How Could I Miss That?

Ephesians 2:8-9
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

What isn't "of ourselves"?
For years I repeated and regurgitated this verse, missing something just beneath the surface. Previously, I only saw the main thrust of the passage: we aren't saved by our works. This is the very dividing line between Catholic and Protestant doctrine. But there's also something even deeper than that division. It comes out in the phrase "and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God": Is Paul merely saying that grace is not of ourselves? Why would he need to point out something so elementary? By its very definition, grace is not of ourselves. By definition, grace is a gift. What's the point in pointing this basic truth out? Would some people really think that grace was actually of themselves?

Faith not "of ourselves"?
There is another interpretation that Brent Klontz showed me a few months back, which explains this phrase "...and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God..." a little better --- Paul is referring to the faith too! The faith is not of ourselves, it's the gift of God. Try looking at verse 8 again, and see which makes more sense --- grace or both grace and faith:

Interpretation 1
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and [grace is] not of yourselves, [grace] is the gift of God."
Interpretation 2
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and [grace and faith are] not of yourselves, [grace and faith are] the gift of God."

The difference between these interpretations might not seem clear, until you ask an Armenian and a Calvinist how they interpret it. The Armenian thought is reflected in interpretation 1: we're saved by grace, but we still have to muster up the faith to actually trust God. The Calvinist thought is reflected in interpretation 2: we're saved by grace, through faith, but even the faith that we have is God-given. In other words, we wouldn't have believed on our own.

Interpretation 2 is reflected in the very words of Jesus in John 6:44
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day."

This verse alone is not proof of Calvinistic thought, but it is essential to understanding how we were saved in the first place, and its interpretation marks the dividing line between Calvinism and Armenian thought.