The Work of Memory: Ephesians 2:11

The focal point of Eph. 2:1-10 is not “by grace you have been saved through faith…” (2:8-9). 2:8-9 is incomplete without 2:10: we who are God’s workmanship are called to do good works. Being justified by grace through faith is the foundation of any good works; the work of sanctification is the natural fruit of Christ’s justifying work in Christian living. Divine good work always precedes human good works. Because of God’s good work in Christ, we are saved through faith by grace. Such a gift of God eliminates any possibility of human boasting. The i[na clause (2:9b: in order that no one can boast) rules out any human endeavor in terms of working for salvation. As Peter O’Brien writes, “The divine intention in providing salvation apart from any human effort or achievement is to exclude all human boasting…As Paul attacks the doctrine of justification by works, so he opposes all boating based on self-trust.”[1]

I am often aware of the conjunction Dio. (therefore) in the beginning of 2:11, meaning that 2:11-22 is connected to 2:1-10. But I usually separate the two sections and interpret them separately. Today, I received a book that I ordered a few days ago in my mailbox: Stephen E. Fowl, Ephesians: A Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012). I read the section on Eph. 2:11-22. Fowl writes:

 

Believers are participants in God’s new creation and that such participation enjoins walking in good works (cf. 2:10). Verse 11 would thus indicate that the immediate good work in view is the work of memory. The Ephesians are challenged here to remember their past. Indeed, the call here may be to remember their past in a new way. In this respect one can think of “remembering” as an example of being “transformed by the renewing of your minds,” as advocated in Rom. 12:2. Whatever else might be involved, the renewal of one’s mind must include a repair or restoration of one’s memory (p. 85).

I find the sentence, “the immediate good work in view is the work of memory,” intriguing. I often understand good works in terms of doing works. I never look at it from the angle of remembering. The first good work that the Ephesians are called to do is to remember: once you were Gentiles in the flesh…but now in Christ… (2:11-13). Our good work, first and foremost, is to remember the surprising work of God in Christ in our past. Our unchristian past indicates nothing but human flaws and divine grace. The first task of our Christian present is to remember our weaknesses and his gracious sufficiency.

To remember what God has done for us in Christ is a good work itself.   

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[1] Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester: Apollos; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), p. 177.

Ephesians 2:8-10 Principle

There is always a tension between being justified by God in Christ and sanctified to be like Christ by the transforming power of the Spirit. Such a tension doesn’t occur within the relationship of the three Godheads: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. It only occurs in Christian experience. Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9, ESV). No good deeds can ever justify sinners like us before God. Rather, Christ alone, grace alone, and faith alone can save us from God’s holy wrath. Paul then continues to say, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (2:10, ESV). We are saved for good works. John Calvin rightfully notes, “Those whom God justifies, He also sanctifies.” In other words, we are saved for practical holiness.

Eph. 2:10 must be grounded in Eph. 2:8-9, not vice versa. This is the order of salvation. Once we reverse the order, we start to work for God’s salvation. We try to earn God’s favor apart from Christ’s finished work. We attempt to please God with human efforts. As a result, we nullify God’s grace in Christ Jesus (see Gal. 2:21). Practical holiness cannot save us. Rather, it only leads us to Him. In Him we find “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn. 4:14).

J. C. Ryle notes:

Can holiness save us? Can holiness put away sin—cover iniquities—make satisfaction for transgressions—pay our debt to God? No: not a whit. God forbid that I should every say so. Holiness can do none of these things. The brightest saints are all “unprofitable servants.” Our purest works are no better than filthy rags, when tried by the light of God’s holy law. The white robe which Jesus offers, and faith puts on, must be our only righteousness—the name of Christ our holy confidence—the Lamb’s Book of Life our title to heaven. With all our holiness we are no better than sinners. Our best things are stained and tainted with imperfection. They are all more or less incomplete, wrong in the motive or defective in the performance. By the deeds of the law shall no child of Adam ever be justified.[1]

The order can never be reversed. It does not mean that they can be separated. Jesus says, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance…Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Lk. 3:8-9, ESV). Either Jesus’ “bear fruits in keeping with repentance” or Paul’s “created in Christ Jesus for good works”, both command practical holiness in the life of the Christian experience. “For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:2-3a, ESV).

[1] J. C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2007), p. 50.

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Calvin's Limits and Possibilities

The teaching of justification is outside of us. It’s beyond any human reach, for we are justified by Christ alone.  Being justified indicates that we need external help to have a right standing before God. “The theology of justification is saying that sin and death set limits to our lives, and the only way to overcome them is by relying on a source of deliverance outside ourselves—the grace of God.”[1] The teaching of justification shows us that we are limited in the first place. When we face what it seems impossible, we can have hope because our hope has been rested on the One who justified us. When we meet our limits, we are assured by the external reality, which is Christ’s righteousness.

The teaching of sanctification reminds us that life is filled with possibilities—what is not yet to come. The concept of sanctification indicates that “every situation, no matter how difficult, also contains some opportunities to act. When we act in these circumstances, we create possibilities where there were only limitations before. When we do this, we are living by sanctification.”[2] Thus, the path of sanctification is the path of exploring new possibilities. I call this “sanctified spirit.” When we stop to explore what is not yet to come, we stop making progress in the path of sanctification. Without a “sanctified spirit,” we are stagnant. However, the concept of sanctification is meant to encourage us to continue to search in the midst of searching, not to discourage us to stop searching in the midst of waiting and confusion.

“In all of life there are things we cannot do for ourselves, as well as things that only we can do.”[3]

This is Johnson’s application of John Calvin’s doctrine of twofold grace of God.[4]

[1] William Stacy Johnson, John Calvin, Reformer for the 21^st Century (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), p. 28.

[2] Ibid., p. 28.

[3] Ibid., p. 28.

[4] John Calvin wrote, “Christ was given to us by God’s generosity, to be grasped and possessed by us in faith. By partaking of him, we principally receive a double grace: namely, that being reconciled to God through Christ’s blamelessness, we may have in heaven instead of a Judge a gracious Father; and secondly, that sanctified by Christ’s spirit we may cultivate blamelessness and purity of life.” (Institutes, 3.11.1)

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