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Does "quickened" here (and, "even when we were dead in sins") implicate God as the primary cause of our faith and salvation?

(Normally, Ephesians 2:8 is plucked out, and great debates rage over that one verse. Yet, when we step back a bit, A LOT is discussed in this passage.(

1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

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  • YEs, Yes, YES!! Commented Jan 22 at 21:35
  • Well, I take that as the shortest, most emphatic support I have received...or, perhaps my many questions seem the same to you and I have sorely tried your patience (which is not my intent, of course ). It is a joy to speak of the Lord Jesus Christ together. Please forgive me, if I have offended in any way Commented Jan 22 at 21:38
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    How can any Christian be offended but rather delighted to speak of goodness and grace of beloved Savior!!! Commented Jan 22 at 22:22
  • God is obviously the cause of the faith of God or christ. How can we remove the object of faith from being primary importance? It doesn't negate free will, where will determines our faith. No help for gnosticism here in light of free will. Commented Jan 23 at 3:53

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Unbelievers are “dead” in the sense that they lack the new spiritual life that is in Christ and required for salvation, thus they are trapped under sin’s power (Eph 2:1–3).

In Eph 2:4–6 Paul attributes God's remedy: He “made us alive together with Christ”, which is the resurrection/creation act, not an achievement "of (ourselves) yourselves".

Paul states the means of reception as “by grace you are saved through faith” (2:8), which identifies the gift to be "saved" (salvation/quickening), where faith functions as the believing response through which His saving work (not ours) is received, “...lest any man should boast” (2:9).

The making alive (quickening) of the new believer gives them the power/ability to now walk according to the guidance of the Spirit, rather than the course of this world or "after the flesh":

Romans 8:10-13

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

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    Amen, Mark, thanks. Commented Jan 23 at 2:34