the regeneration of sinners is not mere ly nor primarily their happiness or comfort safety, but His glory (see 3:10, 21). “He might show forth the surpass ing riches of His grace.” We are to be monuments, in the coming ages, of the exceeding, surpassing (excelling, over shooting the mark) riches of His grace and of His kindness, and to cause mult itudes, yet uncreated, to love and serve and glorify Him by showing to them what He has done for us. The verb “show” is in the middle voice; His purpose is to show Himself in the sur passing riches of His grace in His Where There's A Will There's A Way Yes, a way of knowing that after your death your property will be dis posed of in accordance with your wishes — and to the Lord's glory. If you are interested in remember ing Biota's many ministries in your last will and testament, Write: Stewardship Department Biola College kindness upon us. He keeps His kind ness upon us. And what better monu ment of His grace and power than a poor, enslaved, helpless sinner taken from the lowest depths, made a new creature, and given the power to live a clean victorious life? Read Ezek. 36:22- 32 and note the beginning and the end; “I do not this for your sakes, but for mine only.” No room for pride here. The word “in” shows that His grace comes from His kindness. His kindness toward us “in Christ Jesus,” not apart from Him. Verse 8—“For because of the grace ye have been saved, through faith.” Here is an enlargement of the brief statement in the parenthesis in verse 5. The repetition also shows emphasis. “The grace,” emphasizes the fact that the work which brought salvation has been finished in the death and resur rection of Jésus, and that salvation, un merited, unearned, unbought, was given when we accepted the finished work and received Jesus as Savior, and it 558 South Hope Street Los Angeles 17, Calif.
indicates the continuance of this work which has been in us in regeneration. “Through faith,” by means of faith, God’s side is grace; man’s side is faith; the result is salvation, which is the gift of God. We are saved because of grace and by means of faith. “And this not out of ( ex ) you; the gift of God.” It is not taught here that faith is the gift of God. The Greek word for “faith” is in the feminine gender and the word for “this” ( touto ) is in the neuter gender, hence the antecedent of “this” is not “faith”. There is no neu ter word here for which “this” may stand as antecedent, hence it must stand for the thought which stands out so prominently in this passage, that of salvation by grace. “This (salvation by grace) is not of you; the gift of God” (see Rom. 6:23). Verse 9—“Not out of works.” Sinners are justified by means of faith, not out of works (Acts 13:39; Rom. 3:20; 4:4,5; Gal. 2:16, 21; 3:11; 5:4), and are regen erated by faith not out of works (Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 3:5). “In order that not any one should glory,” a purpose of salvation through faith rather than out of works. If out of works then salvation would be a debt which God would owe (Rom. 4:4), and there would be ground for boasting. Neither will grace and works mix (Rom, 11:6). Confessing and forsaking sin, repentance, and faith are requisites for salvation and are not considered as work. “Works” are law keeping, reform, helping others, and the like (see James 1). All these good things are an abomination to God and a curse to the man when they are done for the purpose of earning or helping to earn salvation. The verb translated “boast” (R.V. “glory”) occurs 38 times. In the A.V. it is translated “boast,” “boast one’s self,” “make one’s boast,” 10 times, “glory,” 23 times, “rejoice,” four times (Rom. 5:2; Phil. 3:3; Jas. 1:9; 4:16).), and “joy” once (Rom. 5:11). The two nouns from this verb occur 22 times, and are translated in the A.V. “boasting,” six times, “glori fying,” seven times, and “rejoicing” nine times. In the R.V. “glorying” and ‘to glory” are uniformly used. 35
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