Exegetical Insight (Chapter 30)

The perfect tense is often used to teach important theological truths, and it is often not possible to translate its full significance. The phrase th/: ga;r cavritiv ejste sesw≥smevnoi dia; pi√stewV, translated in the NIV as, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—” (Eph 2:8a), does not reveal the full meaning of ejste sesw≥smevnoi.

The perfect passive participle sesw≥smevnoi is used in tandem with ejste to form what is called a “periphrastic verb,” a construction intended to place special emphasis on the continuing results. Paul is using this construction to emphasize that the effects of salvation are an ongoing part of a believer’s life. What does this mean for contemporary Christian experience?

It means that the starting and the finishing lines are not the same. Salvation is indeed a process. Salvation has a beginning, a middle, and an end — justification, sanctification, and glorification. This experience is wholly dynamic, not incrementally static. At this point, the well-traveled “lifeboat analogy” is helpful. The unredeemed life is as if we were about to perish on a crippled ship threatening to sink as a result of sustaining irreparable damage in a menacing storm. Lifeboats arrive to rescue us and begin the perilous journey to the safety of the shore. Once in the saving vessel, however, the storm rages on. No one is quite sure when the storm may dissipate or when another may erupt on the way to safety. While we may experience smooth sailing for a time, we very well could be smothered with peril again. Reaching the safe confines of the shore is the ultimate goal.

Making the exchange from a sinking to a saving vessel is the initiation of salvation, or justification; the voyage in the lifeboat is the working out of our salvation (see Phil 2:12), or sanctification; and reaching the shore is our final arrival in heaven. This is the consummation of salvation, or glorification. The aspect intended by ejste sesw≥smevnoi covers the entire journey. This understanding can yield a better translation and application, “For by grace you are being saved, through faith.”

Additionally, the participle is in the passive voice, telling us that there is an external agent, the grace of God, at work in the process as well. While Paul is adamant one cannot work “for” salvation, he is just as convinced one must work “out” salvation. The Christian knows as well as Paul about the daily struggle involved in living the Christian life. Salvation is not totally automatic; serious effort is involved once it has begun. Struggling through the sanctification part of salvation, which is our post-conversion life, not only authenticates our relationship with Christ, it also drives us to grow deeper in our Christian experience.

Paul Jackson