Hath, He Quickened You? Series

NOTE: The earliest manuscripts have the article “the” in its rightful place: (i.e., Stephanus Textus Receptus 1550; Scrivener's Textus Receptus 1894; and the Greek Orthodox Church 1904, etc.). These translations contain the definite article “the” in front of the word “faith” – and after the word “through,” in Ephesians 2:8. Obtain yourself a good Interlinear New Testament.

d. The Englishman’s Greek New Testament, The Greek Text of Stephens 1550, An Interlinear Literal Translation, renders Ephesians 2:8, like this: “For by grace ye are saved through the faith [dia tas pisteos]; and this not of yourselves; [it is] God’s gift: not of works, that not anyone might boast,” Page 503.

2. B. W. Johnson also has commented on the definite article in Ephesians 2:8. Like Galatians chapter three, the Committee did not translate the definite article.

a. He wrote: “The definite article is found before faith in the Greek, showing that the faith, or the gospel, is meant. It is the gift of God. Salvation is not due to ourselves but is God's gift. The grammatical construction of the Greek does not allow us to make "faith" the subject of the last clause. It refers to the previous clause, (that) you are saved, etc. So says John Wesley in his Notes," Page 529.

NOTE: It is not "faith," but “salvation through the faith,” which is the gift of God.

b. The Ephesians then, like all others, were saved by grace through the faith – And “not through the law of works, lest any man should boast,” Ephesians 2:9. The “gift” is the grace of God, not our faith. Salvation is not granted merely upon our faith; or through a system of works,” Ephesians 2:9; Romans 10:16-18.

c. Justification, or salvation then, is granted through one’s belief and obedience to the faith: learned by hearing, believing, and obeying the gospel of Christ, Acts 18:8; Acts 6:7; Romans 10:16-18. There is also another scripture that bears our investigation of this truth. In Paul's Letter to the Galatians, the definite article is also missing in several key passages. Notice,

3. The missing definite article. This same exclusion of the definite article (the) is also noted. Paul wrote: “But that the law justifies no man in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, the man that doeth them shall live in them,” Galatians 3:11-12. Here we have it: “The just shall live or be justified by faith, and not through the deeds of the law shall any man be justified in the sight of God.” Observe,

a. Justification is not through the law. Recall, “But before (the) faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that (the) faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster,” Galatians 3:23-25. The schoolmaster here: was the Law. Now, after that, “the faith has come,” we are “no longer under its teachings.”