The Bible Book

301

See also: Fruits of the Spirit 300 ■ The Power of the Resurrection 304–05 ■

Faith and Works 312–13

A

fter he is arrested, and

while he awaits trial in

Rome, Paul writes letters

of encouragement to churches he

has founded around the Aegean

Sea. In one such letter, to the

people of Ephesus, Paul discusses

the importance of having faith in

God, compared to the significance

of performing “works”—that is,

good deeds and actions. Despite

stating that “we were created ...

to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10),

Paul repeatedly writes that personal

salvation—being welcomed into

the kingdom of heaven—can only

happen through faith in Jesus.

A gift from God

According to Paul, the Ephesians

were “dead in [their] transgressions

and sins” (2:1), yet because God is

loving and merciful, He made them

alive with Christ. By this, Paul

means that the people’s actions

were previously of a sinful nature,

not good works in the name of God.

However, when the Ephesians were

converted, they were saved through

God’s favor, His grace (2:8–9).

Crucially, Paul tells the Ephesians

that even their faith is a gift from

God, rather than a virtue they have

cultivated themselves. According

to Paul, God alone may take credit

for the salvation of the Ephesians:

the people have been saved not

because they have done good

deeds, but because God, in His

grace, gave them faith. ■

ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION

FOR IT IS BY GRACE

YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED,

THROUGH FAITH ...

NOT BY WORKS

EPHESIANS 2:8–9, SALVATION THROUGH FAITH

IN BRIEF

PA S SAGE

Ephesians 2:1–10

THEME

Faith and salvation

SETTING

61–62 ce Ephesus, a province

in modern-day Turkey.

KEY FIGURES

Paul An Apostle of Christ who

acted as a missionary in the

early Christian Church. He

wrote letters to the churches

he founded, such as the church

in Ephesus. Many of these

epistles became books of the

New Testament.

Saints in Ephesus Jewish

and Gentile Christians

in the church in Ephesus.

Protestant reformer Martin Luther

was a firm proponent of the doctrine

of sola fide—salvation through faith

alone. This view was fundamental to

the Protestant Reformation.

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