Ephesians 2:8

For by grace, &c. The connexion of thought (" for") is with the leading truth of Ephesians 2:4-7; the gratuitous"loving-kindness of the Lord" in the salvation of the Church. This, we have just read, will be the great future lesson of that salvation to the intelligent Universe; and this accordingly is re-stated here.

This important ver., and Ephesians 2:9, are rendered lit., For by grace ye have been saved, by means of faith; and that, not of you God's is the gift; not of works, that no one should boast. Here the main teaching is clear in itself, and clearer than ever as illustrated by e. g.Romans 3; Philippians 3. The salvation of the soul, and of the Church, is essentially and entirely a matter of sovereign Divine mercy in purpose and accomplishment. It is deliberately meant that no exception or reserve is to be made to that statement. But in detail, the verse presents a problem. Does it distinctly state that "faith" is the "gift of God," or does it state, more generally, that "gratuitous salvation" is the "gift of God," leaving it open whether the faith which accepts it is His gift or not? The question is largely occasioned by the construction of the Greek, in which "that" (neuter) does not agree with "faith" (feminine). Many great expositors, Calvin at the head of them, accordingly take "that" to refer to the main previous idea, and "through faith" to be a separate inserted thought. Alford, who takes this view, states the case for it briefly and well. Nevertheless we recommend the other explanation, and for the following simple reason: the phrase "and that" (lit., "and this") is familiar in N.T. Greek to introduce an addition of thought, enforcing or heightening what has gone before. See 1 Corinthians 6:6; 1 Corinthians 6:8; "and thatbefore the unbelievers;" "and that, your brethren;" Philippians 1:28; Hebrews 11:12, (A.V., "and him, &c."). But if it here refers only to the general previous idea, gratuitous salvation, it is hard to see what new force of thoughtit adds to the words "by grace." If on the other hand it refers to the last special statement, "through faith," there is a real additional point in the assertion that even the act of believing is a gift of God; for thus precisely the one link in the process where the man might have thought he acted alone, and where therefore, in St Paul's sense, he might claim to "boast," is claimed for God. Let the clauses, "and that, not of you; God's is the gift," be taken as a parenthesis, and the point of the interpretation will be clear; while the Greek amply admits the arrangement.

That "faith" isa matter of Divine gift is clear from e. g.2 Corinthians 4:13; Philippians 1:29. Not that a new faculty of trust is implanted, but gracious manifestations of the soul's need and the Saviour's glory prevail upon the will to choose to repose trust in the right Object. The "gift" of faith is but one phase of the Divine action which (Philippians 2:13) "worketh in us to will." And it may be said to be one aspect of the "gift of repentance" (Acts 5:31; 2 Timothy 2:25), for repentance is no mere preliminary to faith; it is the whole complex "change of mind" which includesfaith.

See Bp O'Brien's Nature and Effects of Faith, Note I.