Ephesians 2:1-10, a beloved text for both Lutheran and Reformed folks, is the Second Reading appointed for the 4th Sunday in Lent in the Year of Mark. This text is a fine example of the Word functioning in all the ways it can: Law, Gospel, and the Call to Obedience. It will be the preacher's task to touch on each of these aspects without overextending her/his welcome in the pulpit. As the old saying goes, "The preacher who attempts to exhaust the subject, most often only succeeds in exhausting the listeners."
(The following questions have been developed to identify the different ways the Word functions in the text, a central concern of Law and Gospel preachers. These questions are not meant to be exhaustive, but are best used in conjunction with other fine sets of questions available to exegetes. For more on this method and on Law and Gospel preaching, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)
1. How does the Word function in the text? There can be little doubt that the primary function of the Word is gospel, particularly in verses 4-9. God is the subject, and God is doing many things: showing mercy, loving with a great love, making alive with Christ, saving, raising up, seating us with Christ in the heavenly places, and showing all "the immeasurable riches of [God's] grace."
2. How is the Word not functioning in the text? The Law is present, clearly, but only in the past tense. In verses 1-3 we see our desperate condition apart from God's mercy: dead in trespasses and sins, following the course of this world and the "ruler of the power of the air"; living in the passions of the flesh and senses, "by nature children of wrath." Since this is in the past tense it is not the Law functioning to call us to repentance, (it's usual function), but reminding us of our need for a Savior.
3. With whom are you identifying in the text? We must be very clear to identify with those whom the text identifies as in need of a Savior. We are those who are dead in our trespasses and sins. Knowing this, we see both our utter inability to save ourselves, and the magnitude of God's grace, since it is obvious that a corpse has little with which to commend itself.
4. What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text? The call to obedience is in the final verse. The writer is clear: we were "created in Christ Jesus for good works" not by good works. In other words, our deliverance frees us to serve, to be a blessing, to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world. This is an implicit call to obedience.
5. What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text? There are many couplets present right in the text. A few examples: dead/alive; in bondage to disobedience/free to serve; children of wrath/children of grace.
6. Exegetical work: Ralph Martin, in his contemporary commentary, does a nice job of noting some of the unique grammatical characteristics of this text. He notes that in verses 4-6, the language is "rich in the use of verbs with the prefix 'with' (syn), even to the extent that the author employs verbs like 'he made us alive together with' which are not previously found in Greek literature and not attested again in later Christian writers." (Interpretation series, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon, p. 27). Martin also points out the "exceptional" use of the perfect tense of the verb in verses 5 and 8: "you have been saved." Since the perfect tense signals a completed fact with an ongoing function, this seems precisely the right fit for describing what grace has accomplished. (Ibid., p. 28). Finally, Martin points out the "inclusio" in the text, where in verse 2 we are walking in trespasses and sins, and in verse 10, we are devoting ourselves to the good works that God has prepared beforehand, that we might walk in them. (Ibid., p. 30). Many writers have pointed to verses 9-10 as summing up the theological balance one must strike regarding the place of works. We are not saved "as a result of works", but "for good works." Both the ancient scholar, Marius Victorinus, and the reformer, Heinrich Bullinger, address this balance. Victorinus, writing in the 4th century, wrote: "Our works are one thing, what we deserve another. Hence he distinguishes the two phrases not from yourselves and not from works." (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT, Vol. VIII, p. 134). Bullinger writes: "Two errors are refuted here. The first is the error of those who attribute righteousness to our works and the second is the error of those who separate works from faith when they preach one thing and do another. We must stick to the middle way and not turn to the right or the left." (Reformation Commentary on Scripture, NT, Vol. X, p. 287).
7. How does the Crossings Community model work with this text? Paige Evers does a nice job of picking up on the 'walking' language in verse 2 and verse 10. We are the walking dead apart from Christ, and we are the ones walking in the way of love and freedom once made alive by Christ. See the entire analysis archived under its reference at crossings.org/text-study.
Blessings on your proclamation!
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