I've hinted at this already in my argument against faith being a meritorious work, but now I would like to equally argue that faith isn't merely lumped in with grace but that it plays a different role then grace. Look at these verse that separate grace and faith.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9 (emphasis mine)
2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. - Romans 5:2 (emphasis mine).
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” - Romans 4:3 (emphasis mine)
16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, - Romans 4:16 (emphasis mine)
Many will directly attribute faith as a gift no different than God's grace; they lump faith in as being part of God's grace as if it's all exactly the same but it's not. Otherwise these verses I just quoted would be redundant and rambling. If faith was just part of God's grace then Ephesians 2:8 would merely say "For by grace you have been saved" (period) but it doesn't. It adds "...through faith" to the end of that. Yes God does 100% of the saving but it is through faith that the grace comes to us, it is faith that introduces us to grace. I've heard one famous theologian say "Grace is the source, faith is the condition", this is supported by Philippians 3:9 which states "...the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,". Again, as we established above, faith is not a meritorious work but rather it's trusting in the meritorious works of God (His grace) for salvation.
Faith doesn't compete with grace it complements it. Faith doesn't do any of the saving, but rather it is the avenue grace is received. When you see the phrase "through faith" it's one that should amaze us that grace comes so easily, even freely. Faith isn't always mentioned along side grace, but when it is it's not an equal partner as if both were either a work of God or a work of man. Rather grace is entirely the work of God and faith is the door that grace comes through to us. Faith was never meant to gain attention to itself, but rather it was to make a path for the amazing grace of God to come. One who works competes for that splendor but one who gets out of the way (faith) glorifies the Lord and His Amazing grace. The moment faith garnishes any attention we've misunderstood it's role. God's amazing grace is something to behold, faith is not.
The invention of faith or the ability to have faith is a gift of God for sure (Heb. 12:2, Rom. 12:3) and it's one He desires in us (Heb. 11:6) and is available to all men (John 1:7, Acts 11:18, 20:21, Rom. 1:19-21). But unlike grace which comes through faith I believe the ability to have faith is instilled in all men (Acts 7:51, John 12:32, John 1:9, John 16:8, Rev. 22:17). We dive into this in the coming articles.