God's Divine Favor, Our Faith, and Initial Salvation

With respect to Eph. 2:8 we read that we are initially saved by God's Divine GRACE (which is the same as God's Divine FAVOR), Greek chariti, the same word used in respect to Jesus increasing in FAVOR with God (Lk. 2:52), through faith. Moreover, God's Salvation cannot be "merited" by any means or cause from man's individual efforts... it is a free GIFT. This is the fundamental essence of Ex. 33:19 and Rom. 9:15: "I will have mercy/favor on whom I will have favor."

This attests to the absolute sovereignty of God.

Ephesians 2:8 (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

Luke 2:52 (KJV)
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Therefore, the faith of Eph. 2:8 is not a gift of God, but the free-will exercise of our own personal faith directed toward Jesus and His work on the Cross. Heb. 11:16 reveals that it is impossible to please God without faith. The pleasing of God can only be accomplished through our individual faith in accordance with God's Word, not by works.

With respect to Rom. 9:16, Paul reveals that God is indeed sovereign over His own favor and mercy, and that man cannot demand from God by merit. God's blessings are subject to His sovereignty and preordained plan. Obedient faith in His Word is the condition for His favor, mercy, and compassion.

Romans 1:5 (KJV)
5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for His name.

Romans 9:16 (KJV)
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

The Scripture is replete with men who have pleased God by their personal faith, and subsequently found His favor — Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Elijah, David, Jesus, John the Baptist, Apostle Paul, Peter, James, John, Cornelius, and many more. The key in all cases is faith — faith finds God's favor.

While faith finds the favor of God, it by no means obligates nor supersedes the sovereignty of God. In summation, we are saved by the Divine favor of God through the exercise of our own personal free-will faith directed toward the preordained pleasing of God — faith in Jesus and His eternal Word, His work on the Cross.