Ephesians 2:8 salvation is the gift

Faith in Eph 2:8 comes /accompanies the Grace that saved us, or made us alive from being dead in sin. Eph 2:5,8

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened[made alive] us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

One writer writes:
FAITH IS NOT MAN'S ACT, FOR A SPIRITUALLY DEAD MAN CANNOT ACT IN ANY WAY THAT IS PLEASING AND ACCEPTABLE TO GOD. SAVING FAITH IS NOT MAN’S GIFT TO GOD, BUT A GIFT FROM GOD TO MAN, and no one can please Him without it!! (see Heb. 11:6). Someone once wrote me saying, “Grace is a product of our faith”. This is the kind of reverse thinking that is synonymous with spiritual deadness. Such people cannot discern the things of God. Scripture declares both grace and faith to be gifts of God. Neither are of ourselves, nor do they emanate from our works (see Eph. 2). https://www.godsonlygospel.com/by-grace-alone-32
 
Yes, and occasionally participles are in the form of adverbs modifying verbs as, for example, Matthew 28:19-20 where the participles baptizing and teaching are participles modifying the verb make.

My point was that it is not typical that Ephesians 2:8 that it is translated as a participle. It is translated as a verb in the past tense passive voice. I did note that the YLT did translate it as a participle.
 
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Saved (sozo)is indeed a verb, Yet my software identifies it as a perfect passive, participle, nominative, masculine.

This is why

A participle is a verb form that can function as an adjective or to form certain verb tenses. There are two main types of participles:


And occasionally participles are in the form of adverbs modifying verbs.
What a world ... we get to refresh our knowledge of THEOLOGY and GRAMMAR at the same time. :)
 
Every church is composed of "Wheat" (Born again Christians), and "Tares" (Folks having the appearence, but not the REALITY of Christianity). We're warned NOT to try to sort 'em out, lest we discard some "Wheat" in our "Purity" efforts.
Those in sin and error are to be put out till repentance is made . Unless you t hink paul was in error
for having such put out .
 
For everyone who has an interest... I am providing this...

I am not in this other than to see where it ultimately will lead.....and to see if, as I was told, it likely will lead to a discussion of how this construction differs from a simple aorist passive verb.

In Epistle to the Ephesians 2:8, the key phrase in Greek is:

σεσῳσμένοι ἐστε (sesōsmenoi este)


Let’s break that down:

~σεσῳσμένοι (sesōsmenoi) = perfect participle, passive voice
~ἐστε (este)
= you are (present indicative of “to be”)

So grammatically, it is:
a perfect passive participle + a present form of “to be”

This construction forms what’s called a periphrastic perfect ~ which functions like a perfect tense verb in English.

That’s why most translations render it as:

~“you have been saved” (ESV, NIV, NASB)
~“ye are saved” (KJV — older English style)

So who’s right?​

The following is correct in this sense...

~It is not typically translated as a participle in English (“having been saved” would sound awkward here).

~It is translated as a perfect passive verb idea — “have been saved.”

~It clearly carries past action with continuing results (that’s the force of the Greek perfect tense).

However, technically speaking:

~The word σεσῳσμένοι is a participle in Greek form.
But functionally, in this construction, it behaves like a finite verb because of the “you are.”

So to summarize.....

Form: Perfect passive participle

Function: Periphrastic perfect verb

Translation sense: “You have been saved” (past action, ongoing result)

So the most precise answer is: grammatically it is a participle, but it functions as a perfect passive verb in translation.

It is a participle in form, but because it is joined with ἐστε (“you are”), it forms a periphrastic perfect construction, which carries the force of a completed action with continuing results.

And in case you’re wondering where I’m getting all this…


I had a high school English teacher, Miss Dorothy Bryson, who was a strict stickler for proper pronunciation and grammar ... and absolutely relentless about sentence diagramming.


RIP Miss Bryson. You taught us well.
 
Those in sin and error are to be put out till repentance is made . Unless you t hink paul was in error
for having such put out .
Two different things are in play - "Christians" who live in OBVIOUS SIN, and unbiblical practices are subject to discipline, It's the difference between the DRAGON, and the "LAMB" that speaks like a dragon (Rev 13:11)

The insidious problem, however are "Lamb/Dragon Christians" who are, by observation, acting properly, acceptably religious, and following the tenets of their chosen religious system, but aren't really Born again at all, following "Theology" instead of FAITH. They're present in ALL churches to varying degrees of concentration.
 
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Yes, and occasionally participles are in the form of adverbs modifying verbs as, for example, Matthew 28:19-20 where the participles baptizing and teaching are participles modifying the verb make.

My point was that it is not typical that Ephesians 2:8 that it is translated as a participle. It is translated as a verb in the past tense passive voice. I did note that the YLT did translate it as a participle.
I quoted from my lexical Morphical data reading while using the New American Standard, but the data is the same throughout using multiple translations as it is based upon the lexical data source
 
One of the principle teachings of Scripture is that saving Faith is a gift from God, and not an act of man's which precedes the new birth. Otherwise, we would have the absurd and thoroughly unbiblical situation of a man believing before being born again, believing without being born of God, believing before he is saved, savingly believing whilst dead, which would then make salvation a reward for a work of man's, and not a free gift from God. None of the people Christ made alive again could do anything physically to release themselves from death so that Jesus could then make them alive. The whole concept is perfectly ridiculous. God waits for dead people to do something before He makes them alive? The Lord did not wait upon Lazarus or the damsel in Mark 5 to do something before He made them alive. He did not receive their consent, or permission to be brought back to life, but simply and Sovereignly commanded what God willed to occur. IT WAS CHRIST'S MAKING THEM ALIVE THAT PRECEDED THEM DOING ANYTHING!! Life is God’s gift to the chosen dead https://www.godsonlygospel.com/by-grace-alone-32
 
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