Truth
On
Tough
Texts
ISSUE 15 –
October/2006
To
What Does “It” and “That” Refer
in
Ephesians 2:8?
THAT
WONDROUS VERSE IN EPHESIANS 2:8 DECLARES: 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.
Paul not only says that
salvation is by grace
. . . through
faith but adds the phrase that
not of yourselves. Theologian John Murray states
the case very well when he comments on this
verse:
When [Paul] says “and that
not of yourselves,” he is reminding us of the true
nature of grace, that its whole urge and explanation
reside in God. It may be easy to give formal assent to
this text. Every evangelical Christian will do so. But
how ready we are to shy away from its implications! In
reality we deny the truth here asserted when we
introduce at any point in the whole span and process of
salvation a decisive autonomy on the part of man. If
salvation at any point is contingent upon some
contribution which man himself makes, then at that point
it is of ourselves, and to that extent it is not
of grace. Paul’s definition “and that not of yourselves”
is thereby effaced and the true nature of grace is
denied.[i]
Indeed, Murray cuts
to the heart of the matter. Grace that is not ALL
grace is NO grace. Grace means that God has done everything; if He does
not do everything, then it is not
grace.
There is a common
teaching today that says, “Christ’s crucifixion is a
proof of our worth.” In other words, God could see worth
in us so He bought us. But as Ephesians 2:1-3 makes
crystal clear, such teaching is patently false and is a
heretical distortion of grace. The cross is not proof of
our worth but God’s grace. We were undeserving and even dead. Where is the
worth in a corpse?
One key, if not
the key to this passage, lies in the debate over
the words that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. The
debate is: to what exactly does it
and that
refer? Do they refer to grace,
faith, or just the whole concept of salvation in
general? Perhaps Charles Hodge puts the answer
best:
What is said to be the
gift of God? Is it [the whole concept of] salvation, or
faith? To say that faith is the gift of God best suits
the purpose of the passage. The object of the Apostle is
to show the unmerited nature of salvation. This is most
efficiently done by saying, “Ye are not only saved by
faith in opposition to works, but your very faith is not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” The other
interpretation makes the passage repetitive. To say, “Ye
are saved by faith; not of yourselves; your salvation is
the gift of God; it is not of works,” is saying the same
thing over and over again without any progress.[ii]
Holding this view, a more
contemporary expositor is equally sound and points out
the grammar issue that has been raised by some
interpreters:
Some have objected to this
interpretation, saying that “faith” (pistis) is
feminine, while “that” (touto) is
neuter. That poses no problem, however, as long as it is
understood that “that” does not refer precisely to the
noun “faith” but to the act of believing. Further, this
interpretation makes the best sense of the text, since
if “that” refers to “by grace you have been saved
through faith” (that is, to the whole statement), the
adding of “that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God” would be redundant, because grace is defined as an
unearned act of God. If salvation is of grace, it has to
be an undeserved gift of God.[iii]
The late Christian
philosopher and commentator Gordon Clark
concurs:
Grammatically, neuter
demonstrative pronouns, even in the more precise
classical Greek, often refer to feminized nouns,
especially to abstract feminine nouns. Hence it is false
to say that touto [that] cannot mean
faith.”[iv]
J. N. Darby also
writes:
I am quite aware of what
critics have to say here as to gender; but it is equally
true as to grace, and to say, “by grace . . . and that
not of yourselves,” is simply nonsense; but by faith
might be supposed to be of ourselves, though grace
cannot. Therefore the Spirit of God adds, “and that [not
it] not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” That is,
the believing is God’s gift, not of ourselves. And this
is confirmed by what follows, “not of works.” But the
object of the apostle is to shew that the whole thing
was of grace and of God. God’s workmanship is a new
creation. So far, grace and faith and all go
together.
To be fair, I should
mention here what scholar Daniel B. Wallace has to say
to the contrary in his excellent book, Greek Grammar
Beyond the Basics:
While it is true that on
rare occasions there is a gender shift between
antecedent and pronoun, the pronoun is almost always
caught between two nouns of different gender. One is the
antecedent; the other is the predicate
[nominative].[v]
Wallace goes on to cite a
couple of examples. While I highly recommend Wallace’s
book, I must respectfully disagree here. It is a clearly
weak argument when one must say “almost always” simply
because it leaves room for exceptions. Theologian R. C.
Sproul also disagrees when he writes:
The rules of Greek syntax
and grammar demand that the antecedent of that be
the word faith. Faith is not something we conjure
up in our own effort, or the result of the willing of
the flesh. Faith is a result of the Spirit’s sovereign
work of regeneration.[vi]
If I might also submit
that “faith” being feminine is actually irrelevant,
simply because both “grace” and “salvation” are also
feminine. The Greek alone, therefore, does not prove the
issue, which even Wallace admits.[vii] (In spite of that fact,
however, Adam Clark, John Wesley, and other Arminians
strenuously held onto this argument simply because to
admit anything else would destroy their system.)
At any rate, the main
thrust of both the above quotations is that to say that
it
and that
refer to grace
or the whole concept of salvation results in the verses
being redundant. Paul’s central concept is that we have
been saved by grace,
which he states plainly in the first clause. Is he then
going to just repeat the same thing by saying “grace is
a gift of God,” or “salvation is a gift of God?” No, he
has already said that. What is Paul trying to get across
here? He’s emphasizing that even faith
is a gift of God.
Ponder it this way a
moment. How can two unsaved people sit under the same
salvation message, hear the preacher pour out his heart,
listen to the Gospel message of sin, wrath, and
salvation, and then one person believe and the other
not? The answer is simple when we realize that left to
themselves neither person would believe, but one does
because God gives him the faith to do so. Because they
are both dead, neither can respond until God gives them
the power.
Further, faith must be of God,
for if we say that faith is of ourselves, then faith
becomes a human work, as much a human work as partaking
of a sacrament or just “being a good person.” Faith
does not determine salvation; grace
determines salvation. God has done it all. As John
MacArthur rightly puts it: “When we accept the finished
work of Christ on our behalf, we act by the faith
supplied by God’s grace.”[viii] From where does our faith
come? It comes from grace.
Several other Scriptures
strongly substantiate this principle:
And he said,
Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me,
except it were
given unto him of my Father.
(Jn. 6:65, emphasis added)
For unto you it is
given
[granted] in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. (Phil.
1:29, emphasis added)
And when [Apollos]
was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote,
exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was
come, helped them much which had believed through
grace. (Acts 18:27, emphasis
added)
Addressing not only this
repeated emphasis in Scripture, but the whole issue in
general, theologian Lewis Sperry Chafer writes this
powerful statement:
So conclusive is this
passage relative to man’s inability in the field of
saving faith that much has been attempted in the way of
exegesis which proposes to make the salvation the gift
of God, rather than the faith which receives it. When
thus interpreted, the phrase “through faith” is
practically eliminated and serves no purpose. The
contrast which the passage sets up between faith and
works becomes a contrast between salvation and works,
for which there is no ground either in Scripture or
reason. If the passage stood alone in the Word of God,
declaring a truth not elsewhere propounded, some reason
might be assigned to such exegetical attempts which
divest of its assured meaning; but, when rightly
interpreted, it stands out as but one of many of the
same general character.
Though much Scripture of
an indirect nature might be cited, enough has been
presented to establish the doctrine of man’s natural
inability to exercise saving faith. Were men able to
move themselves toward God, there would be no provision
from God for this need.[ix]
Something else that
many do not consider is that if our faith is the
basis of salvation, what if we one day choose not to
believe anymore? Taken to its logical conclusion, this
view results in a lack of assurance and security, which
may we interject, is exactly what many Christians lack.
But if God has done it all, if God gives us faith, there is
total security.
Another often quoted
verse is John 1:12: “But as many as received him, to
them gave he power [i.e., right] to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name.” Many Gospel
preachers quote this verse, but they stop without
quoting the very next one: “Which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God.” Where did we get the will to
believe? In ourselves? No, because we were dead. Rather
it was God’s grace that gave us the will to believe.
Man’s will has nothing to do with salvation, not even
with believing. It is all of God. Were we born again because of our
will? No, thank God, we were born again in
spite of our will.
That beloved Puritan
commentator Matthew Henry (1662-1714), who could read
the Bible when he was only three years old, and of whose
commentary Spurgeon said, “Every minister ought to read
it entirely and carefully through once at least,” said
it well when he wrote:
We do not become the
children of God as we become the children of our natural
parents. Grace does not run in the blood, as corruption
does. It is not produced by the
natural power of our own will. As it is not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, so neither is it of the will of man. It
is the grace of God that makes us willing to be His (emphasis in the original).
John Calvin
agrees:
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.[x]
Still another writer, this
time a Greek authority, writes:
God does not merely give
to both Jews and Gentiles the possibility of faith; He
effects faith in them. Eph. 2:8 makes it especially
plain that all is of grace and that human merit is
completely ruled out. To understand the Pauline and then
the Lutheran doctrine of justification it is essential
to make it clear that faith is not a new human merit
which replaces the merit of works, that it is not a
second achievement which takes the place of the first,
that it is not something which man has to show, but that
justification by faith is an act of divine grace. Faith
is not the presupposition of the grace of God. As a
divine gift, it is the epitome and demonstration of the
grace of God.[xi]
We can really answer
this controversy about faith
even more simply: when we read, “By grace are ye saved,”
is this not enough to show that everything is
from God? If everything is
not from God, then why do we need grace at all? If I can
do something, why does God have to do
anything? In the final
analysis, then, it really doesn’t matter how you read
the verse grammatically. Theologically, salvation, from
beginning to end and everything in between, is of God.
As R. C. Sproul writes again:
Does [that] refer
to salvation? Or does [that] refer to faith. Is
Paul saying that salvation is a gift of God? Or is he
saying that faith is a gift of God. Although Greek
scholars argue about which of these is the preferred
rendition of the Greek text, theologically it really
doesn’t matter. In both ways of reading that sentence,
we have to come to the conclusion that faith is a gift
of God. It is not an expression of human achievement, or
of human effort, or of human ability. This is why every
believer should be praising God daily for the fact that
he has received as a gift not only the salvation that
comes through faith, but the gift of faith
itself.[xii]
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
concurs:
It is not a question of
grammar, it is not a question of language. . . . And
there is a sense in which it really does not matter at
all, because it comes down to much the same thing in the
end. In other words, what is important is that we should
avoid turning faith into “works.”[xiii]
To that we must say,
“Amen.” A common notion on the relationship of grace and
faith is that, “Grace is God’s part and faith is man’s
part,” but such a notion is shallow sentimentality and
theologically aberrant. Yes, man believes, but even his
faith must originate in God’s power, not his own.
Salvation is not partly God and partly you; it is all of
God.
Dr. J.
D. Watson
Pastor-Teacher
Grace
Bible Church
*
* *
By Grace Through
Faith
By Charles Haddon
Spurgeon
I think it well to turn a little to
one side that I may ask my reader to observe adoringly
the fountain-head of our salvation, which is the grace
of God. “By grace are ye saved.” Because God is
gracious, therefore sinful men are forgiven, converted,
purified, and saved. It is not because of anything in
them, or that ever can be in them, that they are saved;
but because of the boundless love, goodness, pity,
compassion, mercy, and grace of God. Tarry a moment,
then, at the well-head. Behold the pure river of water
of life, as it proceeds out of the throne of God and of
the Lamb!
What an abyss is the grace
of God! Who can measure its breadth? Who can fathom its
depth? Like all the rest of the divine attributes, it is
infinite. God is full of love, for “God is love.” God is
full of goodness; the very name “God” is short for
“good.” Unbounded goodness and love enter into the very
essence of the Godhead. It is because “his mercy
endureth for ever” that men are not destroyed; because
“his compassions fail not” that sinners are brought to
Him and forgiven.
Remember this; or you may
fall into error by fixing your minds so much upon the
faith which is the channel of salvation as to forget the
grace which is the fountain and source even of faith
itself. Faith is the work of God’s grace in us. No man
can say that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Ghost.
“No man cometh unto me,” saith Jesus, “except the Father
which hath sent me draw him.” So that faith, which is
coming to Christ, is the result of divine drawing. Grace
is the first and last moving cause of salvation; and
faith, essential as it is, is only an important part of
the machinery which grace employs. We are saved “through
faith,” but salvation is “by grace.” Sound forth those
words as with the archangel’s trumpet: “By grace are ye
saved.” What glad tidings for the
undeserving!
Faith occupies the
position of a channel or conduit pipe. Grace is the
fountain and the stream; faith is the aqueduct along
which the flood of mercy flows down to refresh the
thirsty sons of men. It is a great pity when the
aqueduct is broken. It is a sad sight to see around Rome
the many noble aqueducts which no longer convey water
into the city, because the arches are broken and the
marvelous structures are in ruins. The aqueduct must be
kept entire to convey the current; and, even so, faith
must be true and sound, leading right up to God and
coming right down to ourselves, that it may become a
serviceable channel of mercy to our souls.
Still, I again remind you
that faith is only the channel or aqueduct, and not the
fountainhead, and we must not look so much to it as to
exalt it above the divine source of all blessing which
lies in the grace of God. Never make a Christ out of
your faith, nor think of as if it were the independent
source of your salvation. Our life is found in “looking
unto Jesus,” not in looking to our own faith. By faith
all things become possible to us; yet the power is not
in the faith, but in the God upon whom faith relies.
Grace is the powerful engine, and faith is the chain by
which the carriage of the soul is attached to the great
motive power. The righteousness of faith is not the
moral excellence of faith, but the righteousness of
Jesus Christ which faith grasps and appropriates. The
peace within the soul is not derived from the
contemplation of our own faith; but it comes to us from
Him who is our peace, the hem of whose garment faith
touches, and virtue comes out of Him into the soul.
[Continued on p. 5]
See then, dear friend,
that the weakness of your faith will not destroy you. A
trembling hand may receive a golden gift. The Lord’s
salvation can come to us though we have only faith as a
grain of mustard seed. The power lies in the grace of
God, and not in our faith. Great messages can be sent
along slender wires, and the peace-giving witness of the
Holy Spirit can reach the heart by means of a
thread-like faith which seems almost unable to sustain
its own weight. Think more of Him to whom you look than
of the look itself. You must look away even from your
own looking, and see nothing but Jesus, and the grace of
God revealed in Him.
[Excerpted
from Spurgeon’s classic book, All of
Grace]
*
* *
This
is the terror of mercy: God requires of a man that he
should believe; now mercy doth help to perform the duty
commanded. The Lord, as He requires the condition of
thee, so He worketh the condition in thee.
Puritan
Thomas Hooker
NOTES
[i]
John Murray, Collected Writings of John Murray:
Volume 1, The Claims of Truth
(Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), p. 120 (emphasis in the
original).
[ii] Charles Hodge,
Ephesians, p.
63.
[iii] John MacArthur,
The MacArthur New Testament Commentary:
Ephesians, p. 61.
[iv] Gordon Clark,
Ephesians (Trinity
Foundation), p. 73.
[v] Daniel B. Wallace,
Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax
of the New Testament (Zondervan,
1996), p. 334.
[vi] R. C. Sproul,
Grace Unknown (Baker Books,
1997), p. 156.
[vii] Wallace, p. 335. His full
comment reads: “The issues here are complex and cannot
be solved by grammar alone. Nevertheless, syntactical
considerations do tend toward one of the [other
views].”
[ix] Lewis Sperry
Chafer, Systematic Theology
(Dallas Theological Seminary, 1948), Vol. III.,
216-217.
[x] Calvin’s
Commentaries
(Ephesians).
[xi] H. Hanse in
Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel,
trans. and ed. by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1967), Vol. IV, p.
2.
[xii] R. C. Sproul,
Ephesians, p.
55.
[xiii] Martyn Lloyd-Jones,
God’s Way of Reconciliation,
p. 135.
