A Walk through Ephesians - Pt 5

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV).

 

Today we come to one of the most familiar passages in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians church. It speaks of grace. That word in the original language is χάρις, (charis, or phonetically: “khar'-ece”). It is used often in the Scripture. Our word here is from chairo; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude); it can also mean acceptable, benefit, favor, gift, joy, liberality, pleasure, and thanks worthy.

 

It shouldn’t surprise us that because we are believers we talk about it a lot, frequently defining it as “God’s unmerited favor towards us.” And indeed, it is. It is by God’s grace that we are saved, and not by anything we have done or could do (v. 8). God’s grace has dealt with our separation from God through sin and we now have a future with him. It is unfortunate however that we often leave it there. We will see much more of this in future readings. Today, however, let’s deal with the grace of God and our salvation.

 

Our salvation is a gift from God. It is something that God, because of his grace, chooses to give to me. There is nothing I can do that would make me worthy of that gift of salvation. Often there is some confusion in the larger community of believers across various denominations about how the grace of God is obtained. The Apostle Paul briefly deals with those questions when he writes “…this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works” (v. 8). John Calvin writes:

 

Having treated of election and of effectual calling, he [Paul] arrives at this general conclusion, that they had obtained salvation by faith alone. First, he asserts, that the salvation of the Ephesians was entirely the work, the gracious work of God. But then they had obtained this grace by faith. On one side, we must look at God; and, on the other, at man. God declares, that he owes us nothing; so that salvation is not a reward or recompense, but unmixed grace. The next question is, in what way do men receive that salvation which is offered to them by the hand of God? The answer is, by faith; and hence he concludes that nothing connected with it is our own. If, on the part of God, it is grace alone, and if we bring nothing but faith, which strips us of all commendation, it follows that salvation does not come from us.

 

Others push back against such a position with the issue of free will. Calvin goes further in this part of his study into this epistle by writing:

 

Ought we not then to be silent about free-will, and good intentions, and fancied preparations, and merits, and satisfactions? There is none of these which does not claim a share of praise in the salvation of men; so that the praise of grace would not, as Paul shews, remain undiminished. When, on the part of man, the act of receiving salvation is made to consist in faith alone, all other means, on which men are accustomed to rely, are discarded. Faith, then, brings a man empty to God, that he may be filled with the blessings of Christ. And so he adds, not of yourselves; that claiming nothing for themselves, they may acknowledge God alone as the author of their salvation.

 

Just as a baby is born without any personal effort or participation, so the believer is born again without any personal effort or participation. That is not to say that our sanctification is without participation or effort. Paul goes on to say that the result of redemption is that we “… we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (v. 10). None of those “good works” produces our redemption; rather, the reverse is true. God’s work of redemption in us produces those good works.

 

It is indeed an Amazing Grace!