At the heart of all of Paul’s letters is the Gospel. It was clearly his belief that a restating of how and why we are saved is what we need if we are to live godly lives. This is true in Ephesians as well. Whilst some of his themes, most notably justification are not mentioned explicitly, they are implicitly there as he emphasises election, redemption, grace, adoption and reconciliation.
Paul reminds us that salvation in Christ was always God’s plan A. God chose us before the foundation of the world (1:4). We are adopted into his family. (1:5) This reminds us that we are reconciled to God having previously being allied to the ruler of this world, enemies of God, captive to sinful cravings, deserving judgement (2:3-4; 2:16-19).
The emphasis on God’s sovereign choice through vocabulary including predestination and election may make for uncomfortable reading in cultures that like to emphasise individual freedom but remind us first and foremost that God is love and chooses to love us despite ourselves. It also reminds us that our state as sinners is helplessness. We are not only captive by the enemy but are “dead in our sins” (2:1). A dead person cannot do anything to help themselves or alter their status.[1]
So, before God can even reconcile us to himself, forgive and justify us, he first raises us to life with Christ (2:6). This is known as regeneration and crucially what follows from this is that the Holy Spirit’s work of regenerating us logically precedes faith.[2] It is God’s work from start to finish so that “it is by grace you are saved” (2:8).
Whilst Paul does not use the word “justification” here, as in Galatians and Romans he sharply contrasts faith with works. We are saved through the former but never the latter to remove boasting (2:9). I therefore would suggest that being “saved” is synonymous with being “justified” for Paul.
There are a couple of further clues to this. First, Paul describes us as “God’s workmanship” and says that we are saved in order that we might do good works (2:10) and to be holy, blameless even (1:4). This indicates that we have the right status and standing if our works are to be recognises as good and our character to be judged to be “holy” and “blameless.” Secondly, as in Galatians and Romans, Paul argues that God reconciles those who were circumcised to himself without the need for them to be circumcised (2:11).
It is our salvation that enables us to stand firm and safe against the enemy’s attack. We are to “put on the helmet of salvation” (6:17) but all of the other parts of the armour are really about the Gospel including faith, peace and truth (6:10-17).. Practically, this means that our greatest defence against the devil’s attack is assurance.
It is knowing how we are saved and that we are saved which enables us to live a new life, walking in obedience to Christ and following his example.
[1] Which begs the question, why would you want the kind of free will that enables you to refuse God’s goodness and kindness? Why would you desire the ability to resist grace. In fact, attempts to reconcile free will and divine sovereignty often miss this point and so end up answering a question no one really needs to ask. The bigger question is of course where this leaves those who reject Christ.
[2] Note that when we talk about the order of salvation, we are talking about logical order, attempting to distinguish chronologically what God does in eternity is fraught with difficulties. Once again, the question of where this leaves our free will is sometimes raised. Some, including John Wesley therefore sought to introduce a twost-ep process with God acting through prevenient grace to awaken our dead consciences but then allowing us the free choice to respond to the offer of salvation. This seems to me to over complicate things and is again answering the wrong question.
Faithroots 