1 Korintus 4:7

4:7 For who concedes you any superiority? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Roma 11:1

Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final

11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

Roma 11:5-6

11:5 So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 11:6 And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Efesus 2:7-8

2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages ¹  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ²  us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are saved ³  through faith, ⁴  and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;

Efesus 3:7-8

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ⁵  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ⁶  the exercise of his power. ⁷  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ⁸  – this grace was given, ⁹  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Efesus 3:1

Paul's Relationship to the Divine Mystery

3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus ¹⁰  for the sake of you Gentiles –

Titus 1:15-16

1:15 All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 1:16 They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

[2:7]  ¹ tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”

[2:7]  ² tn Or “upon.”

[2:8]  ³ tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.

[2:8]  ⁴ tc The feminine article is found before πίστεως (pistews, “faith”) in the Byzantine text as well as in A Ψ 1881 pc. Perhaps for some scribes the article was intended to imply creedal fidelity as a necessary condition of salvation (“you are saved through the faith”), although elsewhere in the corpus Paulinum the phrase διὰ τῆς πίστεως (dia th" pistew") is used for the act of believing rather than the content of faith (cf. Rom 3:30, 31; Gal 3:14; Eph 3:17; Col 2:12). On the other side, strong representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א B D* F G P 0278 6 33 1739 al bo) lack the article. Hence, both text-critically and exegetically, the meaning of the text here is most likely “saved through faith” as opposed to “saved through the faith.” Regarding the textual problem, the lack of the article is the preferred reading.

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

[3:7]  ⁶ tn Grk “according to.”

[3:7]  ⁷ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

[3:8]  ⁸ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

[3:8]  ⁹ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tc Several early and important witnesses, chiefly of the Western text (א* D* F G [365]), lack ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) here, while most Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (Ì⁴⁶ א¹ A B [C] D¹ Ψ 33 1739 [1881] Ï lat sy bo) have the word. However, because of the Western text’s proclivities to add or delete to the text, seemingly at whim, serious doubts should be attached to the shorter reading. It is strengthened, however, by א’s support. Nevertheless, since both א and D were corrected with the addition of ᾿Ιησοῦ, their testimony might be questioned. Further, in uncial script the nomina sacra here could have led to missing a word by way of homoioteleuton (cMuiMu). At the same time, in light of the rarity of scribal omission of nomina sacra (see TCGNT 582, n. 1), a decision for inclusion of the word here must be tentative. NA²⁷ rightly places ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets.