Ephesians
2:8
(The
Greek words used are the actual Greek Text words. The transliteration uses the
Englishman’s Lexicon spelling)
That
verse, Ephesians 2:8, is one of the more interesting verses in the entire
Bible! It has been twisted to the point of being used casually.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Within that verse there are four words that need
explanation!
Grace (chariti-cariti) is a female singular noun
Faith (Gr. pisteoos-pistewV) is also a female singular noun
Saved (Gr. sesoosmenoi-seswsmenoi) is a male plural perfect past tense verb
That (Gr. touto-touto) is a singular neuter demonstrative pronoun. The Greek word
touto-touto
should be translated “this.”
In English, the word “that” refers
to the first noun we come to moving backward, and that noun is “faith.”
However, we will study the Greek
text.
In that verse, we find that saving
“faith” is not “of” ourselves. The faith to trust Christ is a gift of God! If
the saving type of faith is not “of yourselves,” who is it “of?”
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the
law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Christians freely admit that grace is a gift of God! But in
the verse we are studying the Greek indicates that both grace and faith are
gifts of God!
Grace is a “gift of God” and faith is the imputed “faith of
Christ!”
Some take advantage of American
ignorance of the Greek text to tell us that the faith to believe cannot be a
gift, because it does not match in gender and/or number with “that.” The word
translated “that” is neuter singular pronoun while the Greek nouns translated
“grace” and “faith” are both female.
And, the Greek verb translated “saved” is masculine.
In this case, we run into a Greek
rule of linguistics known as “Neuter Demonstrative Pronoun” (Gr. touto-touto),
which refers to all within the sentence that precedes it! Under that
circumstance, grace, salvation (saved), and faith are all gifts of God!
There is another word that is seldom
brought out in studies of that verse.
That word in “saved” (Gr. sesoosmenoi-seswsmenoi)! That is the
masculine form of a Greek verb meaning “having been saved,” past perfect
tense.”
The indication is that when we have
been given the grace and faith to trust Christ, we have been saved! That really irks some religious, salvation by
works folk.
So, what must we “do” to be saved?
Jews, on the day of Pentecost,
wanted to know that too!
When Peter preached Christ they
responded, “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart,
and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)
The spiritual fact is that God the
Father provides everything needed for our salvation through God the Son, our
Lord Christ Jesus, and it is administered by God the Holy Spirit!
If you have been entrusted with the
faith to believe, you have been saved! And, we don’t “do” anything!
In the Greek text that word “saved”
is a masculine verb in the past perfect tense!
In other words, your salvation is an accomplished fact! It was
accomplished by God, and not by anything we do!
Do you live in constant fear of
doing something for which God will reject you, or do you life in the constant
state of being thankful that He has accepted you into His family?
Live
in peace! Rejoice in Him!