[aruanan]

You are exactly in accordance with the teaching of the Bible.

Ephesians 2:8 8For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.

We do not choose to believe, the Holy Spirit brings us to faith. Our salvation is solely completed through Christ.

Tell me what noun the pronoun "this" is referring to. Also tell me why whoever chose the punctuation did it in such a way as to destroy the parallelism in the Greek text.

[Vegasrugrat]

Here is a re-post of my response to you yesterday. I believe scripture is very clear on how we come to faith, through the Holy Spirit, not of our own doing:

The Apostle Paul leaves no room for defining God’s grace as less than a gift from a gracious benefactor to a poor helpless beggar.

Believing brings no boast in self because human qualities, works and achievements play no part in why and how God saves. From start to finish, the boast is “Christ!” Faith is God’s gift

Ephesians 2 explicitly states our faith is a gift from God. As do the other scriptures quoted below.

Ephesians 2 1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

1 Corinthians 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2:13 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Romans 9:16 16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.