I've been thinking about Ephesians 2:8-9 a lot lately. I think we're reading it wrong - and the equation presented there has consequently been misunderstood.
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." - Ephesians 2:4-10 NASB
I think Paul is commenting on two separate things here - grace and faith, not equating the two, and the order of the language he uses is what ultimately confuses. In checking several versions of Ephesians 2:8, some of them use a comma as in "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith" and some use none, as in the NASB translation above. I think that comma is critical. If I were to re-write it, I think this is what Paul is saying:
For you are saved by grace and this is not of yourselves so that no one can boast; and faith is involved, but God does not save people on the basis of their works, it is His choice alone.
