STEPHEN TONG, DANIEL LUCAS LUKITO & REFORMED CALVINISTS PERVERT EPHESIANS 2:8

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BERBAGAI VERSI EPS 2:8

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (King James Version; italics in original).

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (New King James Version; italics in original).

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (New International Version).

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (New American Standard Version; italics in original).

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (New Revised Standard Version).

Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God (Jerusalem Bible).

For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God (Amplified Bible; italics in original).

For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved, through faith. It is not your own doing, but God’s gift (Today’s English Version).

For it is by his grace you are saved, through trusting him; it is not your own doing. It is God’s gift (New English Bible).

For it is by grace that you are saved, through faith. This does not depend on anything you have achieved, it is the free gift of God (Phillips Modern English Version).

I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God (New Century Version).

Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God (Living Bible).

Salvation

Salvation is expressed by the periphrastic participle este sesosmenoi (“you have been saved”). The perfect tense of the participle signifies the present state resulting from a prior occurrence.’ In other words, the Ephesian believers are now saved due to their past faith. However, the time element is not so clear and the focus may simply be on the present state of salvation with no implication of the prior action which produced it.

In the writings of Paul, salvation may have different meanings depending on the context. For example, in Philippians, Paul uses soteria (“salvation”) in a temporal sense, as in 1:19: “For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance (or “salvation”: soteria) through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (see also 1:28; 2:12).

In Ephesians, salvation is equivalent to everlasting life. The context of Ephesians 1 and 2 makes this clear. The noun soteria (“salvation”), is used only in Eph 1:13: “In Him you also, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (emphasis added). Some other Pauline passages where salvation is the same as in Eph 2:8 are:

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe (1 Cor 1:21; emphasis added).

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His-mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5; emphasis added).

Faith

The prepositional phrase dia tes pisteos (“through faith”) follows next.The preposition dia denotes means. This might also be expressed as cause or agency. The means or agent of salvation is faith. Lincoln comments about faith:

God’s act of grace is the ground of salvation and faith is the means by which it becomes effective in a person’s life. In Paul’s thinking faith can never be viewed as a meritorious work because in connection with justification he always contrasts faith with works of the law (cf. Gal 2:16; 3:2-5, 9, 10; Rom 3:27, 28). Faith involves the abandonment of any attempt to justify oneself and an openness to God which is willing to accept what he has done in Christ. The same applies here in regard to salvation. Faith is a human activity but a specific kind of activity, a response which allows salvation to become operative, which receives what has already been accomplished by God in Christ.

That salvation is by faith in Christ is a consistent theme in the writings of Paul:

Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe (Rom 3:22; emphasis added).

To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Rom 3:26; emphasis added).

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law (Rom 3:28; emphasis added).

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1; emphasis added).

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified (Gal 2:16; emphasis added).

And Luke records the words of Paul in Acts 16:31:

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved” (emphasis added).

Concerning faith, Eadie concludes:

But this grace does not operate immediately and universally. Its medium is faith . . . Salvation by grace is not arbitrarily attached to faith by the mere sovereign dictate of the Most High, for man’s willing acceptance of salvation is essential to his possession of it, and the operation of faith is just the sinner’s appreciation of the divine mercy, and his acquiescence in the goodness and wisdom of the plan of recovery. . . Justification by faith alone, is simply pardon enjoyed on the one condition of taking it.

The Demonstrative Pronoun

The phrase kai touto ouk ex hymon (“and this not of yourselves”) occurs next in the verse. Kai touto is interpreted most simply as “and this,” although it may be understood adverbially as “and at that,” “and especially,” “and that too,” or “and indeed.”

The demonstrative pronoun touto is the neuter singular nominative of houtos, “this.” Generally, a pronoun agrees with its antecedent in gender and number. In this sentence, neither chariti (“grace”) nor pisteos (“faith”) satisfy this requirement since both nouns are feminine in gender.

A pronoun also may agree ad sensum (in meaning or sense) with the antecedent. If this is the case here, then the likely antecedent of touto is the nearest one, i.e., pisteos (“faith”). In this view, even the faith of the Ephesians has its origin in God. Hanse comments:

God does not merely give to both Jews and Gentiles the possibility of faith; He effects faith in them. Eph. 2:8 makes it especially plain that all is of grace and that human merit is completely ruled out. To understand the Pauline and then the Lutheran doctrine of justification it is essential to make it clear that faith is not a new human merit which replaces the merit of works, that it is not a second achievement which takes the place of the first, that it is not something which man has to show, but that justification by faith is an act of divine grace. Faith is not the presupposition of the grace of God. As a divine gift, it is the epitome and demonstration of the grace of God.

A major problem with this position concerns the grammar. If Paul wanted to refer to pistis (“faith”), he could have written the feminine haute, instead of the neuter touto, and his meaning would have been clear. Why would he change the gender if he wanted to refer to pistis?

A neuter pronoun may also be used to refer to a phrase or summarize a thought. This seems to be the best solution in Ephesians 2:8. Touto refers back to the entire phrase te gar chariti este sesosmenoi dia tes pisteos (“for by grace you have been saved through faith”). Therefore, the whole salvation experience, which occurs by means of the grace of God when a person believes, is what is referred to by kai touto ouk ex hyman (“and this not of yourselves”).

This position is further supported by the parallelism between ouk ex hymon (“and this not of yourselves”) in 2:8 and ouk ex ergon (“not of works”) in 2:9. The latter phrase would not be meaningful if it referred to pisteos (“faith”). Instead, it clearly means that salvation is “not of works.” Therefore, these two clauses refer back to the introductory clause of 2:8 and the entire salvation experience.

The preposition ex in the phrase ex hymon (“and this not of yourselves”) denotes source. As a whole, the phrase means “not as proceeding from yourselves or of your own performance” (italics in original). God is the Originator of salvation, not man. Justification is not based on personal righteousness but on the righteousness of Christ: “And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (Phil 3:9). Calvin summarizes:

First, he asserts that the salvation of the Ephesians was entirely the work, the free work, of God; but they had obtained this grace by faith. On one side, we must look at God; and, on the other, at men. God declares that He owes us nothing; so that salvation is not a reward or recompense, but mere grace. Now it may be asked how men receive the salvation offered to them by the hand of God? I reply, by faith. Hence he concludes that here is nothing of our own. If, on the part of God, it is grace alone, and if we bring nothing but faith, which strips us of all praise, it follows that salvation is not of us.

The Gift of God

Since touto refers to the previous phrase te gar chariti este sesosmenoi dia tes pisteos (“for by grace you have been saved through faith”), Theou to doron (“the gift of God”) is salvation. God gives everlasting life, by grace, to the one who believes in Christ. Theou (“of God”) is placed first here for emphasis and to create a contrast with ouk ex hymon (“not of yourselves”).Grace is not a gift, it is the basis of the gift. Faith is not a gift, it is the means by which the gift is received. Salvation is the gift. Hoehner writes: “This salvation does not have its source in man (it is ‘not from yourselves’), but rather, its source is God’s grace, for ‘it is the gift of God.”

Scripture does not seem to support the idea that faith is a gift from God. The Bible simply calls upon people to believe. One example is in Romans 4. Here Paul cites Abraham as one who was declared righteous by God on the basis of faith and not works (4:1-3). In verse five Paul writes, “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (emphasis added). The personal faith of the one who does not work but only believes is what results in justification. There is no intimation that this faith is anything other than his own personal faith.

Another example is in John 11. In verses 25-26, Jesus addresses Martha and says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” In 11:27, Martha responds: by saying, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” In the interplay of the words of Jesus and Martha there is not the slightest hint that her faith is anything but her own conviction concerning the words of Jesus. There is a simple response of “Yes … I believe” to a simple question, “Do you believe this?”

The fact that faith is a personal response on the part of people must be balanced with the fact that God is sovereign. The Bible clearly teaches that God convicts men of their need for salvation:

Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven (Matt 16:17).

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up the last day (John 6:44).

Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father (John 6:65).

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged (John 16: 8-11).

But as has been shown, the Bible also clearly exhorts individuals to believe. The fact that God convicts people of their need of a Savior and reveals to them the truth concerning Christ is not the same thing as saying that He gives them their faith. In commenting on Eph 2:8, Chafer writes:

The point in the verse is that salvation is by grace in its totality…Though it is true that faith on the part of an unsaved person would be impossible apart from divine help, it nevertheless is a human decision, however difficult it may be to separate the human work from the divine work. The problem with making faith a particular gift from God is that it removes from man any responsibility to believe and leaves it entirely in the hands of God. If this were true it would be useless to exhort men to believe inasmuch as they could not do so.

The relationship between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man is an age-old question and one that is a paradox from a human point of view. God convicts people of their need to be justified. He discloses to them the truth of the person of Christ. But “the convicting work of the Spirit in itself does not assure salvation.” Individuals must believe. Ephesians 2:8 simply states that when a person believes in Jesus Christ, he receives the free gift of salvation.

Eadie concludes:

Men are saved by grace. . . and that salvation which has its origin in grace is not won from God, nor is it wrung from Him; “His is the gift.” Look at salvation in its origin—it is “by grace.” Look at it in its reception—it is “through faith.” Look at it in its manner of conferment—it is a “gift.” For faith, though an indispensable instrument does not merit salvation as a reward; and grace operating only through faith, does not suit itself to congruous worth, nor single it out as its sole recipient. Salvation, in its broadest sense, is God’s gift.

Conclusion

Ephesians 2:8 is a magnificent statement concerning the eternal salvation which is graciously provided by God through the medium of faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is not a divine gift from God. Faith is a personal conviction which a person exercises when he or she encounters Jesus the Christ. The clear exhortation from Paul and the other NT writers is for people to believe. There is no biblical data to warrant the belief that faith itself is given by God. Robertson correctly concludes, ‘“Grace’ is God’s part, ‘faith’ ours.” God provides the free gift of salvation on the basis of His grace. People must receive the free gift of salvation by means of faith. Such is the clear and distinct message of Eph 2:8. [Sapaugh]