Notice the following verse....clear as, plain as....
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; and not of works lest any man should boast.
Literally....For by grace you are saved (dia) faith.....
dia is translated through....note the Greek word...
dia: through, on account of, because of
Original Word: διά
Part of Speech: Preposition
Transliteration: dia
Phonetic Spelling: (dee-ah')
Definition: through, on account of, because of
Usage: (a) gen: through, throughout, by the instrumentality of, (b) acc: through, on account of, by reason of, for the sake of, because of.
This word, tied to faith precludes any and all other means promoted by men and religions when it comes to what ACTUALLY IS THE MEANS of salvation.
And the attached statement...NOT OF WORKS LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST further precludes WORKS as part of what actually saves a man....
Faith is the means of salvation and it is out of the element of GRACE that we have been saved by said FAITH....
Think about that....if not for the imparted Grace of GOD.....FAITH would not save......but because of GRACE....we cam be saved DIA FAITH!!!!!!