No problem.
"We are saved by grace through faith, not by works."
This is never quoted in the Bible. This is a misquote from the Bible, that changes the wording, and does not finish the whole verse.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The salvation and justification of God is not of any works that man can boast of.
Speaking of misquoting.
Eph 2:4 But
God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
Eph 2:5
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Eph 2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7 so that in the coming ages he might show
the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)
First, it cannot be anymore clear that Paul says believers are saved by grace through faith. Second, it is fully supported by the context. There is nothing in the context which makes that a misquote or changes the wording; that is the wording. Third, you are correct that it does not finish the whole verse. The rest of the verse makes the point even stronger--salvation by grace through faith "is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God." By definition, a gift is something unmerited; it is free. Fourth, the next verse supports that further by explicitly stating that salvation by grace through faith is "not a result of works." Again, it is a gift of God, so of course it
cannot be a result of works.
Fifth, nowhere is it stated "The salvation and justification of God is not of any works
that man can boast of." That is a prime example of changing the wording. The wording clearly is "not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Why? Because it is a gift, but also because that would mean Christ's blood is insufficient to save; that God himself coming in human flesh--an infinite sacrifice--wasn't enough to save. How can finite human works add to the infinite sacrifice of God himself so as to procure salvation?
The entire context is that salvation is a free gift of God by his grace, through faith, and absolutely not a result of works. If it was by works, then by definition it cannot be a gift:
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Rom 3:24 and
are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Rom 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood,
to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (ESV)
Rom 4:1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?
Rom 4:2 For
if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Rom 4:4 Now
to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
Rom 4:5 And
to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, (ESV)
Rom 5:15 But
the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass,
much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
Rom 5:16 And
the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but
the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.
Rom 5:18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men,
so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
Rom 5:19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners,
so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. (ESV)
Rom 6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Rom 6:13
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness,
but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and
your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Rom 6:14
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Rom 6:15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
Rom 6:16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But thanks be to God, that you
who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,
Rom 6:18 and,
having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Rom 6:19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness,
so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
Rom 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Rom 6:21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But
now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but
the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)
Notice that unbelievers are "slaves to sin" and believers are "slaves to God."
Yet, Paul sees it necessary to 1) command the believers to "not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness," and 2) command the believers to "present . . . your members to God as instruments for righteousness," and "present your members as slaves to righteousness." Why? because presenting one's members as slaves to righteousness
leads to sanctification.
Your position contradicts that at every point, particularly that true believers are fully sanctified (holy) when they are saved.
If that was true, then Paul would neither have to command believers to "not present [their] members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness," nor to "present your members as slaves to righteousness." So while sin no longer has dominion over believers, it is no longer our master, we still struggle in presenting our members as slaves to sin. But, as we continue to present our members as slaves to righteousness, we grow in holiness, sinning less and less as we mature in the faith.
No verse in the Bible ever excludes any and all works from being saved and justified by Christ. But only the works man can boast of without Christ, which are by the law and of our own righteousness.
On the contrary, not only have I just given a passage which does, there is no verse which states that works are necessary for salvation. To even suggest such is to completely undermine the gospel and the death of Christ for our sins.
The works of God we now do in the flesh through Jesus Christ, are the necessary good works to be justified by Jesus Christ.
You've got the cart before the horse. Being justified is the
first step in and assurance of salvation; it is to be declared righteous.
Only then can we do good works with the help of the Holy Spirit--once we are justified.
God does not exclude His own works from His own justiifcation and kingdom.
Yes, he most certainly does, as I've adequately shown with Scripture.
Otherwise, God would not judge works to justify or condemn a man.
You misunderstand judgement about works. Everyone will appear before the judgement seat of Christ and will be first and foremost judged on whether or not their names are in the book of life. Those whose names are in the book will be with God forever, and those whose names are not there are thrown into the lake of fire.
Yet, both believers and unbelievers will have their works judged. For believers, it will determine the level of reward (1 Cor 3:12-15); for unbelievers it will determine the level of punishment (Luke 12:46-48).
The subtlety with Scripture, is that God excludes any and all works from justifying man by Jesus Christ.
I don't understand what you're saying here.
The open lie is that any man is saved and justified by their own faith alone, without works.
The biblical position is:
Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (ESV)