Alexander, I had to read your post a couple of times to figure out what I think you are trying to ask. (In this quote I am going to change the highlighting from yours to mine to highlight what seems to be the premise of your question.)
I saw another puritan board member who would be considered a hyper-Calvinist because he believes we are saved by Christ alone. He does not believe our faith saves us but that we simply experience salvation in time upon faith.
Before we start, what is your definition of a "hyper-Calvinist"? It means different things to different people. For example, the definition some people use would make Calvin a hyper-Calvinist.
2. Salvation is through faith alone.
You highlighted this. Why? It is part of some phrases which became popular (and accurate)out of the Protestant Reformation.
- "by faith alone" - sola fide
- "by Christ alone" - solo Christo
- "by Grace alone" - sola gratia
But all of them of course are not so exclusionary as to stand outside of Scriptural meaning and explanation, and a filling in of the blanks.
But I think the key to why people's responses so far are not answering your question has to do with your phrase "our faith". What do you mean by that? Is this an ability we are born with? Is it something given by God to all men and then it is the choice of each man to exercise it or not? Your explanation would help us to understand and answer your question.
[deleted] wrote that in regards to Ephesians 2:8
The relevant context of that one verse is:
Eph. 2:4-10 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For 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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
My question is... how can a hyper-Calvinist understand Ephesians 2:8 in a way that doesn't make it seem like ["our"] faith is a condition for being eternally saved?
The man you quoted included faith and now you claim he excludes it. I find that confusing. But I think I am following what it is you are asking.
Before a man is saved he hears the Gospel preached. It contains both that he must flee from the wrath to come, and that he is told how to be saved. One of the verses he might be told is,
Rom. 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
There are things he must
do. For me that remained my understanding for many, many years of my Christian belief. I believed
from my perspective that is what went on in my conversion, which was the hardest "decision" I ever made in my whole life. Consider this viewpoint to be spiritual milk for when we are babes in Christ. As we become mature in Christ and move on to spiritual meat we start learning that every bit of salvation is a gift and work of God within us. This is how Scripture explains it to us
from God's perspective.
He does not believe our faith saves us but that we simply experience salvation in time upon faith. It's simply experimental.
It depends on whether I am viewing my salvation experience from my own perspective and the amount of work I did, or whether I later look at Scripture and see from God's perspective that He did all the work in me.
Phil. 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
But it can take a lot of learning from Scripture to come to this understanding which is so foreign to us.
