Although an ivory tower might reach into the clouds gleaming in the sky and may be accepted by many as the fortress of knowledge, if its foundation is built upon faulty definitions then it is destined to eventually fall. Don’t under-estimate the power of a lowly definition. With it vast empires are built and with it seemingly impregnable castles of knowledge can crumble into oblivion.
My motive in writing this bulletin article is three fold: 1) to illustrate the importance of carefully handling God’s Word, 2) to inspire a deep thirsting for searching out what is really true - whether or not it is what we currently believe and 3) to show how easily definitions can change the message. Perhaps through this brief story, we might be able to peer together through a window into how even sincere and highly educated people can support empires that sometimes may rest on phantom foundations.
To set the stage, let me share with you a story. It is a story about two men who hold doctorates, one lives and works in Silicon Valley and the other in Brazil. Both of these men used the same line of reasoning as a primary reason to assert that humanity does not have the freewill to choose to respond to God.
It went something like this: “Ephesians 2:1, 5 says, ‘You were dead in your transgressions and sins. ... even when we were dead in transgressions, [God] made us alive with Christ.” Each of them then asked me, “Can dead people make choices or choose to respond in a particular way?” I had to respond, “Obviously not, they are dead!” To which they replied, “Therefore those who are dead in sin are likewise incapable of choosing to respond to the gospel. If they are incapable of responding to the gospel, then God must be responsible for making them respond.”
Are they correct? Does Ephesians 2:1, 5 teach that sinners do not have a freewill to respond to God?
First, did you notice the definition they imposed upon “dead?” My friends carefully selected one aspect of physical death and imposed this aspect of death upon the spiritual phrase “dead in sin.” Someone could just as easily have claimed, “since dead people don’t diet, to be dead in sin means that one can’t go on a spiritual diet.” (Whatever that might mean). The point is, by equating physical death with a person's inability to choose, they then imposed a specialized application of death's meaning upon Paul's usage in Ephesians 2.
While some words many possess many different connotations and definitions, when that word becomes embedded in a context its meaning becomes restricted to what it was intended to convey in that spot. An analogy or metaphor is pressed too far, when meanings are wrung out of it which were beyond the scope of their intended function. If someone were to force a possible meaning or application of a word upon a particular usage where the word was not intended to convey that idea, we call that "reading something into the text" or eisegesis.
The proper question for this discussion in relation to Ephesians 2 is does Paul's usage of "dead" imply a loss of volition? Methodologically, we might examine Paul's general useage of the term in other contexts to see if he might have implied a lack of freewill. Paul, often used the langauge of being “dead,” not as a term delineating humanity's inability to choose, but to describe the state of someone serving evil desires or being an instrument of evil and who was therefore separated from God and under God’s condemnation. (Romans 5:10-12; 6:12-13; Colossians 2:13, etc.) This general information is not helpful to their case, but it does not necessarily disprove their contention concerning the specific case of Ephesians 2:1. The matter is ultimatley settled by this particular context.
When we focus upon how the context of Ephesians 2 limits the meaning of the word dead, a decisive understanding emerges. Paul’s goal was to describe and to teach those early Christians about God’s power at work in believers. See Ephesians 1:19f As God’s power had raised Jesus’ dead corpse to physical life, likewise God’s power is able to take someone who is spiritually dead and transform that individual to becoming spiritual alive! When does this happen? When someone trusts in Jesus for salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9.
Paul’s point is that God’s power is at work in those who trust in Jesus. By His grace, God has saved them from death. Paul’s usage of death has nothing to do with whether someone has the capacity to choose to respond to God. His emphasis is that God has the power to bring to life those who trust in Jesus.
When studying the Bible and materials which people have written about God's word, the savy student desirings to hear God's voice will keep a close eye on the meaning of words and the methodology used fo rdefining them. Neither intelligence nor sincerity is a trustworthy guide in and of themselves. However, both intelligence and sincerity are useful in helping us to build a biblical understanding provided that they are supplied with quality building materials.
Barry Newton, Copyright © 1998 Revised 2006
Other Articles Which Might Be of Interest:
A Child of God by Faith (An analysis of faith and what this means for salvation)Not By Works - Some Might Need A Paradigm Shift (Biblically defining works)
Everyone Who Calls Upon the Lord Shall be Saved! This is Good News! (Defining calling upon the Lord)
Grace Dictates Boundaries. It Does Not Empower Endless Freedom
As might be expected, my two friends followed a Calvinistic perspective. I have the impression that their efforts to support "irresistible grace" by attempting to use Ephesians 2 to deny freewill represents one of the methods the Reformed teachings of Calvinism are promoted today.