There is no faith alone in Ephesians 2:8, stop adding words to it.
Your title is perfect. Paul never uses 'faith' and 'alone' together. The only place in the Bible where faith alone and faith only are used side by side, is in James 2 that condemns such faith as being dead and can neither save nor justify any man.
It shows how those who take away from the Bible in one place
by their unbelief, will add to the Bible in another place to teach
their own belief.
The only Christian faith alone, is that taught by Christians believing their are saved by their own faith alone. It's neither the gospel, doctrine, salvation, nor justification of Jesus Christ in the Bible.
But what the children of disobedience who use this verse to justify their rebellion do not understand is that the epistle to the Ephesians is not written to those that are:
"...Dead in trespasses and sins..."
— (Ephesians 2:1).
The epistle is written:
"...To the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus..."
— (Ephesians 1:1).
This is an excellent point, thanks. I'll mark it down and remember it.
Paul is speaking to and of saved Christians, that are not still dead in sins, walking after the flesh, and doing such unrighteous things that shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Christians have nothing to boast about. Even their faith is not of themselves. It is the gift of God. As it is written:
You have exceeding yourself here in Bible understanding. There are so many Christians that think salvation or grace is a gift from God, when Eph 2 is plainly saying that the faith of Jesus that saves us, is the free gift of God.
The Parable of the Sower, and Romans 10 shows us that the word of faith in the Bible, is God's free gift, that is given to whosoever, any, and all
hearers of Jesus gospel.
Jesus' faith is by grace sown in the hearts of anyone hearing His name and good news. The Christian teaching that we are saved by having His faith alone in our hearts, comes from boastful error of thinking God only sows His word and faith in the hearts of some of the hearers only.
They are saying that because they
alone out of others hearers, have His faith in their hearts by hearing, they must be saved. This is not the Bible teaching of the Sower and the faith that comes by hearing in Romans 10.
If it is true, that all who have the word of faith sown in their hearts, are all saved by that faith alone, then all hearers of the gospel are saved by hearing only.
This is how the Ephesians were saved by grace through faith. They obeyed the gospel of Christ which was first preached on the day of Pentecost:
"...Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
— (Acts 2:38).
Well done again. I would only add that what they obeyed was Jesus' first message on earth:
Repent and believe the gospel.
They repented of dead works, to believe and obey the gospel. Ephesians is only writing to and of them that have repented of their dead works.
The same Christians that teach being saved by faith alone, also leave out the word 'repent', when they preach about believing the gospel.
They are not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Bible, who first commands all men everywhere to repent of our sinning (Acts 17), that we may then believe His word with power from Him to do it.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of.
The Christian gospel of being saved by believing
unto repentance is not the Bible. We must repent
unto salvation through faith.
And that faith of Jesus is never without His good and righteous works pleasing to the the Father.
And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
If we are not pleasing the Father, then He leaves us alone to our own faith alone. This destroys any honest talk about being saved by faith alone without works pleasing to the Father, much less being saved while sinning against Him.
The Father would say of those Christians preaching their salvation by their own faith alone, to let them alone, and let them fall into their own ditch they dig for themselves.
Some Christians even teach being saved while fallen into ditches.