Eph 2:8-10 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 8. For by grace are ye saved . By mere favour. It is not by your own merit; it is not because you have any claim. This is a favourite doctrine with Paul, as it is with all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. . Through faith . Grace bestowed through faith, or in connexion with believing. ; . And that not of yourselves . That is, salvation does not proceed from yourselves. The word rendered that --τουτο--is in the neuter gender, and the word faith --πιστις --is in the feminine. The word "that," therefore, does not refer particularly to faith, as being the gift of God, but to the salvation by grace of which he had been speaking. This is the interpretation of the passage which is the most obvious, and which is now generally conceded to be the true one. See Bloomfield. Many critics, however, as Doddridge, Beza, Piscator, and Chrysostom, maintain that the word "that" τουτο refers to "faith," (πιστις;) and Doddridge maintains that such a use is common in the New Testament. As a matter of grammar this opinion is certainly doubtful, if not untenable; but as a matter of theology it is a question of very little importance. Whether this passage proves it or not, it is certainly true that faith is the gift of God. It exists in the mind only when the Holy Ghost produces it there, and is, in common with every other Christian excellence, to be traced to his agency on the heart. This opinion, however, does not militate at all with the doctrine that man himself believes . It is not God that believes for him, for that is impossible. It is his own mind that actually believes, or that exercises faith. . In the same manner repentance is to be traced to God. It is one of the fruits of the operation of the Holy Spirit on the soul. But the Holy Ghost does not repent for us. It is our own mind that repents; our own heart that feels; our own eyes that weep--and without this there can be no true repentance. No one can repent for another; and God neither can nor ought to repent for us. He has done no wrong, and if repentance is ever exercised, therefore, it must be exercised by our own minds. So of faith. God cannot believe for us. We must believe, or we shall be damned. Still this does not conflict at all with the opinion, that if we exercise faith, the inclination to do it is to be traced to the agency of God on the heart. I would not contend, therefore, about the grammatical construction of this passage, with respect to the point of the theology contained in it; still it accords better with the obvious grammatical construction, and with the design of the passage to understand the word "that" as referring not to faith only, but to salvation by grace . So Calvin understands it, and so it is understood by Storr, Locke, Clarke, Koppe, Grotius, and others. It is the gift of God . Salvation by grace is his gift. It is not of merit; it is wholly by favour. (e) "are ye saved" (f) "and that not" (g) "of yourselves"

Ephesians 2:8-10

Verse 8. For by grace are ye saved. By mere favour. It is not by your own merit; it is not because you have any claim. This is a favourite doctrine with Paul, as it is with all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. Rom 1:7, 3:24.

Through faith. Grace bestowed through faith, or in connexion with believing. Rom 1:17; Rom 4:17.

And that not of yourselves. That is, salvation does not proceed from yourselves. The word rendered that--τουτο--is in the neuter gender, and the word faith--πιστις --is in the feminine. The word "that," therefore, does not refer particularly to faith, as being the gift of God, but to the salvation by grace of which he had been speaking. This is the interpretation of the passage which is the most obvious, and which is now generally conceded to be the true one. See Bloomfield. Many critics, however, as Doddridge, Beza, Piscator, and Chrysostom, maintain that the word "that" τουτο refers to "faith," (πιστις;) and Doddridge maintains that such a use is common in the New Testament. As a matter of grammar this opinion is certainly doubtful, if not untenable; but as a matter of theology it is a question of very little importance. Whether this passage proves it or not, it is certainly true that faith is the gift of God. It exists in the mind only when the Holy Ghost produces it there, and is, in common with every other Christian excellence, to be traced to his agency on the heart. This opinion, however, does not militate at all with the doctrine that man himself believes. It is not God that believes for him, for that is impossible. It is his own mind that actually believes, or that exercises faith. Rom 4:3. In the same manner repentance is to be traced to God. It is one of the fruits of the operation of the Holy Spirit on the soul. But the Holy Ghost does not repent for us. It is our own mind that repents; our own heart that feels; our own eyes that weep--and without this there can be no true repentance. No one can repent for another; and God neither can nor ought to repent for us. He has done no wrong, and if repentance is ever exercised, therefore, it must be exercised by our own minds. So of faith. God cannot believe for us. We must believe, or we shall be damned. Still this does not conflict at all with the opinion, that if we exercise faith, the inclination to do it is to be traced to the agency of God on the heart. I would not contend, therefore, about the grammatical construction of this passage, with respect to the point of the theology contained in it; still it accords better with the obvious grammatical construction, and with the design of the passage to understand the word "that" as referring not to faith only, but to salvation by grace. So Calvin understands it, and so it is understood by Storr, Locke, Clarke, Koppe, Grotius, and others.

It is the gift of God. Salvation by grace is his gift. It is not of merit; it is wholly by favour.

(e) "are ye saved" 2Ti 1:9 (f) "and that not" Rom 4:16 (g) "of yourselves" Jn 6:44,65 Verse 9. Not of works. Rom 3:20. Rom 3:27 Verse 10. For we are his workmanship. We are his making--ποιημα. That is, we are created or formed by him, not only in the general sense in which all things are made by him, but in that peculiar sense which is denoted by the new creation. 2Cor 5:17. Whatever of peace, or hope, or purity we have, has been produced by his agency on the soul. There cannot be conceived to be a stronger expression to denote the agency of God in the conversion of men, or the fact that salvation is wholly of grace.

Created in Christ Jesus. On the word created, 2Cor 5:17.

Unto good works. With reference to a holy life; or, the design for which we have been created in Christ is, that we should lead a holy life. The primary object was not to bring us to heaven. It was that we should be holy. Paul held perhaps more firmly than any other man to the position, that men are saved by the mere grace of God, and by a Divine agency on the soul; but it is certain that no man ever held more firmly that men must lead holy lives, or they could have no evidence that they were the children of God.

Which God hath before ordained. Marg., prepared. The word here used means to prepare beforehand, then to predestinate, or appoint before. The proper meaning of this passage is, "to which (οις) good works God has predestinated us, or appointed us beforehand, that we should walk in them." The word here used--προετοιμαζω--occurs in the New Testament nowhere else, except in Rom 9:23, where it is rendered, "had afore prepared." It involves the idea of a previous determination, or an arrangement beforehand for securing a certain result. The previous preparation here referred to was the Divine intention; and the meaning is, that God had predetermined that we should lead holy lives. It accords, therefore, with the declaration in Eph 1:4, that he had chosen his people before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy. Eph 1:4.

That we should walk in them. That we should live holy lives. The word walk is often used in the Scriptures to denote the course of life. Rom 6:4.

(a) "God hath before ordained" Eph 1:4 (1) "ordained" "prepared"