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From: Ephesians 2:1-10
Salvation As a Free Gift
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[1] And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. [3] Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4] But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), [6] and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God [9] not because of works, lest any man should boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
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Commentary:
1-10. St Paul moves on to consider those who make up the Church -- Jews and Gentiles. Despite the sinful situation in which both found themselves (vv. 2-3), God in is great mercy (vv. 4-5) has acted on them and made them to be like Christ, now victorious and seated in heaven (vv. 6-7); this he has done through the unmerited gift of faith (vv. 8-10).
1-2. "You": he is referring to Christians of Gentile origin, in contrast with "we" (v. 3), Christians of Jewish background.
Prior to his conversion to Christ a pagan was, as it were, enroute to death, that is, liable to condemnation on account of sin--both original sin and sin caused by worldly behavior, that is, actions opposed to God. That is what the Apostle means here by "this world"--a world which is under the power of the devil (cf. note on Jn 1:10). The description of the devil as "prince of the power of the air" reflects the notion, widely held in ancient times, that demons dwelt in the earth's atmosphere, from where they exercised a baneful influence over mankind (cf. Mt 12:24; Jn 12:31). St Paul uses the language of his time without taking on board the cosmology it implies. He is teaching theology, and the devil he identifies as the one who is at work in the "sons of disobedience", "the rebels"--an opposite description, for Satan is characterized by his rebellion against God, and his influence on men leads them into rebellion to seek their fulfillment in created things or in things of their own fashioning, thereby refusing to give God his primary place. St Paul could see this happening in the pagan world around him (cf. Rom 1:18-23); and in fact it happens in all periods of history when man refuses to recognize God: "Although set by God in a state of rectitude, man, enticed by the evil one, abused his freedom at the very start of history. He lifted himself up against God, and sought to attain his goal apart from him. Although they had known God, they did not glorify him as God, but their senseless hearts were darkened, and they served the creature rather than the Creator (cf. Rom 1:21-25) [...] Often refusing to acknowledge God as his source, man has also upset the relationship which should link him to his last end; and at the same time he has broken the right order that should reign within himself as well as between himself and other men and all the rest of creation" (Vatican II, Gaudium Et Spes, 13).
3. Before the coming of Christ, those who were Jews were likewise guilty of sin and merited denunciation. St Paul has already discussed this in his Letter to the Romans (cf. Rom 2:1 - 3:10); now he sketches out the same ideas, to emphasize that everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, obtains salvation through Christ (v. 5). The Jews know the true God and have the benefits of the Law; therefore, their sinfulness derives not so much from the seductions of the world and the devil as from human passion. The "desires of the body and mind" does not refer simply to the weakness of human nature (cf. Jn 1:14) or lustful desires but to all the desires and appetites of human nature when it does not obey God--to man's tendency to do whatever he wants, even when he knows that it conflicts with God's law (cf. Rom 7:5; 2 Cor 7:1; Col 2:13). The Jews also were subject to this power of the flesh, for they were "children of wrath, like the rest of mankind".
"Children of wrath": this expression of man's state of enmity towards God; it does not imply that God sees man as his enemy but that by sinning man incurs divine punishment. It has this effect for Jews and Gentiles alike.
In this verse the Apostle is referring to the behavior of both Jews and Gentiles; thus, the words "by nature" do not exactly mean the weakness of human nature as such but rather refer to the fact that man, if left to his own devices, cannot avoid sin and therefore cannot escape God's wrath. St John Chrysostom, St Jerome and other Fathers read "by nature" as opposed to "by grace". This would mean that "by nature" refers to human existence considered on its own, that is, unaided by grace--life in a state of sin, which would mean it merited God's wrath. But the reason why this is so is that human nature has been debilitated by original sin; some Fathers in fact, including St Augustine, read this passage as a recognition of the fact of original sin. Certainly St Paul is at least implying that there is such a thing as original sin, as St Thomas Aquinas explains: "He says that we were (children of wrath) 'by nature', that is, by our natural origin, but not meaning nature as such, for (sheer) nature is good and comes from God: he is referring to nature in its vitiated form" (Commentary on Eph, ad loc.).
4. God's mercy is the greatest expression of his love because it shows the total gratuitousness of God's love towards the sinner, whereby instead of punishing him he forgives him and gives him life. The words "God, who is rich in mercy" have great theological and spiritual depth: they are a kind of summary of all St Paul's teaching about God's approach to people who are under the rule of sin, who are "by nature children of wrath".
[St.] Pope John Paul II has chosen these words of Scripture "dives in misericordia"--as the title of one of his encyclicals, an encyclical which explores the divine dimension of the mystery of Redemption. Here is how the Pope sums up biblical teaching on mercy: "The concept of 'mercy' in the Old Testament has a long and rich history [...]. It is significant that in their preaching the prophets link mercy, which they often refer to because of the people's sins, with the incisive image of love on God's part. The Lord loves Israel with the love of a special choosing, much like the love of a spouse (cf. e.g. Hos 2:21-25 and 15; Is 54:6-8) and for this reason he pardons its sins and even its infidelities and betrayals. When he finds repentance and true conversion, he brings his people back to grace (cf. Her 31:20; Ezek 39:25-29). In the preaching of the prophets "mercy" signifies a "special power of love", which "prevails over the sin and infidelity" of the chosen people [...]. The Old Testament encourages people suffering from misfortune, especially those weighed down by sin--as also the whole of Israel, which had entered into the covenant with God--"to appeal for mercy", and enables them to count upon it" (Dives In Misericordia, 4).
In the New Testament also there are many references to God's mercy, sometimes very touching ones, like the parable of the prodigal son (cf. Lk 15: 32); others take a more dramatic form, for example, Christ's sacrifice, the supreme expression of the love of God, which is stronger than death and sin. "The 'Cross of Christ', on which the Son, consubstantial with the Father, 'renders full justice to God', is also 'a radical revelation of mercy', or rather of the love that goes against what constitutes the very root of evil in the history of man: against sin and death" (ibid., 8).
5-6. The power of God works in the Christian in a way similar to that in which it worked in Christ. St Paul here uses almost the same language as he did earlier (cf. 1:20), to show how radical is the change produced in men by Christ's salvation.
Just as a dead person is unable to bring himself back to life, so those who are dead through sin cannot obtain grace, supernatural life, by their own effort. Only Christ, by means of the Redemption, offers us that new life which begins with justification and ends with resurrection and eternal happiness in heaven. The Apostle is speaking here of that life of grace, and therefore of our future resurrection and glorification with Christ in heaven; he refers to this as if it were an accomplished fact, and the reason he does so is this: Jesus Christ is our head and we form one body with him (cf. Gal 3:28), and therefore we share in the head's condition. Christ, after his resurrection, sits at the right hand of the Father. "The body of Christ, which the Church is", St Augustine comments, "must be at the right hand, that is, in the glory of heaven, as the Apostle says: 'we have been raised up with him and made to sit with him in heaven.' Even though our body is not yet there, our hope is already placed there" (De Agone Christiano, 26).
From the moment of our incorporation into Christ by Baptism, his resurrection and exaltation is something which is already present in us in an incomplete way: "Thus by Baptism", Vatican II teaches, "men are grafted into the paschal mystery of Christ; they die with him, are buried with him, and rise with him (cf. Rom 6:4; Eph 2:6; Col 3:1; 2 Tim 2:11f). They receive the spirit of adoption as sons in which 'we cry, Abba, Father' (Rom 8:15) and thus become true adorers such as the Father seeks (cf. Jn 4:23)" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 6). See the note on Rom 6:9-10.
The Redemption has already been accomplished, and man has available to him all the grace he needs for salvation: the gates of heaven are open wide; it is now the responsibility of every individual to make room for grace in his soul, to avail of grace to respond to our Lord's call. Through Christ, "we have been reborn spiritually, for through him we are crucified to the world," St Zozimus comments. "By his death that decree of death has been destroyed which Adam caused and which was passed on to every soul--that sentence which we incur through our descent, from which absolutely no one is free prior to being set free by Baptism" (Epist. 'Tractoria', Dz-Sch, 231).
8-9. Salvation is the work of God, a gratuitous gift of God: it originates in God's mercy. It acts in man by means of faith, that is, by man's acceptance of the salvation offered him in Jesus Christ. But even faith, St Paul tells us, is a divine gift; man cannot merit it by his own efforts alone; it is not exclusively the outcome of human freedom; at all stages, from the very beginning, recognition and acceptance of Christ as Savior means that God's grace is at work.
On the basis of this passage in Ephesians and other passages of Scripture, the Church has taught: "According to the passages of Sacred Scripture and the explanations of the Holy Fathers [specified] we, with God's help must believe and preach the following: The free will of man was made so weak and unsteady through the sin of the first man that, after the Fall, no one could love God as was required, or believe in God, or perform good works for God unless the grace of divine mercy anticipated him [...]. Even after the coming of Christ this grace of faith is not found in the free will of all who desire to be baptized but is conferred through the generosity of Christ, according to what has already been said and according to what the Apostle Paul teaches: 'It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake' (Phil 1:29). And also: 'he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ' (Phil 1:6). And again: 'By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God' (Eph 2:8). And the Apostle says of himself: 'As one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy' (1 Cor 7:25; cf. 1 Tim 1:13) [...]. And Scripture says further: 'What have you that you did not receive?' (1 Cor 4:7). And again: 'Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights' (Jas 1:17). And again: 'No one can receive anything except what is given from heaven' (Jn 3:27)" (Second Council of Orange, De Gratia, conclusion).
The Second Vatican Council provides the same teaching: "'By faith man freely commits his entire self to God [...]; before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior help of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and 'makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth' (De Gratia, can . 7; Dei Filius)'' (Dei Verbum, 5).
When St Paul says that faith does not come from works (v. 9), he is referring to things man can do on his own, without the help of grace. If faith did come from works, then man would have something to boast to God about, something which would bring salvation without dependence on Christ--which would be inadmissible, because then our Lord's death would make no sense, nor would even the Incarnation of the Word, whom "God has made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; therefore, as it is written, 'Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord"' (1 Cor 1:30-31). See also the notes on Jas 2:14; Rom 3:20-31; 9:31.
10. The Christian became a new creation--"we are his workmanship"-- when he was inserted into Christ at Baptism (cf. 2 Cor 5:17). Once justified by Baptism, he should live in a manner consistent with his faith, that is, with his new life. The life of grace in fact moves him to do those good works which God wishes to see performed (he had already laid down that this should be so) and which perfect the work of salvation. Deeds, works, prove the genuineness of faith: "faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (Jas 2:17). Without these works--the practice of the theological and moral virtues--not only would faith be dead; our love for God and neighbor would be false.
Having said that, it is also true that to bring about this renewal in man God counts on man's readiness to respond to grace and on his carrying out "good works".
Christian Tradition has always taught that the fruits of faith are a proof of its vitality. For example, this is what St Polycarp has to say: "It does my heart good to see how the solid roots of your faith, which have such a reputation ever since early times, are still flourishing and bearing fruit in Jesus Christ [...]. Many desire to share in your joy, well knowing that it is by the will of God that you are saved through Jesus Christ" (Letter to the Philippians, chap. 1).