8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God– 9 not because of works, lest any man should boast.
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Evan: Salvation is a gift of God, not something that comes through works.
Cait: Agreed. But notice that much like Titus 3:5, Paul is referring here only to salvation in the past tense, that initial salvation which the Catholic Church agrees has nothing to do with good works. The context also makes me suspect that he’s referring to specific kinds of “works” here (much like in Romans 3:28), but whatever he means in verse 9, I absolutely agree that verse 8 rules out any place for good works as a basis for initial salvation.
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