Both Jews and Gentiles are saved by grace
After holding before the Ephesians’ eyes the present good fortune they already enjoy and the even greater riches they by faith may confidently anticipate in heaven, Paul returns once more to the source and cause of all this blessedness.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
After outlining for us what God’s love and mercy have done, Paul now gives center stage to the concept of grace. Like love and mercy, “grace” is a term that gives us a glimpse into the heart and mind of God. The essential aspect of God’s grace is that it speaks of a quality in God that makes him willing—yes, even eager—to give us undeserving sinners great and precious gifts. Substitute “undeserved gift” for the term “grace” and you catch the sense of what Paul is telling the Ephesians: “It is an undeserved gift that through faith you have been saved, for God gave you saving faith as a gift.”
By definition, faith is trust and confidence that takes God at his word. But recall that both Jews and Gentiles— which is to say, all people—are by nature dead in transgressions and sins. They can’t bring themselves to faith; they can’t decide to trust God’s promises and accept Christ as their Savior. Paul nails this important truth down with three unmistakably clear statements. He tells the Ephesians their conversion is (1) not from themselves, (2) the gift of God, (3) not by works. With two negatives and a positive Paul leaves absolutely no doubt that the sinner’s conversion is God’s doing, not man’s. As a result, “no one can boast” as though he had done something to save himself or that his works in any way contributed to his salvation.
“For it is by grace you have been saved.” (2:8)
Salvation is by grace, an undeserved gift freely given by God without the contribution of any human works.
A life of good works is, however, what God has in mind for every Christian. It is a part of that creative, lifegiving process that God set in motion when in his kindness he called us to faith in his Son. Paul indicates the place of works when he says,
10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
With our new God-given spiritual life, we are indeed able to respond to God’s will. We are able, albeit imperfectly, to do what God wants. It is not that we have to but, rather, that we want to do God’s will. The good works that flow from faith are simply an opportunity to show our appreciation for all that God in Christ has done for us. It would be hard to improve on the apostle John’s concise analysis: “We love [God] because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
But even the good deeds we do are no basis for boasting. They’re really not our own doing; we’re simply being given the opportunity to do good things, “which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Paul has certainly made his point: Our salvation is totally and completely the gift of a gracious God. We did nothing, and we have no grounds for boasting.