![]() ![]() Salvation Originates With Godįinally, the middle two items of the chiasm reveal that this salvation package from God did not originate with man, but with God. Faith is not a work, but it is the avenue by which we receive the life of Christ. We can, however, believe in Jesus for eternal life. Yes, we cannot in any way work to earn or merit eternal life in Christ. When we allow the clear contrast between faith and works to stand, Paul’s points is clearly seen. If faith were a work-even if it was a work of God-Paul’s point would be reduced to gibberish for he would be saying that salvation is not by works but it is by the work of faith. By contrasting faith with works, Paul shows that the life we receive from God is not by works, but it is by faith. As seen above, Calvinists sometimes argue that faith would be meritorious if people could believe in Jesus for eternal life, and therefore, faith is a work. Secondly, Paul is clearly contrasting faith and works, as he does elsewhere in his writings (cf. ![]() Regeneration does not precede faith faith precedes regeneration. Yes, there would be no life whatsoever without the grace of God, but in the same way, God does not force His life on others without them first believing in Jesus for it. By stating that we are “saved through faith,” Paul indicates that faith is a condition to receiving new life in Christ. Faith Results in Regenerationįirst, by clarifying as he has about how this life is received, Paul clearly puts faith prior to regeneration. This helps us see several beautiful things about Paul’s point. You may notice a bit of a chiastic structure in these four items, where “through faith” is further explained by “not by works” and “not of yourselves” is further explained by “it is a gift of God.” After a brief explanation about what this life in Christ, this “salvation” entails (Ephesians 2:6-7), Paul picks back up the “by grace you have been saved” statement in Ephesians 2:8-9 and explains it further.Īnd what is it Paul says? He modifies what he wrote in Ephesians 2:5 by pointing out four additional things about this life which we received by the grace of God: He says this life is also (1) through faith, (2) is not of yourselves, (4) it is a gift of God, and (3) is not by works. So when Paul writes in Ephesians 2:5 about God raising us up in Christ, he is not stating everything there is to know about being raised up to new life, but is simply introducing a theme which he will explain further in the following verses. Salvation in Ephesians 2:1-10 is not simply justification or receiving eternal life, but also includes sanctification (Ephesians 2:10) and glorification (Ephesians 2:6). ![]() The “salvation” in this passage, by the way, fits the same definition we saw earlier in this series (see the definition of “saved”). In this passage, Paul takes his readers from the depths of sin in Ephesians 2:1 to the heights of God’s righteous plan for our lives from before the foundations of the world in Ephesians 2:10. God’s activity in salvation is the theme of Ephesians 2:1-10. However, this is a classic example of a verse that, when taken out of contexts, sounds like it is teaching the opposite of what it really is. There is no mention here of faith in Jesus Christ, but only the grace of God. After all, Paul has just explained that even though all of us were dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1, 5), and now he says that God, out of His great mercy and love, made us alive together with Christ. To begin with, Ephesians 2:5 does seem to support the idea that regeneration precedes faith. Ephesians 2:5 Does not Teach that Regeneration Precedes Faith … even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) … (Ephesians 2:5).įor by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Here is what Paul writes in Ephesians 2:5, 8-9: If you do not recall how those verses are to be understood, you may want to go review that post before reading further in this one. The understanding of both texts builds upon what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1-3. Though many Calvinists use Ephesians 2:5 and Ephesians 2:8-9 to teach that “regeneration precedes faith” and “faith is a gift of God,” a careful examination of these texts reveals that they teach the opposite.
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