Antecedents are important. They make all the difference in the world, like in this classic church bulletin blunder: “The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind, and they can be seen in the church basement Friday afternoon” Yikes.
The "they" in that sentence is obviously meant to refer to the used clothing the ladies have donated. The humor here makes the proper antecedent clear.
However, in a sentence like Ephesians 2:8, I've observed folks connecting the pronoun "this" with "grace" instead of the proper antecedent, "faith." First of all, it doesn't make any sense that "grace" would be something "from ourselves" or would be something we could conjure up on our own behalf. Second, Greek grammar clearly indicates that Paul's intent was to show that "faith" is the gift (this I understand from men smarter than myself).
This makes an important soteriological point. If this is true (and it is!), then from the very beginning salvation is from God, acting monergistically (without our help) and giving us the very faith that is required in order to be saved. That just floors me. Praise be to God for His indescribable gift!
2 comments:
'tis all about the monergism...
"The doctrine of free justification by faith alone, which became the storm center of so much controversy during the Reformation period, is often regarded as the heart of the Reformers' theology but this is not accurate. The truth is that their thinking was really centered upon the contention of Paul, echoed by Augustine and others, that the sinner's entire salvation is by free and sovereign grace only, and that the doctrine of justification by faith was important to them because it safeguarded the principle of sovereign grace. The sovereignty of grace found expression in their thinking at a more profound level still in the doctrine of monergistic regeneration." - J. I. Packer and O. R. Johnston, "Introduction" to The Bondage of the Will (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming Revell, 1957), 59-60, as cited in R.C. Sproul's "The Pelagian Captivity of the Church" here: http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var1=ArtRead&var2=383&var3=main (emphasis added)
...a must-read (and re-read) article.
-kevin
Muy bueno...Spanish for "Cool! I'll look that up and read it soon!"
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