When Paul says, “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast,” he means for us to understand that salvation is, in its entirety, the result of and the work of God’s free grace in Christ. In its commencement, in its continuance, and in its consummation, salvation is by grace alone. It is not in any sense, or at any time, to be attributed to human works. God was not moved to bestow his grace upon us by anything he saw meritorious or attractive in us, and there is nothing in our hearts or conduct which can move him to take his grace away.