To what does “this” refer?

Explanation:

A demonstrative pronoun is used to stand in for a noun. For example, one could say Here is a beautiful car; the beautiful car is a gift. To make this sentence flow better, one could use the demonstrative pronoun this to stand in for the beautiful car in the second clause; thus, “Here is a beautiful car; this is a gift.” Paul does precisely this in Ephesians 2:8. He writes that by grace believers have been saved through faith, and this…is a gift from God. The difference between the instance from Paul and the example above is that the demonstrative could refer to at least four items in Ephesians 2:8 including grace, salvation, faith, or saved by grace through faith (the entire clause).⁶ So how do we decide?

One important aspect of Greek grammar is that its nouns come in three different genders. There are masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns. This can be helpful because adjectives and demonstrative pronouns such as this will mimic the gender of the noun they modify. For example, the Greek noun γυνή (woman) is feminine. The Greek adjective καλός (beautiful) can be written in three different ways depending on the gender of the noun it modifies. If it is used to refer to a beautiful woman, the ending of the adjective changes to match the feminine gender of the noun γυνή (woman). Thus, we do not write ἡ καλὸς γυνή, but rather, ἡ καλὴ γυνή (the beautiful woman).

Why is this grammatical note important? In Greek, demonstrative pronouns such as this work the same way. This means that if we want to identify what Paul refers to when he uses the demonstrative this we check the gender of the demonstrative to narrow our options. For example, the Greek term πίστις (faith) is feminine. This means that if the demonstrative pronoun this (οὗτος) is in the feminine form αὕτη (this) it could refer to faith (or grace, which is also feminine). From there, we would have narrowed our options and could look for further clues to help make our final decision.⁷

Now, instead of finding the demonstrative pronoun in the feminine (or masculine) we find it in the neuter (τοῦτο, this). Of course, neither grace, faith, nor salvation is neuter, but this does not leave us without recourse. Oftentimes a writer will use a demonstrative to refer to a whole clause that might contain various nouns and concepts of various genders. In these situations, the writer will use the neuter gender to indicate that the demonstrative refers to the whole preceding clause, and not just one term. Most likely, this is precisely what Paul has done in Ephesians 2:8. The whole process of salvation by grace through faith is a gift of God.^{8,9,10,11,12,13}

Counterargument:

While it is true that the demonstrative pronoun normally matches the gender of the noun it modifies, this is not always the case. In fact, the rule is a general description, but there are times when the demonstrative pronoun does not match the gender of a noun. Further, what is more important is not the gender of the demonstrative, but the vicinity of the antecedent.¹⁴ The antecedent is the term that the demonstrative pronoun stands in for. In Greek grammar, it is customary for the demonstrative pronoun to stand in for whatever term is closest to it.¹⁵ For example, in the sentence, Here is a bicycle and a beautiful car; this is a gift, where this in the secondary clause is in Greek, it would most likely refer to the beautiful car and not the bicycle.

Response to counterargument:

The problem with this counterargument is that it is a fact of Greek grammar that the demonstrative pronoun can be used to refer to an entire clause.¹⁶ Of course, this does not deny that the vicinity of the antecedent is important. For example, if one had a complex sentence with three clauses, one should assume that the demonstrative, when it is being used to refer to an entire clause, refers to the antecedent clause closest to it. For example, The baseball tickets are in my hand; here is a beautiful car; this is a gift. There are three different clauses, and it is ambiguous whether the demonstrative in the third clause refers to the baseball tickets or the beautiful car. According to the general rules of Greek grammar, in such cases we should assume that the demonstrative refers to the closest antecedent clause, in this case the beautiful car.

Of course, we do not have this problem in Ephesians 2:8 because there is only one antecedent clause, You have been saved by grace through faith. Since the demonstrative is in the neuter and the neuter is used to refer to whole clauses, we should assume that in Ephesians 2:8, Paul uses it to refer to the phrase saved by grace through faith.

Explanation:

Paul prays that the Ephesians would understand the depth of God’s immeasurable grace in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:16–17, Ephesians 2:7). He then presents the concept and process of salvation in a beautifully terse statement, as wholly God’s doing (Ephesians 2:8). This process involves two factors, including the objective basis of salvation, which is God’s grace, and the subjective means by which salvation is received, that is, faith.¹⁷ The components of salvation—grace and faith—are such that salvation is not obtained through the effort or merit of any human.^18,19 In other others, If, on the part of God, it is grace alone, and if we bring nothing but faith, which strips us of all commendation, it follows that salvation does not come from us.²⁰

The fact is, humans are not in a neutral position before God, and because of this, both grace and faith highlight the inability for humans to contribute to their own salvation. When God offers us salvation, he does so when we are in a position of demerit.²¹ We learn this from Ephesians 2:1 where Paul writes not that we were neutral before God, but that we were dead in our sins before God. This implies that what we deserve from God is wrath. God’s grace is not his offer of salvation while he retains the right to be indifferent toward us, but it is his offer of salvation while he retains the right to pour his wrath on us.

Given the fact that our natural state before God is one of demerit, any offer of salvation is a gift of grace. For example, if God offered to save us by his grace through works, while it would be impossible for us to fulfill our obligation, this offer would still be a gift of grace. To offer an opportunity at salvation to those who are underserving is a gift of grace, whatever the means of acquiring that salvation. Of course, since we are sinful, we could never do enough work to merit the favour of a perfect God, so we would never obtain salvation. Still, God’s offer of salvation through works would be gracious.

Thanks be to God that his plan does not leave us with the impossible task of earning salvation through works. Rather, by his grace God gives salvation to those who are dead in their sins, and they acquire salvation not by works, but by faith. Faith is not a meritorious act, and yet faith is far from impotent. On the contrary, faith in Christ is like a vessel filled with treasure. The vessel, which is faith, arrives empty, and cannot earn a wit on its own, but when filled with the treasure of Jesus Christ, it carries infinite value.²²

Counterargument:

It is true that Paul wants his audience to perceive that salvation is a gift from God. Still, he does not construe salvation by grace through faith as one whole gift. Rather, the grace of salvation is a gift, and the exercise of one’s faith is another gift. In other words, this refers not to the salvation process but to faith.²³ And if it refers to faith, it must mean something like, The exercise of faith is a gift.

The reason we can deduce this is because after Paul says that salvation comes by grace through faith he writes, And this is not your own doing. Now, the grace is itself a gift, so there would be no need for Paul to qualify grace as something that is not their doing. To do so would be needlessly redundant.²⁴ On the other hand, someone might think the exercise of faith contributes to their salvation as a sort of merit. To remove this thought, Paul includes the clause, This is not your own doing (Ephesians 2:8b). In other words, both the offer of salvation and the exercise of faith is a gift from God.

Response to counterargument:

There are a few problems with this counterargument. For one, Paul wants his audience to grasp the unsurpassed grace of God in Christ, so it is no surprise that he emphasizes his point by reinforcing the fact that believers are saved by grace through faith, and this process is not due to works. The simple fact is that salvation by grace through faith is difficult for us to comprehend because it is impossible for us to imagine ourselves being so gracious.

Second, it is far too quick to state that Paul’s original audience would immediately have known that God’s grace carries the meaning unmeritorious work. In fact, the term χάρις (grace) carries a variety of meanings including the notion of having a favourable disposition toward someone.²⁵ Of course, Paul wants the Ephesians to know, not just that God has a favourable disposition toward through Christ, but that this favourable disposition is not because of their own doing. Added to this, we have evidence from Greco-Roman sources that χάρις (grace) sometimes carries with it the connotation of deserved reward. By adding the phrase not your own doing Paul is not being repetitive; rather, he is carefully qualifying his remarks.

Finally, we know from Paul’s overall theology that for him, faith is the antithesis of works.²⁶ For example, in Galatians 2:16 Paul writes that no person is justified by works of the law but by faith in Christ. In Romans 4:2–5 Paul explains the antithetical relationship of works and faith more thoroughly. There he explains that if Abraham was able to do good, his status before God would be his due (Romans 4:3–4), but this is not what Scripture says. Rather, Scripture explains that Abraham was counted as righteous through his faith (Romans 4:5).²⁷

Paul’s statement implies that Abraham’s status before God was a gift, and that gift is only conferred on him on account of his faith, which is the antithesis of a work. Thus, since faith is the antithesis of one’s own doing in Paul’s theology, in either case Paul is being repetitive, not because the repetition is needless, but because it is an important qualifier. When Paul says that God extended his grace, he means that the grace is unmerited. And when Paul says that believers acquire this grace through faith, Paul means that faith is unmeritorious.

Possible weaknesses:

It is hard to say what the weakness of this view might be. Options will be explored in Interpretation 2 but these can be overcome in various ways. This view follows the grammatical descriptions of Greek grammar and the context. Of course, there is a chance that Paul uses τοῦτο (this) unconventionally to refer to either πίστις (faith) or χάρις (grace) without matching the gender, but it would be surprising for him not to match the demonstrative with the gender of the noun.

Explanation:

There are two rules to keep in mind when considering what a demonstrative pronoun refers to. For one, you have to decide which term is in proximity of the demonstrative; second, you have to decide if the gender of the demonstrative plays a role. Since the closest noun in proximity of the demonstrative is πίστις (faith), this likely refers to faith as the gift.³⁰ (See Interpretation 1, argument 1, counterargument.)

Counterargument:

The problem with this view is that it overlooks the fact that a demonstrative pronoun can stand in for a clause. This implies that one must do more work than simply look for the closest noun, but depending on the gender, one might also have to consider the closest clause. In the case of Ephesians 2:8 the gender is neuter, which is typical for a demonstrative when it refers to a clause. (See Interpretation 1, argument 1, response to counterargument).

Explanation:

When Paul says that salvation is by grace through faith, he follows this up with the clause, And this is not your doing. Since grace is by nature a gift, Paul would be needlessly redundant for including the fact that it is not their doing. This implies that this refers to faith. In case the Ephesians think they merit salvation through faith, Paul points out that the ongoing exercise of the Ephesians faith is a gift of God.³¹ (See Interpretation 1, argument 2, counterargument.)

Counterargument:

First, the Greek term χάρις carries a variety of senses so it is not surprising that Paul would qualify the fact that Paul is using the term to refer to unmerited favour. Second, there is good reason for Paul to repeat himself. The fact is, Paul wants the Ephesians to perceive the abundance of the riches they have in Christ. Third, in Paul’s overall theology, faith is not a work. For Paul, the nature of faith is such that it is the antithesis of a work. This means that if one is concerned over Paul being redundant, they have to conclude that in Paul’s overall theology faith is not the antithesis of a work. Of course, this will not do because it is contrary to the scriptural record (Galatians 2:16; Romans 3:21–22). (See Interpretation 1, argument 2, response to counterargument.)

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that it overlooks Paul’s general flow of thought in Ephesians 1:15 – 2:10. Paul emphatically states that he wants the Ephesians to perceive the depth and riches of God’s kindness toward them in Christ. To help them see what he means, he spells it out. Even while they were sinners, and deserving of God’s wrath, God saved them by grace through faith. In other words, you deserve death, and God gave you life. Given the broad strokes of Paul’s flow of thought, it is unlikely that he is making careful doctrinal distinctions between the nature of grace and the nature of faith. Most likely is referring to the nature of salvation, and the fact that the whole process, from offer to acquisition, is a total and complete gift.