Messiah Baptist Church of Baesa, Inc.

Every Wednesday Bible Study

May 6, 2026

FALSE DOCTRINE THAT FAITH IS THE GIFT OF GOD

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

     The dangerous doctrine that faith is the gift of God is based on a wrong interpretation of some bible theologians of Ephesians 2:8-9.

     The misleading and confusing interpretation of many reformed men said that the pronoun “it” refers to faith. However, it is very clear that the gift of God Paul is talking about is that of salvation and don’t refer to faith.

     The IFCA Doctrinal Statement is a conservative, fundamentalist framework established by IFCA International (Independent Fundamental Churches of America) that outlines core Protestant beliefs. It emphasizes some of biblical doctrines such as: Bible Authority: Belief in the inerrant, infallible, and verbally inspired Scripture; Theological Position: Adheres to dispensationalism (different stewardships in scripture); Pre-millennialism (Christ’s 1000-year reign); Trinity; Cessationism: states that miraculous sign-gifts, such as tongues, ceased with the completion of the New Testament; Salvation: focuses on substitutionary atonement and eternal security; Pre-millennialism; Structure: Defines marriage as between one man and one woman and mandates a literal interpretation of Genesis 1-2; Ecclesiastical Separation: opposes modernism, ecumenism, and Neo-evangelicalism.

     IFCA Doctrinal Statement on the subject of salvation is precise and clear: “We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins” (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18,19). (IFCA International Articles of Faith and Doctrine). This well-worded statement about salvation doctrine, makes it clear that salvation is the gift of God and this gift is received by personal faith. The gift is salvation; the receiving of that gift is by faith. Based on their doctrinal statement, salvation is the gift, and faith is that reaches out and receives the gift which God offers. So, faith is not the gift.

     The truth is Salvation (refers to eternal life and righteousness) is the gift of God, is repeatedly found in the whole New Testament.

Some of bible verses the prove that salvation is the gift of God:

John 4:10 “Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”

Romans 5:15, 16, 17 “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. ¹⁶ And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. ¹⁷ For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

     Although it is true that apart from mercy of God and gracious enabling and enlightenment of God, saving faith could not be exercised, but the word “gift” in Ephesians 2:8 does not and never refer to saving faith.

Indeed, God is merciful and gracious that is why God reached us out, convicts us in our heart, and offers us salvation and we received that gift of salvation by saving faith but does mean we are given gift of faith.

John 6:44, 65 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁶⁵ And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.”

Matthew 11:27 “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.”

Matthew 16:16-17 “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

Acts 16:14 “And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”

     On early of 2022, after one Wednesday prayer meeting service here in our church in Baesa, a man who was a member of our church, after saying that salvation is only by faith and no need of repentance, and that man asked me quoting Ephesians 2:8 “how do we have faith”? It seems he want to simply argue and tell me that faith is from God and since we don’t have faith on our own, we have to pray and asked God to give us faith, therefore faith is a gift to those who asked God of it.

     The dangerous doctrine that faith is the gift of God affects someone’s knowledge about the gospel and how to evangelize through the gospel.      

     Most Reformed men understand the gift of God in Ephesians 2:8-9 as referring to FAITH. This raises some interesting questions. If saving faith is the gift of God, then how does the unsaved sinner receive this gift? What a person must do to believe?

     Two options to get the gift from God:

1. Does a sinner pray that God will give him the gift of faith?
2. Does a sinner do nothing and hope that God will sovereignly bestow this gift of faith upon him so that he can be saved? (As one of God’s elects)

Reformed theology teaches that for a person to be saved; God must first bestow upon him the gift of saving faith. But according to reformed theologians before he receives this gift of faith, he must first be regenerated, because reformed theology teaches that unregenerate sinners who are dead in sins are unable to believe.

John MacArthur teaches that a person cries out to God and pray that God will give that person the gift of saving faith. MacArthur teaches that faith is the gift of God and John MacArthur said that the sinner must pray to God so that person can get that gift of God which is faith.

Notice the erroneous statements by John MacArthur: “faith is a gift from God…it is permanent…the faith that God gives begets obedience…God gave it to you and He sustains it…May God grant you a true saving faith, a permanent gift that begins in humility and brokenness over sin and ends up in obedience unto righteousness. That is true faith and it is a gift that only God can give, and if you desire it, pray and ask that He would grant it to you.” (Transcribed from John MacArthur's tape GC 90-21 dealing with Lordship Salvation).

John MacArthur is doing the wrong teaching that instructing the lost unsaved not just to believe on Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31) but telling the sinners to simply pray and ask God to bestow upon them the gift of faith. This is a perversion of the true gospel of Christ that anyone will be saved conditionally if they pray instead of putting faith in Christ. Biblically, unsaved lost sinners are called to believe on Christ to receive the eternal gift of salvation. God did not command sinners to pray for the gift of faith. It’s heresy, unbiblical, erroneous doctrine that faith is the gift of God. (“The Gift of God” article by Roy I. Aldrich, July 1065, pages 248-253)

What is the antecedent of the pronoun?

 Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and this faith is not of yourselves, this faith is the gift of God, this faith is not of works, lest any man should boast"

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and this salvation is not of yourselves, this salvation is the gift of God, this salvation is not of works, lest any man should boast".

The word “this”, “that”, “those”, “these” are demonstrative pronoun.

The word “it” could be subjective case of personal pronoun or could be objective case of personal pronoun.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace ye are saved through faith, and this [τοØτο] [is] not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God, not of works lest anyone might boast"

     The pronoun “this” or “that” [τοØτο] is a demonstrative pronoun. It points out the thing that is referred to. In gender it is neither masculine nor feminine, but it is neuter. It could be translated "this thing." In number it is singular. It refers to something, but not several things. In case it is nominative (the subject of the verb). "This thing is not of yourself, [it is] the gift of God."

Identifying the antecedent of the pronoun?

      Let us identify the antecedent of the pronoun or what the pronoun refers to.

Some argue that faith is the nearest antecedent. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that (is) not of yourselves.” Yes, that is right that “faith” is the nearest antecedent”, but in the New Testament there a lot cases where the nearest antecedent is not the right antecedent, therefore we should be very careful in pointing out the antecedent.

     The Greek grammar rule needs to be followed. Pronouns agree with their antecedent in gender and number. Their case is determined by their use in their own clause. [A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament by H. E. Dana and Julius Mantey, p. 125 (Section 135).

     With this Greek grammar rule, we can therefore conclude that the antecedent is not faith although it is nearest to the pronoun “that”, because faith does not agree with the pronoun in gender. The pronoun “this” or “that” in verse 8 is neuter gender, and the noun “faith” is feminine. If the pronoun is referring to “faith”, the verse 8 read, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that or this (feminine thing, namely faith), is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” If Paul had used feminine pronoun not neuter then it is clear that faith is the gift of God. But Paul did not use the feminine but neuter pronoun.

     Why Paul used the neuter pronoun? If Paul had wanted to refer to the idea of being saved, then it would appropriate for Paul the use of the neuter gender. The pronoun “that” or “this thing” commonly takes a conceptual antecedent. (Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics by Daniel B. Wallace, p. 335.)

     What Paul is talking about in Ephesians 2:8-9? Paul is talking about how a person is saved. (verb: “are ye saved).

     How is a person saved? This was answered by using the correct antecedent. Salvation is by grace. Salvation is through faith. Salvation is not of yourselves. Salvation is the gift of God. Salvation is not of works.

     If the main subject of Paul is salvation. Why faith is mentioned? Faith is mentioned because you cannot answer the question “How is a person saved?” The Bible is clear in Acts 16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” So, the gift of salvation must be received by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But the main topic that Paul is talking about in Ephesians 2:8-9 is not gift of faith but gift of salvation.

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