I can see that some of you are beginning to look confused-like a university student in Minnesota who had a big K written on the back of his shirt. You've tricked us. That's the last time I'll come to your forum. Number 2 is really the legalistic answer. None of the Reformers and no Bible scholar worthy of the Reformation tradition has ever said that faith is the basis, or ground, of acceptance with God.
Faith is glorious.
Of all attributes that grace implants in the human heart, it stands right at the top. It is the gift of God and the root of all virtues. But irrespective of the princely nature of faith, it never has the position of the basis, foundation, or ground, of salvation. And one of the perils of the modern religious scene is the idea that it is because of my faith, because I'm born again, or because I trust in Jesus that God accepts me. To say that faith is the basis of acceptance with God is legalistic, because it offers to God something which is within me as the basis of acceptance with God.