As my wife and I slowly transition to country living, the move has required us to find a local body of believers to join with. Thankfully, we have found a very welcoming group and we look forward to each Sunday when we can study, discuss, pray and care for one another.
Recently we have been travelling through the book of Romans, and last week we covered chapter 10, which was a good study.
And how do you define a good study Carl.
A good study is one that is concerned with what the Word says, how it applies to our day to day lives, provides open discussion amongst believers, even to the voicing of various opinions.
During our study, one in the class referred to Ephesians 2:8, seeking to reiterate the classes accepted truth that Paul is referring to faith as the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
This is a very common understanding in many of the churches we visit. It is an understanding I held to for many years, until I considered other possibilities. And it all hinges on what “it” refers to when Paul writes “it” is the gift of God.
Some considerations follow for my reader to consider.
- “It” refers to the grace of God as the gift of God, not faith that is a gift of God. Expanding the verse with this understanding would produce the following.
- For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; “the grace of God” is the gift of God.
- Some may say this makes Paul to be repeating himself to no benefit to the reader, and I get that.
- There is the possibility he is referring to the “grace of God” as the gift of God simply as a reiteration of the bountiful gift God has bestowed.
- The method of salvation is the gift of God. The verse fully fleshed out would be as….
- For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; “for being saved by grace through faith” is the gift of God.
- This is an interesting approach to understanding the message of the verse.
- The last understanding I would provide is that the term “it is” is supplied by the translators as they try to provide an understanding of Paul’s message. Looking to the KJV, which italicized all inserted English words, it is apparent the “it is” is not in the original text. Consider.
Ephesians 2:8 KJV – For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
- This wrinkle adds another consideration to our understanding. Could Paul be emphasizing that the gift of salvation through faith is not of yourselves.
- A possible rendering may be…
- For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves – the gift of God, that is.
- Is he simply reminding the Ephesians that this salvation we have is not of ourselves?
I list these options only to communicate that to be dogmatic with such a passage may not be the wisest approach, and may inadvertently reveal a desire to fit a teaching into a verse, instead of pulling truth out of a verse.
A difficult passage once you start to dig in.
But alas, I did not mention any of this during class for I am not there to raise difficult questions this early in our visiting with these fine folks. So the class generally reaffirmed that it is God who provides the faith, and that without faith, one cannot be saved. No one can exercise faith towards God, unless God wakens him from spiritual death and then provide the faith to trust in the crucified Savior.
This teaching is fraught with questions, but I was quiet. My wife was so proud of me!
Back to Romans 10. As we ventured though the passage, we eventually arrived at Romans 10:17.
Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Ok, now we got more questions.
Is it God that gives faith as Ephesians 2:8 seems to say, or does faith come from the hearing of the Word of God? Is there a conflict here? Can faith come by hearing the Word of God, as Paul seems to communicate? Is there a possibility that even the lost man or woman, when presented with the Word of God, can recognize truth, and in humility admit to the truth, surrender to Christ and find eternal life?
Is that possible? Or must the soul wait to be awakened by God, before they can receive faith from God, in order to attain to eternal life through God?
Man, do I have questions.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
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