Ephesians 2:8-9
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“For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”
How are Christians “saved by grace through faith and not of works”? Does this passage say that works play no part in the life of a Christian?
For this to be true, then even faith cannot be “worked up.” Otherwise, faith would be a human work supplied by the Christian, meaning that God would then owe him salvation by works and not by “gift.” The end of Eph 2:8 shows that Christians’ faith is given as a free gift. It is not a faith “of ourselves,” as is shown in the explanations for Galatians 3:10-11 and 3:18-19. All these explanations help explain Ephesians 2:8-9, but Galatians 2:16 is particularly helpful.
The word grace means unmerited pardon (or forgiveness). Christians neither earn nor deserve such mercy and help from God, yet receive it anyway. It takes godly faith to believe in this forgiveness. When truly understood, Galatians 2:16 and 3:21-22 explain a remarkable principle. Consider that “we believe in Christ”—that He is the Christ. But Galatians 2:16 shows that “we are justified by the faith of Christ”—by His actual faith living in us as a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). In other words, Christ even supplies the faith to believe that we will be justified (forgiven) and saved.
Protestants overlook Gal 5:10, which qualifies Gal 5:8 and 9. It explains that “good works” (Christ’s works in the Christian) ARE still a fundamental requirement. These works, though, can never be the by-product of human effort alone. If so, each Christian could come before God boasting that he was owed salvation! Suggested reading:
• What Is Your Reward in the Next Life?