The grammatical structure of the verse contradicts Piper’s argument.

The problem with this argument is that we simply cannot ignore the grammar Paul chose to employ. He must be stressing that faith doesn’t boast because it didn’t come into existence on its own. Paul must want to rule out boasting by saying ‘faith is a gift’. The extra statement is in reference to each of the parts individually. Therefore, Paul must be writing that “ grace” is not from you, “ salvation” is not from you, “ faith” is not from you. Piper asks the why Paul didn’t simply write “ for by grace you have been saved through faith, not from works, so that no one may boast” but also added “ And this is not from you is the gift of God“? Piper asserts that the “ And this is not from you it is the gift of God” part is unnecessary unless Paul is attempting to respond to something specific. Therefore, Paul must be thinking ‘people are going to attribute faith to our own capacities as humans to create, when in fact want to rule that out’. The remaining three interpretations are discussed by Piper and will be analyzed in the arguments below. Interpretations 5 & 6 can be ruled out for the same mismatched gender problem. While interpretation 6 is quoted often, it can safely be ruled out. The word “ this” would need to be written as feminine for it to refer to faith. In the verse, “ this” is neuter, meaning that it must connect two genders: Feminine, masculine, or neuter.

All pronouns in Greek have gender and number, and they must always agree in gender and number to the noun they are pointing to, whether it is masculine, feminine, or neuter. English somewhat does this with pronouns like “he” and “she” but other pronouns like “they” and “it” are more difficult to determine. In Greek, pronouns must agree with their antecedent in gender and number. Piper, as well as many other scholars, correctly understand that this interpretation is impossible due to the grammatical formatting of the Greek. The problem is: Paul didn’t write in English. Most who quote Ephesians 2:8-9 to claim that ‘faith is a gift’ are arguing from this position. This seems like a natural interpretation to English readers because…that’s how we would denote which noun to which the pronoun refers. So the gift can’t be only the grace, nor only the salvation, nor only the faith.Įven though it’s not possible, interpretation six, that only faith is the gift, is often argued because faith is the last thing referenced. But he chose to make it match none of them. If Paul wanted to say only one of those was the gift, then all he would have had to do was match the gender and number of “this” with that noun. You’ll notice that the pronoun “this” does not match a single one of the previous nouns in question neither “grace”, nor “saved”, nor “faith”. Here are the six possibilities:ġ: The gift is “ by grace you have been saved through faith”Ģ: The gift is “ by grace you have been saved”ģ: The gift is “ been saved through faith” There are six possible interpretations for the gift. Based on the grammatical structure of the verse (seen above), four interpretations will be ruled out. They will be ruled out because ancient Greek authors used the gender and number of pronouns to make it clear to their reader which noun the pronoun is referring to. And this is not your own doing it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. But what is Paul referring to as a gift? To help answer this question, let’s repeat this passage with the Greek word, gender, and number displayed:įor by grace you have been saved through faith. He’s pointing at something he just said in the previous phrase, “For by grace you have been saved through faith”, and he saying “this thing is a gift”. Paul is demonstrating that something, this thing, is a gift.

The main question is: What does this refer to? “This” is a demonstrative pronoun. The goal of this review is to demonstrate that Piper’s interpretation of Ephesians 2:8-9 is incorrect. First this review will summarize the possible interpretations of what the gift is in verse 8. Then, each section of this analysis will restate and identifies problems with Piper’s arguments. Timestamps have been included to encourage readers to listen to Piper’s video for themselves.įor by grace you have been saved through faith.

Ephesians 2 8