“Don’t worry about it,” he stated with smug, Pastoral confidence. “It’s taken out of context. Ephesians 2: 8-9 says that we’re saved by grace through faith, not works. Baptism is a work.” (MAAS ch. 5)
And yes, Ephesians 2:8-9 is here taken out of context. The whole context includes verse 10 as we read: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10 NASU
And yes, "baptism is a work." It is one of the very first works that "God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." There is nothing wrong with --- and everything right about --- doing good works. What is wrong is seeking to be justified by our works. Galatians 2:16 says, "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law;" NASU And Galatians 5:4 goes on to say, "You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." NASU
Please notice this last verse. It says "seeking to be justified by law." It does not say, "by the law," meaning THE LAW of Moses. In fact, looking at the Greek text, almost none of the verses in the book of Galatians which are translated as "the law" actually say "the law." In the Greek it us usually only the generic "law", not "the law." And in this last sentence, the translators correctly say, "you who are seeking to be justified by law;" --- any law, even the New Testament when decoded into a list of commands, examples, and necessary inferences, to be justified by --- "you have fallen from grace." Why? or Why not? Because in seeking to be justified by law, we are seeking to justify ourselves, by our own power in keeping the Rules or Laws. It leaves God out (almost) entirely.
“Mr. Mike,” Randall regained my attention as he landed in the book of Ephesians. “Chapter 2 verse 8 says, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.’ Verse 9 says ‘not of works, lest any man should boast,’ so you’re correct in saying that we’re saved by faith and not of works. But it is you, my friend, who is pulling this out of context.” (MAAS ch. 5)
“My friend,” Randall said, “if we try to go back to the Law of Moses, we actually fall from God’s grace, because Galatians 5: 4 says, ‘Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.’ Those Jews who became Christians at Ephesus were trying to incorporate some of the former laws of Moses like physical circumcision. They were fallen from grace and that’s why Paul emphasized not of works. He was talking about the previous works of Jewish Law.” (MAAS ch. 5)
This is wrong and not true. Here we have Randall pulling problems and meanings out of the book of Galatians and pushing them as an interpretation into the book of Ephesians where there is no evidence that they belong. Paul is not correcting the Ephesians for listening to the Jewish group promoting keeping the rule of Circumcision and the Law of Moses. If you read, and reread, the book of Ephesians, you will see Paul explaining how and why the Ephesians are able to live together in harmony, both Jews and Gentiles, in one body, in Jesus. There is no criticism; there is no correction; there is no condemnation in Ephesians.
In the book of Galatians however, Paul is blistering. In Gal 1:6-9 Paul writes, "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" NASU
The book of Galatians is all about how wrong it is to try to justify ourselves by keeping rules and laws, especially parts of the old law, the law of Moses, and even the covenant of Abraham (circumcision) which predates Moses. But even so, Paul does not confuse doing good with keeping laws, for he writes in Galatians 6:9-10, "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith." NASU
The book of Ephesians is all about how Jesus's sacrifice has torn down the wall of rules and laws, the customs, which used to be a barrier of enmity (dislike, disgust) between the law-abiding Jews and the lawless Gentiles. It is about how, now, in Christ, the two groups have been made into one body through the love of Jesus. Picture this --- the little green clay figure of Gumby representing the Jews, and another yellow clay figure like Gumby representing the Gentiles. God takes the two clay figures and twists them together, molding them into a new clay figure, into one body. We can still see different parts in green or yellow, but there is now only one figure, one body. This is what Ephesians is telling us --- differences in culture don't matter in the body of Jesus. The Jews are still Jews (Acts 21:20), and the Gentiles are still not-Jews (Acts 15:17-21), but both can live and worship together in one faith, in one body, in Jesus. But they still accomodate each other's weaknesses or customs (Romans 14).
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