For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8
Did you learn this verse in Sunday School? Most of us did, for sure. It has such a clear Gospel message. But is it really so clear? This verse is the source of great arguments among Christians about the meaning of the verse. The argument is over the term ‘the gift of God’. Some argue that this term is referring to grace. Others, primarily the Calvinists, insist that it is referring to faith. But there is no argument because both are wrong; the gift of God as presented in this text is neither grace nor faith, but salvation. That is the whole point of the verse: our salvation is the gift of God. Most modern versions of the Bible make the mistake of presenting our salvation in the past tense. They use expressions such as ‘you were saved’ or ‘you have been saved’. That is not supported at all by the original Greek. The Greek word ‘este’ that is translated ‘are’ in our text is in the present tense, not the past tense. It’s exactly the same word used, for example, in Matthew 5:13: ‘Ye are the salt of the earth’. No translation that I know of presents that expression ‘Ye were the salt of the earth’, or ‘Ye have been the salt of the earth’. But what difference does that make in our text? Are we just splitting hairs here? I suggest to you it makes a great deal of difference.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that our conversion was not a gift of God. It surely was, and we ought to give thanks at every opportunity for the day that we were saved. But our text is not specifically addressing that aspect of our salvation. You are aware of the three aspects of our salvation as they relate to each of the three parts of our being: our souls were saved at conversion; our bodies will be saved at the Rapture, and our spirits are (not were or will be) saved daily and on a continuing basis. This is the salvation that our text is addressing. This is the salvation unto good works that we read about in verse 10 of this same chapter. How wonderful to know that our daily salvation is not a struggle or a striving or anything that depends on our abilities. It is not of ourselves but a gift that we receive by faith.
It is God’s gift to us today that we can be faithful witnesses for our Lord. It is God’s gift to us today that we can overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is God’s gift to us today that we can be honest and kind and generous to our neighbours. It is God’s gift to us today that we can rejoice amid life’s gloom. It is God’s gift to us today that we can read, understand, and obey God’s Word and that we can enjoy sweet fellowship with Him in prayer and praise.
The gift of God is not only eternal life but is also vibrant and victorious abundant life here and now. – Jim MacIntosh