Amazing Grace, Part 2

February, 2007

by: Tim Carns

“…how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” These familiar and stirring words were penned by John Newton in the early 1770’s. It is appropriate that this song is probably the most well known Christian hymn ever written for it expresses the theme of one of the most well known passages in Scripture: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). The prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon, said of this verse, “Within the circle of these words my theology is contained, so far as it refers to the salvation of men.” Over the next few issues of the Review we will examine God’s amazing grace in salvation as revealed in Ephesians 2:4-10. Within this text we will discover (1) the grace that saves; (2) the grace that sanctifies; and (3) the God of grace.

Before discussing God’s gracious salvation in Ephesians 2:4-10, Paul first gives a clear and comprehensive description of the sinful condition which pervades all of mankind (2:1-3). We are completely dead to God (v. 1) and unable to respond to Him, having no desire to seek Him. Instead, all live in rebellion against Him, being enslaved to their own lusts (v. 3), Satan, and the world (v. 2). All stand as objects of God’s just wrath (v. 3). Should the text have ended at verse 3, we would be utterly without God and thus without hope (2:13). Yet, in verse 4, Paul gives, in just two words, the response of God’s amazing grace—“But God.” Though spiritually dead to God and helpless to do anything about it, we were not left in that state by Him. Instead “even when we were dead in our transgressions” (v. 5) God made us alive. But, why would God do such a thing? The answer lies in His grace. It is God’s grace which Paul rests our attention upon in 2:4-10. The first way he does this is to blurt out at the end of verse 5 (before he even completes his main thought in verses 4-6): “By grace you have been saved.” Paul cannot contain the importance of identifying God’s grace as the basis by which He saves us. Secondly, Paul shows emphasis on grace by bringing the word itself forward in the original Greek. Most English translations recognize this emphasis by placing “by grace” before “you have been saved.” Thirdly, Paul maintains focus on God’s grace by again repeating “by grace you have been saved” in verse 8 as well. We cannot walk away from these verses without recognizing that our salvation is entirely based upon the grace of God and nothing else.

The basic meaning of “grace” (cháris) is to show favor or good will or provide benefit. However, this passage adds the singularly important idea that the favor or good will being shown is unmerited. That is, the receiver of God’s grace in salvation did nothing to earn it. Paul makes it abundantly clear in verses 1-3 and again in verse 5 that we were dead in sin. Just as a dead corpse is unable to revive itself, a spiritually dead individual is completely unable to do anything by which to gain God’s favor or reconcile his relationship to God. The unmerited nature of grace is further seen in verses 8-9 when Paul says it is God’s gift and not a result of human works or effort. Indeed our salvation is the free gift of God (Rom 6:23). Salvation is not based upon our works but on God’s grace alone (Rom 11:6; 2 Tim 1:9). Thus, in the context of salvation, grace is best defined as “God’s unmerited favor.” The idea of unmerited salvation reinforces the doctrine of election introduced by Paul at the beginning of Ephesians (1:3-14). Since all are spiritually dead (2:1) and none seek for God on their own (Rom 3:10-12) no one could be saved without God’s intervention. In God’s grace He seeks out those who do not wish to be found. Jesus noted this truth when He said, “No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44, 6:65). Though Paul does state that we are responsible to exercise faith in order to be saved (Eph 2:8), that too is God’s gift (2 Pet 1:1).

The product of God’s sovereign grace is “you have been saved” (Eph 2:5, 8). A better English translation of this is: “you are saved” (e.g. King James Version, NET Bible). The verb tense of ‘saved’ in the original Greek places emphasis not on a past act or event but on the present condition or state brought about by that past act or event. Paul is not focusing back on a previous event here but is emphasizing the resulting condition—they are saved. An important question to consider is: “Saved from what?” The present context shows that God’s grace saves us from eternal separation from God (Eph 2:1; Rom 5:9) as well as from our own enslavement to sin, Satan, and the world (Eph 2:2-3). Verses 5-6 explain that, in salvation, God (1) made us alive together with Christ, (2) raised us up with Him, and (3) seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ. Paul qualifies each of these three aspects of salvation as being carried out “with” or “in” Christ. Without Him, there would be no salvation. The first aspect of salvation is that God makes us alive. The saved person is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17; Rom 6:4; Eph 2:10; 4:24). He or she has been reborn (Jn 3:3). Secondly, the believer no longer lies dead in sins but has been “raised up.” Paul draws an analogy here that as Jesus was dead physically, we were dead spiritually. Likewise, since He was raised physically (Eph 1:20), we were raised spiritually to “walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). Thirdly, Paul says we have been seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Obviously, he did not mean this literally since the recipients of the letter were still alive on the earth. However, Paul is revealing a great spiritual reality that our salvation results in a transfer of our home. We are no longer of this world (John 17:16) but are citizens of heaven (Phil 3:20; 1 Pet 2:9-11), being transferred from Satan’s domain to Christ’s (Col 1:13).

God’s amazing grace pulls the believer from the deep pit of sin from which he or she could not escape. Yet, the extent of God’s amazing grace does not stop there. Next month we will see how God’s grace continues on after the believer’s rebirth in Christ.

• Amazing Grace, Part 1
• Amazing Grace, Part 2
• Amazing Grace, Part 3