grace by faith.
On one side, we must look at God; and, on the other, at man. God declares,
that he owes us nothing; so that salvation is not a reward or recompense,
but unmixed grace.
The next question is, in what way do men receive that
salvation which is offered to them by the hand of God? The answer is, by
faith; and hence he concludes that nothing connected with it is our own.
If, on the part of God, it is grace alone, and if we bring nothing but faith,
which strips us of all commendation, it follows that salvation does not
come from us.
Ought we not then to be silent about free-will, and good intentions, and
fancied preparations, and merits, and satisfactions? There is none of these
which does not claim a share of praise in the salvation of men; so that the
praise of grace would not, as Paul shews, remain undiminished. When, on
the part of man, the act of receiving salvation is made to consist in faith
alone, all other means, on which men are accustomed to rely, are discarded.
Faith, then, brings a man empty to God, that he may be filled with the
blessings of Christ. And so he adds, not of yourselves; that claiming
nothing for themselves, they may acknowledge God alone as the author of
their salvation.
9. Not of works. Instead of what he had said, that their salvation is of
grace, he now affirms, that “it is the gift of God.” F19 Instead of what he
had said, “Not of yourselves,” he now says, “Not of works.”
Hence we
see, that the apostle leaves nothing to men in procuring salvation.
In these three phrases, — not of yourselves, — it is the gift of God, — not of works,
— he embraces the substance of his long argument in the Epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians,
that righteousness comes to us from the
mercy of God alone, — is offered to us in Christ by the gospel, — and is
received by faith alone, without the merit of works.
This passage affords an easy refutation of the idle cavil by which Papists
attempt to evade the argument, that we are justified without works. Paul,
they tell us, is speaking about ceremonies. But the present question is not
confined to one class of works. Nothing can be more clear than this. The
whole righteousness of man, which consists in works, — nay, the whole
man, and everything that he can call his own, is set aside. We must attend
to the contrast between God and Man, between grace and works. Why
should God be contrasted with man, if the controversy related to nothing
more than ceremonies?
Papists themselves are compelled to own that Paul ascribes to the grace of
God the whole glory of our salvation, but endeavor to do away with this
admission by another contrivance. This mode of expression, they tell us, is
employed, because God bestows the first grace. It is really foolish to
imagine that they can succeed in this way, since Paul excludes man and his
utmost ability, — not only from the commencement, but throughout, —
from the whole work of obtaining salvation.But it is still more absurd to overlook the apostle’s inference, lest any man
should boast. Some room must always remain for man’s boasting, so long
as, independently of grace, merits are of any avail. Paul’s doctrine is
overthrown, unless the whole praise is rendered to God alone and to his
mercy. And here we must advert to a very common error in the
interpretation of this passage. Many persons restrict the word gift to faith
alone. But Paul is only repeating in other words the former sentiment. His
meaning is, not that faith is the gift of God, but that salvation is given to us
by God, or, that we obtain it by the gift of God."[End of citation]
In context Calvin is refuting the Roman Catholic teaching that it is man who works righteousness once enabling grace is given. It is now up to man hard work and ability to make good use of the enabling grace God has given him, Catholic theologians assert.
The quote which Skandelon copied from anti-cal sources (i.e, Geisler) makes an obvious point: it is not only faith which is the gift of God, but salvation in its entirety….from first to last, including all necessary conditions.
In no way, shape or form does Calvin deny faith is the gift of God.
There are numerous other comments by Calvin throughout his works which explicitly state ‘faith is the gift of God.’
Is it not curious that Calvin specifically mentions that man has no cause for ‘boasting’ because he has no 'ability' in his natural state?
