Ephesians 2:9

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.—In this verse we have the echo of the past Judaising controversy; it sums up briefly the whole argument of Romans 3:27 to Romans 4:25. There is a similar reminiscence, but more distinct and detached, in Philippians 3:2-9.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:1-10 Sin is the death of the soul. A man dead in trespasses and sins has no desire for spiritual pleasures. When we look upon a corpse, it gives an awful feeling. A never-dying spirit is now fled, and has left nothing but the ruins of a man. But if we viewed things aright, we should be far more affected by the thought of a dead soul, a lost, fallen spirit. A state of sin is a state of conformity to this world. Wicked men are slaves to Satan. Satan is the author of that proud, carnal disposition which there is in ungodly men; he rules in the hearts of men. From Scripture it is clear, that whether men have been most prone to sensual or to spiritual wickedness, all men, being naturally children of disobedience, are also by nature children of wrath. What reason have sinners, then, to seek earnestly for that grace which will make them, of children of wrath, children of God and heirs of glory! God's eternal love or good-will toward his creatures, is the fountain whence all his mercies flow to us; and that love of God is great love, and that mercy is rich mercy. And every converted sinner is a saved sinner; delivered from sin and wrath. The grace that saves is the free, undeserved goodness and favour of God; and he saves, not by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. Grace in the soul is a new life in the soul. A regenerated sinner becomes a living soul; he lives a life of holiness, being born of God: he lives, being delivered from the guilt of sin, by pardoning and justifying grace. Sinners roll themselves in the dust; sanctified souls sit in heavenly places, are raised above this world, by Christ's grace. The goodness of God in converting and saving sinners heretofore, encourages others in after-time, to hope in his grace and mercy. Our faith, our conversion, and our eternal salvation, are not of works, lest any man should boast. These things are not brought to pass by any thing done by us, therefore all boasting is shut out. All is the free gift of God, and the effect of being quickened by his power. It was his purpose, to which he prepared us, by blessing us with the knowledge of his will, and his Holy Spirit producing such a change in us, that we should glorify God by our good conversation, and perseverance in holiness. None can from Scripture abuse this doctrine, or accuse it of any tendency to evil. All who do so, are without excuse.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Not of works - see the notes at Romans 3:20, 27.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. Not of works—This clause stands in contrast to "by grace," as is confirmed by Ro 4:4, 5; 11:6.

lest—rather, as Greek, "that no man should boast" (Ro 3:27; 4:2).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Not of works; any works whatever, and not only works of the ceremonial law: for if they only were excluded, the opposition between God and man, grace and works, were not right, which yet we find so often elsewhere; {see Romans 11:6} men might not be saved by works of the ceremonial law, and yet still be saved by works, and of themselves.

Lest any man should boast; glory in their own works or worth, as men are apt to do when they think they have any thing of their own which contributes to their salvation see Romans 3:27 4:2.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Not of works,.... Of any kind, moral or ceremonial, before or after conversion, done without faith or in it, nor of these in any sense; works are neither the moving causes, nor the procuring causes, nor the helping causes, nor "causa sine qua non", or conditions of salvation; the best works that are done by men, are not done of themselves, but by the grace of God, and therefore can never merit at his hand: and salvation is put upon such a foot,

lest any man should boast; of his works before God, and unto men; wherefore he has denied works any place in justification and salvation, in order to exclude all boasting in man; and has fixed it in a way of grace, and has chosen and called poor sinful worthless creatures to enjoy it, that whoever glories, may glory in the Lord.

Geneva Study Bible

{9} Not of works, lest any man should boast.

(9) He specifically and completely takes away from our works the praise of justification, seeing that the good works themselves are the effects of grace in us.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Ephesians 2:9. οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων, ἵνα μή τις καυχήσηται: not of works, that no one should glory. The OT protest against glorying in any but the Lord and the prophet’s jealousy for the honour of God (Jeremiah 9:23-24; Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 42:14, etc.) burn with a yet intenser flame in Paul, most of all when he touches the great theme of man’s salvation. That the glory of that salvation belongs wholly to God and in no degree to man, and that it has been so planned and so effected as to take from us all ground for boasting, is enforced on Paul’s hearers again and again, in different connections, with anxious concern and utmost plainness of expression (cf. Romans 3:17; 1 Corinthians 1:29; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Galatians 6:14; Php 3:3, etc.).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. lest any man should boast] Lit., any one; there is no emphasis on “man.”—For the thought, cp. Romans 3:27, (and see Ephesians 4:2); 1 Corinthians 1:29; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Galatians 6:14; Php 3:3; in all which passages the Gr. word is the same. The Apostle is everywhere jealous for the sovereign claim of God to the whole praise of our salvation.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - Not of works, lest any man should boast. Exegetical of the last clause, "Not of yourselves; certainly not of your works." The suppression of boasting was a purpose of God in his scheme of salvation; not the chief or final purpose, any more than the manifestation of his grace in coming ages was his chief or final purpose in showing mercy to the Ephesians, but inseparable from the nature of his plan. The spirit of glorying is essentially unsuited to the relations between the creature and the Creator, between the Redeemer and the redeemed. It is the very opposite of the spirit, "Not unto us, O Lord" (Psalm 115:1) - the spirit that casts its crown before the throne, and that breathes in the songs of heaven, "Unto him that loved us ... be glory and dominion forever and ever" (Revelation 1:5, 6). Ephesians 2:9