Read Eph. 2:1-10, Gleanings from Ephesians (4)

 Today our emphasis is on Eph. 2:8-9.  Specifically. we want to think about the nature of the gift of God.  There is disagreement, as you may be aware.  My Calvinist friends insist that both the salvation and faith are God’s gift to the one who believes.  My Wesleyan friends insist it is only salvation that is the gift of God. 

My purpose is to explain from this passage why I believe that “salvation” is the gift and that faith actually cannot be the gift.  I am not declaring myself to bear the name of one of the “Johns,” Calvin or Wesley.  I already know that I am considered theologically inept by both sides.  I’m not offended.  Nor do I think the title I am given is of any importance.  The Calvinists and Wesleyans I know and who care about these things are all strong in the word of God.  That’s good.  Very good!

Here are some things to think about.

·       It appears to me that the subject of this entire passage (v1-10) is “salvation.”  As we saw in the previous post, the opening verses speak of our “once” destitute situation, our being made alive after being dead in trespasses and sins (v1-3).  By God’s great love (v4) we are saved by grace (v5) and made to sit in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus (v6).  It is this salvation by grace that is the showpiece for the ages to come (v7).  “Faith” is not the subject of either 2:1-10 nor 2:11-22.  There is no other reference to faith in Eph. 2.

·       From A. T. Robertson there is a point made from the Greek.  The question at hand is, to what does the word “that” refer in v8?  And that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.  In Greek, words are generally connected by their “gender” as they can be masculine, feminine or neuter.  “Grace” and “faith” are feminine; “that” is neuter; “saved” is masculine.  Robertson’s conclusion is that the gift of God is not “faith” nor “grace” “but to the act of being saved by grace conditioned on faith on our part.  Paul shows that salvation does not have its source in men, but from God” (ATR, Word Pictures in the NT, Broadman Press, Nashville, Tenn., 1931, on Eph. 2:8).

·       Robertson then adds a line, “Besides, it is God’s gift and not the result of our work.”  This has occurred to me as well.  Paul is equating “faith” with “not of works.”  Jesus Himself connected “faith” with “receiving” in John 1:12. If something is done “through faith” it means there was no work involved; it was only receiving what was given.  Faith is the absence of works; it is a “non-work.”  ATR says, “’Grace’ is God’s part, ‘faith’ ours.”  What does God give us if He gives us faith, since faith is the absence of works.  It is an “empty hand.” 

(We will continue and conclude this discussion in the next post.)