not of works, that no one would boast.
Parallel Translations
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not of works, that no one would boast.
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and commeth not of workes lest eny man shuld bost him silfe.
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Not of workes, least any man should boast himselfe.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Ephesians 2:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Timothy 1:9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
- Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
- Titus 3:3-5 For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
- Romans 9:16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy.
- 1 Corinthians 1:29-31 that no flesh should boast before God. Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: that, as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”
- Romans 3:20 Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
- Romans 4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God.
- Romans 9:11 For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls,
- Romans 3:27-28 Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 9. Not of works. Instead of what he had…
9. Not of works. Instead of what he had said, that their salvation is of grace, he now affirms, that “it is the gift of God.” Instead of what he had said, “Not of yourselves,” he now says, “Not of works.” Hence we see, that the apostle leaves nothing to men in procuring salvation. In these three phrases, — not of yourselves, — it is the gift of God, — not of works, — he embraces the substance of his long argument in the Epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians, that righteousness comes to us from the mercy of God alone, — is offered to us in Christ by the gospel, — and is received by faith alone, without the merit of works.
This passage affords an easy refutation of the idle cavil by which Papists attempt to evade the argument, that we are justified without works. Paul, they tell us, is speaking about ceremonies. But the present question is not confined to one class of works. Nothing can be more clear than this. The whole righteousness of man, which consists in works, — nay, the whole man, and everything that he can call his own, is set aside. We must attend to the contrast between God and man, — between grace and works. Why should God be contrasted with man, if the controversy related to nothing more than ceremonies?
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Papists themselves are compelled to own that Paul ascribes to the grace of God the whole glory of our salvation, but endeavor to do away with this admission by another contrivance. This mode of expression, they tell us, is employed, because God bestows the first grace. It is really foolish to imagine that they can succeed in this way, since Paul excludes man and his utmost ability, — not only from the commencement, but throughout, — from the whole work of obtaining salvation.
But it is still more absurd to overlook the apostle’s inference, lest any man should boast. Some room must always remain for man’s boasting, so long as, independently of grace, merits are of any avail. Paul’s doctrine is overthrown, unless the whole praise is rendered to God alone and to his mercy. And here we must advert to a very common error in the interpretation of this passage. Many persons restrict the word gift to faith alone. But Paul is only repeating in other words the former sentiment. His meaning is, not that faith is the gift of God, but that salvation is given to us by God, or, that we obtain it by the gift of God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He taketh away expressly and namely from our works…
He taketh away expressly and namely from our works the praise of justification, seeing that the good works themselves are the effects of grace in us.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ver. 9. Lest any man should boast] As that fool did that said, Caelum gratis non accipiam, I will not have heaven but at a rate. (Vega.) Non sic Deos coluimus, aut sic vivimus, ut ille nos vinceret, said the emperor Antoninus Philosophus. We have not so lived and deserved of God that the enemy should vanquish us.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Not of works; any works whatever, and not only…
Not of works; any works whatever, and not only works of the ceremonial law: for if they only were excluded, the opposition between God and man, grace and works, were not right, which yet we find so often elsewhere; {see Rom 11:6} men might not be saved by works of the ceremonial law, and yet still be saved by works, and of themselves.
Lest any man should boast; glory in their own works or worth, as men are apt to do when they think they have any thing of their own which contributes to their salvation see Rom 3:27; 4:2.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Not of works,.... Of any kind, moral or ceremonial,…
Not of works,.... Of any kind, moral or ceremonial, before or after conversion, done without faith or in it, nor of these in any sense; works are neither the moving causes, nor the procuring causes, nor the helping causes, nor "causa sine qua non", or conditions of salvation; the best works that are done by men, are not done of themselves, but by the grace of God, and therefore can never merit at his hand: and salvation is put upon such a foot,
lest any man should boast; of his works before God, and unto men; wherefore he has denied works any place in justification and salvation, in order to exclude all boasting in man; and has fixed it in a way of grace, and has chosen and called poor sinful worthless creatures to enjoy it, that whoever glories, may glory in the Lord.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Not by works - Neither this faith nor this…
Not by works - Neither this faith nor this salvation is owing to any works you ever did, will, or can do.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Not of works - see the notes at Rom…
Not of works - see the notes at Rom 3:20, 27.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Not of works, as of our own growth, or…
Not of works, as of our own growth, or from ourselves: but as from the grace of God. (Challoner)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Not of works--This clause stands in contrast to "by…
Not of works--This clause stands in contrast to "by grace," as is confirmed by Rom 4:4-5; Rom 11:6.
lest--rather, as Greek, "that no man should boast" (Rom 3:27; Rom 4:2).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. Not of works—Neither the works of the Jewish…
9. Not of works—Neither the works of the Jewish ritual, nor the works of the moral law by Gentiles. If either ritual Jew or moral Gentile were saved, it would not be because of the value of their doings, but for that deep spirit-seated faith, according to their dispensation. It is the heart inspiring the act, and not the act, that saves. And that spirit of faith in Jew or Gentile would, if Christ were truly presented and understood, heartily embrace him.
Boast—A self-saviour needs no Christ-saviour. All Christ’s history in Eph_1:17-23, and all God’s mercy in 1-7, are to him null. He can boast, “I need no free pass; I pay my own way.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. lest any man should boast] Lit., any one;…
9. lest any man should boast] Lit., any one; there is no emphasis on “man.”—For the thought, cp. Rom_3:27, (and see Eph_4:2); 1Co_1:29; 1Co_4:7; Gal_6:14; Php_3:3; in all which passages the Gr. word is the same. The Apostle is everywhere jealous for the sovereign claim of God to the whole praise of our salvation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.—In…
(9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.—In this verse we have the echo of the past Judaising controversy; it sums up briefly the whole argument of Rom_3:27 to Rom_4:25. There is a similar reminiscence, but more distinct and detached, in Php_3:2-9.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Not of works, lest any man should boast. Exegetical…
Not of works, lest any man should boast. Exegetical of the last clause, "Not of yourselves; certainly not of your works." The suppression of boasting was a purpose of God in his scheme of salvation; not the chief or final purpose, any more than the manifestation of his grace in coming ages was his chief or final purpose in showing mercy to the Ephesians, but inseparable from the nature of his plan. The spirit of glorying is essentially unsuited to the relations between the creature and the Creator, between the Redeemer and the redeemed. It is the very opposite of the spirit, "Not unto us, O Lord" (Psa_115:1) the spirit that casts its crown before the throne, and that breathes in the songs of heaven, "Unto him that loved us ... be glory and dominion forever and. (Rev_1:5, Rev_1:6)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 9. Not of works. The salvation is not due…
9. Not of works. The salvation is not due to works of law, or to our own merit; hence there is no ground for boasting.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.