I inferred nothing. It was explicitly stated ...
[Eph 2:1-10 NASB] 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Is being dead in trespasses and sins a "good work", because if it is not then EPH 2:1-10 starts out with us doing "not good" works, then God does something in the middle, and it ends with us doing "good works". I infer nothing except that God meant what he said in Ephesians 2.
What is not in question is that God saves. What is in question is whom He chooses to save and how that selection is made. Synergists hold that man's and God's choices play a role, while monergists hold that God and God alone decides (on an individual basis) which people will be saved.
Being dead doesn't mean we are unable to make the choice for salvation. That is an assumption, and an incorrect one. You have inferred a sequence which puts regeneration before faith. However, I showed you a passage that explicitly says belief in the gospel comes prior to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (two passages, in fact).
The passage you are quoting does not say explicitly at which point in the process faith comes into the picture. It says that the gift of grace is not of ourselves (we don't give ourselves the gift of grace), and that faith is how we aquire the gift... however... it does not address where in the sequence faith comes in (if it is prior to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit or not). This matters because if faith is prior to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, then the process is Synergistic, whereas if faith comes after the indwelling of the Holy Spirit it is monergistic as it would be God within us having faith in Himself, and wouldn't be a deliberate act of the human will.
What about these words are open to a broad interpretation?
[Rom 3:9-18 NASB] 9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." 13 "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS"; 14 "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; 15 "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, 16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, 17 AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN." 18 "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."
What about Jesus? Was He not righteous? Abraham; was he not credited with righteousness? Does this passage exclude the possibility that Jesus was righteous? Do these verses exclude the possibility that Abraham was credited with Christ's righteousness? Obviously, you will answer yes, Jesus was righteous, so your thinking probably isn't as rigid on this as you might have thought.
You assume that because none are righteous, we have no capability of understanding good. However, this is not the case.
[Gen 3:22 NASB] 22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--
We absolutely have the ability to know good, to understand good, and to distinguish it from evil. We absolutely have the ability to choose between good and evil. Our problem is that our nature is to DO evil in spite of our choices. This doesn't end when we get saved and indwelled by the Holy Spirit, BTW. Paul wrote,
[Rom 7:18-19 NASB] 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good [is] not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
Our mind, will, and emotions -- the faculties that CHOOSE things -- are in our soul, not in our flesh. So when Paul says in Romans 3 that there is none righteous, no not one -- is he referring to the flesh, the soul, or the spirit? These are now separated from one another.
[Heb 4:12 NASB] 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Paul also addressed your suggestion that God calls us to righteousness through a human choice to obey the Law immediately after these verses:
[Rom 3:19-20 NASB] 19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law [comes] the knowledge of sin.
I'm not suggesting that anyone needs to follow the The Law to be saved... what I'm suggesting is that Deuteronomy 30, while written in The Law, is testifying regarding the covenant of Faith rather than The Law. Not that it is a command we are required to follow, but that it teaches us about the covenant of faith.
That's why Paul draws a distinction between what is written in The Law of Moses and what Deuteronomy 30 says about 'the righteousness that comes through faith.'
[Luk 24:44 NASB] 44 Now [Jesus] said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."
Jesus Himself says the Law of Moses talks about Him. I suggest we take Him at His word and listen to the Law when it talks about faith and Christ.
[Gal 3:24 NASB] 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor [to lead us] to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
So if we use The Law in the way Paul does, and the way Paul suggests here in Gal 3:24, and the way Jesus talks about in Luke 24:44, and the way I'm doing it... we can see that Deuteronomy 30 is teaching us about faith and Christ.
If you use the online Bible - Blueletterbible.org ... and use the NASB version... you will notice that the NASB CAPTIALIZES any new testament scriptures that quote the Old Testament. Half of Paul's epistles are capitalized!! No one writes more about faith and how it works than Paul. He gets all of his doctrine and theology regarding faith from the Torah and the Prophets. We should too. Not that we desire to be under the law, but that the law is a series of parables that teach us about Christ and faith.
