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how might understanding unearned favor reshape our sense of personal worth or expectations of others?

Adds the setting and its conversation across both testaments.

Ephesians 2:8-9

“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.”

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to early Christian communities in Ephesus, likely around 60-62 CE, while possibly imprisoned. He is articulating the foundational truth of their new identity in Christ, emphasizing that their salvation is not earned but freely given.

If our deepest worth is a gift, what does that free us to do or be, both for ourselves and in our relationships with others?

Then — the setting

Paul's letter to the Ephesians was written to a diverse community that included both Jewish and Gentile believers in the Roman province of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Ephesus was a major port city, a center for commerce, and home to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In this Hellenistic context, concepts of divine favor often involved appeasing deities or earning status. Paul is countering the notion that people could earn their standing with God through religious rituals, moral performance, or ethnic identity, emphasizing instead a radical, unmerited gift.

Across the Testaments

This passage is in the New Testament. The Old Testament introduces the concept of God's 'favor' or 'grace' (חֵן - chen), as seen with Noah or Abraham, often involving a personal relationship or covenant where God chooses to bless despite human failings. It also contains the concept of God's steadfast love or loyalty (חֶסֶד - hesed) which undergirds the covenant. The New Testament, particularly in Paul's writings, expands on this as 'grace' (χάρις - charis), defining it as the foundation of salvation through Jesus Christ, specifically separating it from human 'works' or law-keeping. While the Old Testament hinted at unmerited favor, the New Testament explicitly states that salvation itself is entirely a gift, not a reward for human effort, thus deepening and universalizing the concept.

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Romans 3:23-24
This passage similarly declares that all have fallen short and are justified freely by God's grace.
Titus 3:5
It reiterates that salvation is not by works of righteousness we have done, but by God's mercy.
Genesis 6:8
Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord, an early example of unearned divine favor.

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