Do the verses at Ephesians 2:8-9 mean that we have no role to play in our salvation before God? Is any responsibility on our side considered works? Or do the verses simply mean we cannot earn or obtain salvation on our own but do still have some responsibility in obtaining salvation through Christ?
Some will say that these verses mean we have no responsibility to receive salvation and that God does everything in us, even to the point of believing for us. This leads to an argument for double predestination and an argument that Christ could not possibly have died for everyone, because we cannot resist His drawing into salvation and Christlikeness. Christ’s drawing becomes equivalent to accomplishing salvation in us, so Christ drawing everyone (John 12:32 and a host of other verses) would result in universal salvation, which the Bible plainly does not teach. For additional support, those who take this position also quote Ephesians 2:1 and claim that a dead person cannot do anything.
This position is rooted in John Calvin, who writes the following on Ephesians 2:8, “The answer is, by faith; and hence he concludes that nothing connected with it is our own. If, on the part of God, it is grace alone, and if we bring nothing but faith, which strips us of all commendation, it follows that salvation does not come from us.”
Calvin is correct that salvation does not come from us. A better phrasing may be that salvation does not originate with us. We are not to be commended for our own salvation. However, it is important to notice that Calvin does believe we bring something in order to receive salvation. He opens the door to limited free will.
This has led to a great deal of contention over the generations as to whether belief on Christ can rightly be considered works. If belief is a work, then we must concede that Christ does the believing for us. However, such an argument is highly technical.
Calvin’s argument here is deeply flawed for two reasons. First, the verse plainly says that our salvation is a gift of God. Gifts cannot by their nature be completed without the recipient’s consent, which in turn casts doubt on absolute predestination, sometimes known as double predestination. A transfer which I cannot refuse or resist is not a gift. I always have the ability to refuse a gift or consent to receive it (belief). The presence of the word “gift” must direct our focus toward the meaning of these verses, which is that God offers salvation, but there is no other path to receive salvation than through God. Thus, our part is acceptance of the gift, and it is indicative of our limited free will. More on this in a bit.
Second, Calvin, as he sometimes does, contradicts himself as well as the plain teaching of Scripture. Calvin’s writing style is to expound on a verse as if it stands alone, and he does not support the meaning through the lens of other verses. This is tragically unfortunate because Scripture interprets Scripture. Calvin is half right, but in Hebrews 12:2, we read, “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Do we bring faith? Not according to Hebrews 12:2 because faith originates from Christ. Romans 10:17, Acts 3:16 Even John Wesley and Jacob Arminius, who are often considered to be opposed to Calvin, agree that faith originates from Christ. Arminius writes:
“If any inquiry be made for the Object, God and Christ by the Spirit are pointed out to us. If we search for the Author, God and Christ by the operation of the Spirit spontaneously occur. If we consider the End proposed, our union with God and Christ offers itself—an end not to be obtained except through the communication of the Spirit. If we inquire concerning the Truth and Certainty of the doctrine; God in Christ, by means of the efficacy of the Holy Ghost, most clearly convinces our minds of the Truth, and in a very powerful manner seals the Certainty on our hearts… Let us never indulge in any doubts concerning the truth of this revelation; but, the full assurance of faith being impressed upon our minds and hearts by the inspiration and sealing of the Holy Spirit, let us adhere to this word, ‘till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.’ (Ephes. iv. 13.)” Works of James Arminius, Vol. 1, Oration III
In Minutes of Some Late Conversations (1745), by John Wesley, we find:
“Q4: What is Faith?
A. Faith in general is, a Divine, Supernatural Elenchos of things not seen; i.e. of Past, Future or Spiritual things: It is a Spiritual Sight of God and the things of God. First, a Sinner is convinced by the Holy Ghost, Christ loved me and gave himself for me. This is that Faith by which he is justified or pardon’d, the moment he receives it. Immediately the same Spirit bears Witness, Thou art pardond: Thou hast Redemption in his Blood. And this is saving Faith, whereby the Love of God is shed abroad in his Heart.”
Scripture reveals that there are two types of faith – faith equivalent to salvation, and faith leading unto belief. However, both originate with the Lord.
It is clear from John Wesley and Jacob Arminius that we must first be drawn by Christ, meaning that the Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts, convicting us of sin and awaking the soul to Christ. This drawing enables belief, however, it does not cause or result in belief. The work of the Holy Spirit in drawing us to Christ is our prompt to believe and repent. Belief and repentance result in faith which Wesley equates to salvation and redemption.
So, what do Ephesians 2:8-9 really mean?
We bring belief, not faith. Belief precedes faith, which helps us understand the sequence. God is drawing us … everyone. John 6:44, 12:32 While we were yet dead in our sins, God opened our eyes, which enables an acceptance or rejection of Christ. Ephesians 2:5 Faith resulting from opened eyes is the product or result of belief. Hebrews 12:2 We absolutely cannot respond to Christ’s work on the cross without God first working in us. Just as we cannot be justified before God apart from the gift of salvation through Christ, we cannot receive salvation through Christ without His gift of faith.
In probably one of the plainest explanations of salvation in Scripture, Jesus has a dialogue with Nicodemus in John 3:1-21. Nicodemus asks the question, “How can a man be born when he is old?” This is in response to a statement Jesus made that we must be born again to see the kingdom of God. In other words, being born again is evidence of having received salvation, and salvation is required to be part of the kingdom of God.
What is not stated in this dialogue is how Nicodemus was drawn to Christ in the first place. What moved Nicodemus to come to Christ and ask questions? We are dead in our sins and blind to the things of God. It is clear that the Holy Spirit was working in his heart leading up to this dialogue. Romans 10:17, John 14:6, John 12:32, John 16:8 The Holy Spirit made belief possible.
Multiple times during the dialogue, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must believe to receive salvation. Thus, from the words of Jesus Christ, our responsibility in salvation is belief. Luke 8:12, John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9, Hebrews 11:6 As we saw from Hebrews 12:2, we do not bring faith. Faith comes from God. Acts 3:16, Romans 10:17
It may help to view belief as a response to Christ. In this way, belief is not works. In Ephesians 1:5,11, Paul writes that we are predestined. However, in verse 22 of the same chapter, he writes that God put “all things” into subjection to Christ and made Him “head over all things”. It is easy to argue here that, if all things are under subjection to Christ and we are predestined to adoption as children of Christ, it necessarily follows that all people will come to salvation.
Can one under subjection refuse to yield? Can we refuse Christ? Absolutely! If all people are under subjection to Christ but do not become believers in Christ, then it necessarily means we have some degree of free will, which is the freedom to refuse Christ. To claim otherwise places some people outside of Christ’s subjection and limits the scope of Christ’s death on the cross.
Vic Reasoner put it best when he said, commenting on John 12:32, that “we will all be saved unless we abort the process.” Christ’s drawing of us is powerful enough to form us into believers if we submit to His drawing. Thus, Ephesians 1:22 says that all things are under subjection to Christ, meaning that if we yield, we will come to imitate Christ, and Christ will be formed in us.
However, Ephesians 2:8 is telling us that our works are inadequate to obtain acceptance before God. Why is this? Matthew Henry answers that question by writing, “God is perfection; and, therefore, only perfection is good enough for him. Man by his very nature cannot bring perfection to God; and so, if ever man is to win his way to God, it must always be God who gives and man who takes.”
The verse does not at all mean that we bring nothing to receive salvation. We bring the submission (the response, if you will), which manifests itself as belief in Christ. That belief is only possible through the drawing and life-giving power of the Holy Spirit working in us. We are predestined to believe on Christ, unless we refuse His authority as head over us. Our salvation can only come through Christ because it cannot be tainted with human hands.
Any refusal on our part to believe on Christ and be subject to Him is what condemns us.
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