Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Ephesians 2:8
There are 22 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 33, footnote 5 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Polycarp (HTML)
Epistle to the Philippians (HTML)
Chapter I.—Praise of the Philippians. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 343 (In-Text, Margin)
... elect of God and our Lord; and because the strong root of your faith, spoken of in days long gone by, endureth even until now, and bringeth forth fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sins suffered even unto death, [but] “whom God raised from the dead, having loosed the bands of the grave.” “In whom, though now ye see Him not, ye believe, and believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory;” into which joy many desire to enter, knowing that “by grace ye are saved, not of works,”[Ephesians 2:8-9] but by the will of God through Jesus Christ.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 280, footnote 5 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Peter of Alexandria. (HTML)
Fragments from the Writings of Peter. (HTML)
On the Godhead. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2356 (In-Text, Margin)
Since certainly “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,” whence also by grace we are saved, according to that word of the apostle, “and that not of yourselves, nor of works, lest any man should boast;”[Ephesians 2:8-9] by the will of God, “the Word was made flesh,” and “was found in fashion as a man.” But yet He was not left without His divinity. For neither “though He was rich did He become poor” that He might absolutely be separated from His power and glory, but that He might Himself endure death for us sinners, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, “being put to death in the flesh, but ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 247, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
The Enchiridion. (HTML)
Men are Not Saved by Good Works, Nor by the Free Determination of Their Own Will, But by the Grace of God Through Faith. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1128 (In-Text, Margin)
... will of God. But whence comes this liberty to do right to the man who is in bondage and sold under sin, except he be redeemed by Him who has said, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed?” And before this redemption is wrought in a man, when he is not yet free to do what is right, how can he talk of the freedom of his will and his good works, except he be inflated by that foolish pride of boasting which the apostle restrains when he says, “By grace are ye saved, through faith.”[Ephesians 2:8]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 248, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
The Enchiridion. (HTML)
Faith Itself is the Gift of God; And Good Works Will Not Be Wanting in Those Who Believe. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1130 (In-Text, Margin)
And lest men should arrogate to themselves the merit of their own faith at least, not understanding that this too is the gift of God, this same apostle, who says in another place that he had “obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful,” here also adds: “and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”[Ephesians 2:8-9] And lest it should be thought that good works will be wanting in those who believe, he adds further: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” We shall be made truly free, then, when God fashions us, that is, forms and creates us anew, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 432, footnote 14 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)
Section 41 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2165 (In-Text, Margin)
... because being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish his own, he had not been made subject unto the righteousness of God? But you, an elect race, and among the elect more elect, virgin choirs that follow the Lamb, even you “by grace have been saved through faith; and this not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God: not of works, lest haply any be elated. For we are His workmanship, created in Jesus Christ in good works, which God hath prepared, that in them we may walk.”[Ephesians 2:8-10] What therefore, by how much the more ye are adorned by His gifts, shall ye by so much the less love Him? May He Himself turn away so dreadful madness! Wherefore forasmuch as the Truth has spoken the truth, that he, unto whom little is forgiven, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 533, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On Patience. (HTML)
Section 18 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2679 (In-Text, Margin)
18. Whence also the just of old, before the Incarnation of the Word, in this faith of Christ, and in this true righteousness, (which thing Christ is unto us,) were justified; believing this to come which we believe come: and they themselves by grace were saved through faith, not of themselves, but by the gift of God, not of works, lest haply they should be lifted up.[Ephesians 2:8-9] For their good works did not come before God’s mercy, but followed it. For to them was it said, and by them written, long ere Christ was come in the flesh, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will show compassion on whom I will have compassion.” From which words of God the Apostle Paul, should so ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 117, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)
Acts or Disputation Against Fortunatus the Manichæan. (HTML)
Disputation of the First Day. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 234 (In-Text, Margin)
... our peace, who made both one, and breaking down the middle wall of partition, the enmities in His flesh, making void by His decrees the law of commandments, that in Himself He might unite the two into one new man, making peace, that He might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, slaying the enmities in Himself. And He came and preached peace unto you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh. For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father."[Ephesians 2:1-18]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 33, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
From the Epistle to the Ephesians. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 363 (In-Text, Margin)
... children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ; by whose grace ye are saved.” Again, a little afterwards, he says: “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”[Ephesians 2:8-10] And again, after a short interval: “At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: but now, in Christ Jesus, ye who were ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 108, footnote 19 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter. (HTML)
The Faith of Those Who are Under the Law Different from the Faith of Others. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1037 (In-Text, Margin)
... day, and hopes to be satiated therewith in that eternal life, where shall be realized that which is said of God by the psalm: “Who satisfieth thy desire with good things.” This, moreover, is the faith whereby they are saved to whom it is said: “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”[Ephesians 2:8-10] This, in short, is the faith which works not by fear, but by love; not by dreading punishment, but by loving righteousness. Whence, therefore, arises this love,—that is to say, this charity,—by which faith works, if not from the source whence faith ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 225, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin. (HTML)
On the Grace of Christ. (HTML)
Pelagius Places Free Will at the Basis of All Turning to God for Grace. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1844 (In-Text, Margin)
... vast courses of goodness we (according to him) accomplish, forsooth, simply by the freedom of our own free will; and by reason of such antecedent merits we so secure His grace, that He turns our heart which way soever He pleases. Well, now, how is that grace which is not gratuitously conferred? How can it be grace, if it is given in payment of a debt? How can that be true which the apostle says, “It is not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast;”[Ephesians 2:8-9] and again, “If it is of grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace:” how, I repeat, can this be true, if such meritorious works precede as to procure for us the bestowal of grace? Surely, under the circumstances, there can ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 396, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
What is Meant Under the Name of Fate. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2640 (In-Text, Margin)
... of stars, but according to the eternal and high counsel of His severity and goodness. We see, then, that neither belongs to fate. Here, if you answer that this very benevolence of God, by which He follows not merits, but bestows undeserved benefits with gratuitous bounty, should rather be called “fate,” when the apostle calls this “grace,” saying, “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God; not of works, lest perchance any one should be lifted up,”[Ephesians 2:8] —do you not consider, do you not perceive that it is not by us that fate is asserted under the name of grace, but it is rather by you that divine grace is called by the name of fate?
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 450, footnote 13 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Abstract. (HTML)
The Faith that He Kept Was the Free Gift of God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3047 (In-Text, Margin)
... clause runs thus: “I have kept the faith.” But he who says this is the same who declares in another passage, “I have obtained mercy that I might be faithful.” He does not say, “I obtained mercy because I was faithful,” but “in order that I might be faithful,” thus showing that even faith itself cannot be had without God’s mercy, and that it is the gift of God. This he very expressly teaches us when he says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”[Ephesians 2:8] They might possibly say, “We received grace because we believed;” as if they would attribute the faith to themselves, and the grace to God. Therefore, the apostle having said, “Ye are saved through faith,” added,” And that not of yourselves, but it ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 451, footnote 13 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Abstract. (HTML)
The Question Answered. Justification is Grace Simply and Entirely, Eternal Life is Reward and Grace. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3060 (In-Text, Margin)
This question, then, seems to me to be by no means capable of solution, unless we understand that even those good works of ours, which are recompensed with eternal life, belong to the grace of God, because of what is said by the Lord Jesus: “Without me ye can do nothing.” And the apostle himself, after saying, “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast;”[Ephesians 2:8-9] saw, of course, the possibility that men would think from this statement that good works are not necessary to those who believe, but that faith alone suffices for them; and again, the possibility of men’s boasting of their good works, as if they were of themselves capable of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 455, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Abstract. (HTML)
Faith is the Gift of God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3098 (In-Text, Margin)
... even so far as to show that it appertains to grace,—so that the apostle did not tell us, “I have obtained mercy because I was faithful;” but he said, “I have obtained mercy in order to be faithful.” And there are many other passages of similar import,—among them that in which he bids us “think soberly, according as God hath dealt out to every man the proportion of faith;” and that which I have already quoted: “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God;”[Ephesians 2:8] and again another in the same Epistle to the Ephesians: “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ;” and to the same effect that passage in which he says, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 504, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
Why the Apostle Said that We are Justified by Faith and Not by Works. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3463 (In-Text, Margin)
... apostle, therefore, distinguishes faith from works, just as Judah is distinguished from Israel in the two kingdoms of the Hebrews, although Judah is Israel itself. And he says that a man is justified by faith and not by works, because faith itself is first given, from which may be obtained other things which are specially characterized as works, in which a man may live righteously. For he himself also says, “By grace ye are saved through faith; and this not of yourselves; but it is the gift of God,”[Ephesians 2:8] —that is to say, “And in saying ‘through faith,’ even faith itself is not of yourselves, but is God’s gift.” “Not of works,” he says, “lest any man should be lifted up.” For it is often said, “He deserved to believe, because he was a good man even ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 502, footnote 14 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
On the words of the Gospel, John vi. 53, ‘Except ye eat the flesh,’ etc., and on the words of the apostles. And the Psalms. Against the Pelagians. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3927 (In-Text, Margin)
... walking in it already, be not proud, lest ye even perish from it. ‘And ye perish,’ saith he, ‘from the righteous way.’” “When His wrath shall be kindled in a short time” against you. At no distant time. As soon as thou art proud, thou losest at once what thou hadst received. As though man terrified by all this were to say, “What shall I do then?” It follows, “Blessed are all they that trust in Him:” not in themselves, but in Him. “By grace are we saved, not of ourselves, but it is the gift of God.”[Ephesians 2:8]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 288, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2716 (In-Text, Margin)
... to the Truth when into the desert of the Gentiles the Gospel was passing, “the Heavens dropped from the face of God.” These are the Heavens, whereof in another Psalm is sung, “The Heavens are telling forth the glory of God.” … So here also, “the Heavens dropped;” but “from the face of God.” For even these very persons have been “saved through faith, and this not of themselves, but God’s gift it is, not of works, lest perchance any man should be lifted up. For of Himself we are the workmanship,”[Ephesians 2:8-10] “that maketh men of one mood to dwell in a house.”
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 635, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXXXVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5717 (In-Text, Margin)
... my hands:” of mine own works I boast not. “I sought,” indeed, “the Lord with my hands in the night season before Him, and have not been deceived;” but yet I praise not the works of mine own hands; I fear lest, when Thou shalt look into them, Thou find more sins in them than deserts. Behold in me Thy Work, not mine: for mine if Thou seest, Thou condemnest; Thine, if Thou seest, Thou crownest. For whatever good works there be of mine, from Thee are they to me; and so they are more Thine than mine.[Ephesians 2:8-10] Therefore whether in regard that we are men, or in regard that we have been changed and justified from our iniquity, Lord, “despise not Thou the works of Thine own hands.”
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 420, footnote 12 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
Funeral Oration on the Great S. Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4551 (In-Text, Margin)
... spiritual, on tables which are not broken but are preserved; he entered the Holy of holies, not once a year, but often, I may say every day, and thence he revealed to us the Holy Trinity; and cleansed the people, not with temporary sprinklings, but with eternal purifications: What is the special excellence of Joshua? His generalship, and the distribution of the inheritance, and the taking possession of the Holy Land. And was not Basil an Exarch? Was he not a general of those who are saved by faith?[Ephesians 2:8] Did he not assign the different inheritances and abodes, according to the will of God, among his followers? So that he too could use the words, “The lot is fallen unto me in pleasant places; and “my fortunes are in Thy hands,” fortunes more precious ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 122, footnote 11 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
On the Holy Spirit. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
Chapter VI. To those who object that according to the words of Amos the Spirit is created, the answer is made that the word is there understood of the wind, which is often created, which cannot be said of the Holy Spirit, since He is eternal, and cannot be dissolved in death, or by an heretical absorption into the Father. But if they pertinaciously contend that this passage was written of the Holy Spirit, St. Ambrose points out that recourse must be had to a spiritual Interpretation, for Christ by His coming established the thunder, that is, the force of the divine utterances, and by Spirit is signified the human soul as also the flesh assumed by Christ. And since this was created by each Person of the Trinity, it is thence argued that the (HTML)
61. As we have shown above generally that the Holy Spirit is our Creator according to the flesh in the outer man, let us now show that He is our Creator also according to the mystery of grace. And as the Father creates, so too does the Son create, and so too the Holy Spirit creates, as we read in the words of Paul: “For it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any one should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus in good works.”[Ephesians 2:8]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 426, footnote 9 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Conferences of John Cassian. Part II. Containing Conferences XI-XVII. (HTML)
Conference XIII. The Third Conference of Abbot Chæremon. On the Protection of God. (HTML)
Chapter IX. Of the power of our good will, and the grace of God. (HTML)
... the completion of our salvation is assigned to our own will, of which it is said: “If ye be willing, and hearken unto Me, ye shall eat the good things of the land,” and how it is “not of him that willeth or runneth, but of God that hath mercy?” What too is this, that God “will render to every man according to his works;” and “it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do, of His good pleasure;” and “this is not of yourselves but it is the gift of God: not of works, that no man may boast?”[Ephesians 2:8-9] What is this too which is said: “Draw near to the Lord, and He will draw near to you,” and what He says elsewhere: “No man cometh unto Me except the Father who sent Me draw Him?” What is it that we find: “Make straight paths for your feet and direct ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 2, footnote 2 (Image)
Leo the Great, Gregory the Great
The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)
Letters. (HTML)
To the Bishop of Aquileia. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 24 (In-Text, Margin)
... class="sc">God is given according to the merits of the recipient. And yet surely, unless it is given freely, it is not a gift, but a price and compensation for merits: for the blessed Apostle says, “by grace ye have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves but it is the gift of God; not of works lest any should perchance be exalted. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God prepared that we should walk in them[Ephesians 2:8-10].” Thus every bestowal of good works is of God’s preparing: because a man is justified by grace rather than by his own excellence: for grace is to every one the source of righteousness, the source of good and the fountain of ...