Ephesians 2:8-10


For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (KJV)


8. For by grace are ye saved. This is an inference from the former statements. Having treated of election and of effectual calling, he 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.

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.


9. Not of works. Instead of what he had said, that their salvation is of grace, he now affirms, that "it is the gift of God." Instead of what he had said, "Not of yourselves," he now says, "Not of works." Hence we see, that the apostle leaves nothing to men in procuring salvation. In these three phrases, -- not of yourselves, -- it is the gift of God, -- not of works, -- he embraces the substance of his long argument in the Epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians, that righteousness comes to us from the mercy of God alone, -- is offered to us in Christ by the gospel, -- and is received by faith alone, without the merit of works.

This passage affords an easy refutation of the idle cavil by which Papists attempt to evade the argument, that we are justified without works. Paul, they tell us, is speaking about ceremonies. But the present question is not confined to one class of works. Nothing can be more clear than this. The whole righteousness of man, which consists in works, -- nay, the whole man, and everything that he can call his own, is set aside. We must attend to the contrast between God and man, -- between grace and works. Why should God be contrasted with man, if the controversy related to nothing more than ceremonies?

Papists themselves are compelled to own that Paul ascribes to the grace of God the whole glory of our salvation, but endeavor to do away with this admission by another contrivance. This mode of expression, they tell us, is employed, because God bestows the first grace. It is really foolish to imagine that they can succeed in this way, since Paul excludes man and his utmost ability, -- not only from the commencement, but throughout, -- from the whole work of obtaining salvation.

But it is still more absurd to overlook the apostle's inference, lest any man should boast. Some room must always remain for man's boasting, so long as, independently of grace, merits are of any avail. Paul's doctrine is overthrown, unless the whole praise is rendered to God alone and to his mercy. And here we must advert to a very common error in the interpretation of this passage. Many persons restrict the word gift to faith alone. But Paul is only repeating in other words the former sentiment. His meaning is, not that faith is the gift of God, but that salvation is given to us by God, or, that we obtain it by the gift of God.


10. For we are his work. By setting aside the contrary supposition, he proves his statement, that by grace we are saved, -- that we have no remaining works by which we can merit salvation; for all the good works which we possess are the fruit of regeneration. Hence it follows, that works themselves are a part of grace.

When he says, that "we are the work of God," this does not refer to ordinary creation, by which we are made men. We are declared to be new creatures, because, not by our own power, but by the Spirit of Christ, we have been formed to righteousness. This applies to none but believers. As the descendants of Adam, they were wicked and depraved; but by the grace of Christ, they are spiritually renewed, and become new men. Everything in us, therefore, that is good, is the supernatural gift of God. The context explains his meaning. We are his work, because we have been created, -- not in Adam, but in Christ Jesus, -- not to every kind of life, but to good works.

What remains now for free-will, if all the good works which proceed from us are acknowledged to have been the gifts of the Spirit of God? Let godly readers weigh carefully the apostle's words. He does not say that we are assisted by God. He does not say that the will is prepared, and is then left to run by its own strength. He does not say that the power of choosing aright is bestowed upon us, and that we are afterwards left to make our own choice. Such is the idle talk in which those persons who do their utmost to undervalue the grace of God are accustomed to indulge. But the apostle affirms that we are God's work, and that everything good in us is his creation; by which he means that the whole man is formed by his hand to be good. It is not the mere power of choosing aright, or some indescribable kind of preparation, or even assistance, but the right will itself, which is his workmanship; otherwise Paul's argument would have no force. He means to prove that man does not in any way procure salvation for himself, but obtains it as a free gift from God. The proof is, that man is nothing but by divine grace. Whoever, then, makes the very smallest claim for man, apart from the grace of God, allows him, to that extent, ability to procure salvation.

Created to good works. They err widely from Paul's intention, who torture this passage for the purpose of injuring the righteousness of faith. Ashamed to affirm in plain terms, and aware that they could gain nothing by affirming, that we are not justified by faith, they shelter themselves under this kind of subterfuge. "We are justified by faith, because faith, by which we receive the grace of God, is the commencement of righteousness; but we are made righteous by regeneration, because, being renewed by the Spirit of God, we walk in good works." In this manner they make faith the door by which we enter into righteousness, but imagine that we obtain it by our works, or, at least, they define righteousness to be that uprightness by which a man is formed anew to a holy life. I care not how old this error may be; but they err egregiously who endeavor to support it by this passage.

We must look to Paul's design. He intends to shew that we have brought nothing to God, by which he might be laid under obligations to us; and he shews that even the good works which we perform have come from God. Hence it follows, that we are nothing, except through the pure exercise of his kindness. Those men, on the other hand, infer that the half of our justification arises from works. But what has this to do with Paul's intention, or with the subject which he handles? It is one thing to inquire in what righteousness consists, and another thing to follow up the doctrine, that it is not from ourselves, by this argument, that we have no right to claim good works as our own, but have been formed by the Spirit of God, through the grace of Christ, to all that is good. When Paul lays down the cause of justification, he dwells chiefly on this point, that our consciences will never enjoy peace till they rely on the propitiation for sins. Nothing of this sort is even alluded to in the present instance. His whole object is to prove, that,

"by the grace of God, we are all that we are."
(1 Corinthians 15:10)

Which God hath prepared. Beware of applying this, as the Pelagians do, to the instruction of the law; as if Paul's meaning were, that God commands what is just, and lays down a proper rule of life. Instead of this, he follows up the doctrine which he had begun to illustrate, that salvation does not proceed from ourselves. He says, that, before we were born, the good works were prepared by God; meaning, that in our own strength we are not able to lead a holy life, but only so far as we are formed and adapted by the hand of God. Now, if the grace of God came before our performances, all ground of boasting has been taken away. Let us carefully observe the word prepared. On the simple ground of the order of events, Paul rests the proof that, with respect to good works, God owes us nothing. How so? Because they were drawn out of his treasures, in which they had long before been laid up; for whom he called, them he justifies and regenerates.

In His Love, Sam

Course, John Calvin doesn't really believe works have no element in salvation:

unless I am mistaken, calvinists believe a person who is saved WILL do good works..

so if they aren't doing them.. they weren't saved in first place!

Now THIS is works based salvation.. plain and simple..

real salvation..

is saved by grace through faith.. and we serve God after salvation because we want to.. not because we have to.

Anyway, also I don't know if John Calvin knew about the third option of salvation.. the most scriptural way:

1) calvinist- don ask God for salvation.. you are elected for it and irrestibly drawn to salvation by Jesus (I still don know how a calvinist knows they are saved - if they never ask for salvation)

2)arminian- ask for salvation.. but it is not secure.. saved by grace through faith in God, but his faith is conditional upon our service and their is no real assurance of salvation

3)- the scriptural way:

Asking Jesus for salvation.. entrusting your salvation with Him (this is not works- this is just calling out for salvation).. then it can in no way be taken from you - either by God.. or by yourself..

saved by grace through faith in Christ... where Jesus' payments is completely all sufficient and completely efficious to anyone who believes in Him - calls upon Him for salvation.

Romans chapter 10 supports this.. Ephesians 2:8-9 supports this..

Romans 3:28
Galatians 2:16
Galatians 3:11

1 Peter 1:3-6

etc etc etc

NOW

the verse- 'faith without works is dead'

What is the context? Context is not about receiving eternal life.. but accounts of acts of service to God.. Abraham.. Rahab.. etc

these are people that acted in faith for God.. taking opportunities to use their faith..

if they didn't take those opportunities.. they weren't losing their salvation, or never had it in the first place.. their faith would just be unused.. dormant.. the Holy Spirit still inside them... indwelling them.. but the person indwelled not relying on Him.

So.. 'faith without works is dead' ... becomes not using the relationship you have with God to take opportunities to be faithful.. your relationship is unused.. dormant.. useless. NOT gone.. NOT lost

Abraham was justified by works in that God was pleased with his act of faith toward Him.. not that he was actually being eternally saved by this act!

Rahab was justified by works in that God was pleased with her act of faith toward Him.. not that she was actually being eternally saved by this act!

the other verse:

'he who endures to the end will be saved'

what is the context?

being rescued from trouble.. being delivered from trials...

what does save mean?

Sometimes it can refer to obtaining eternal life.. sins forgiven.. other times it can just mean be rescued from a bad situation.. depends on the CONTEXT of the verse!

In this case.. it is just being rescued from a bad situation.

This verse again, is not about receiving eternal life.. having sins forgiven..

So 'he who endures to the end will be saved'..becomes

'he who perseveres and is patient during these trails to come will be delivered out of them-'

They won't be eternally saved out of them.. that was done and dusted for those people when they asked for salvation from Jesus.

Anyway,

dunno how this will go.. but that is my 2 cents

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Thank you for your response. I had something come up today and have to leave town for a while. I think you know exactly how this will go as you have read my other posts. I am willing to have a civil conversation with you when I return but will not be drawn into another long debate. He who has an ear, let him hear.

I read something today that I will leave you with until I get back...

I am one person in one place at one time. My experiences and perceptions are limited and colored by the enviroment in which I live. Therefore, it would be profoundly arrogant of me to think that I can best grow in the knowledge of God through scripture by myself.

Certainly the Holy Spirit is graciously given to all God's children to enable us to comprehend and be comformed to the truths of the Bible. Nevertheless, one of the primary means of grace God uses in the process of our trsnsformation is the universal-historical community of believers. Whithin that community, God graciously provides leaders of few and leaders of many to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

In His Love,
Sam