Efesus 2:8

2:8 For by grace you are saved ¹  through faith, ²  and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;

Efesus 3:7

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ³  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ⁴  the exercise of his power. ⁵ 

Efesus 3:18

3:18 you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ⁶ 

Efesus 4:16

4:16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together ⁷  through every supporting ligament. ⁸  As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

[2:8]  ¹ tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.

[2:8]  ² 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]  ³ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “according to.”

[3:7]  ⁵ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

[3:18]  ⁶ sn The object of these dimensions is not stated in the text. Interpreters have suggested a variety of referents for this unstated object, including the cross of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem (which is then sometimes linked to the Church), God’s power, the fullness of salvation given in Christ, the Wisdom of God, and the love of Christ. Of these interpretations, the last two are the most plausible. Associations from Wisdom literature favor the Wisdom of God, but the immediate context favors the love of Christ. For detailed discussion of these interpretive options, see A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians (WBC), 207-13, who ultimately favors the love of Christ.

[4:16]  ⁷ tn The Greek participle συμβιβαζόμενον (sumbibazomenon) translated “held together” also has in different contexts, the idea of teaching implied in it.

[4:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “joint of supply.”