Ephesians 2:8-9 (DBY)

Passage

For ye are saved by grace, through faith; and this not of yourselves; it is God's gift: not on the principle of works, that no one might boast.

Nearby Context

Ephesians 2:6 and has raised [us] up together, and has made [us] sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 2:7 that he might display in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8 For ye are saved by grace, through faith; and this not of yourselves; it is God's gift:

Ephesians 2:9 not on the principle of works, that no one might boast.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has before prepared that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:11 Wherefore remember that *ye*, once nations in [the] flesh, who [are] called uncircumcision by that called circumcision in [the] flesh done with the hand;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "saved", "grace", "faith", "through", "yourselves", "god's", "gift", and "principle". It is saying that salvation is received as God's gift through faith, so boasting is pushed out by the wording itself.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "that he might display in the coming..." into verse 10's "For we are his workmanship having been...", so "saved" and "grace" belong inside that flow. In Saved by Grace for Good Works, the local focus is grace, faith, new creation, and good works.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "saved" and "grace" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.