2:8 Τῇ γὰρ χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ πίστεως (Tē gar chariti este sesōsmenoi dia pisteōs), “for by grace you are saved through faith.” Paul resumes the line previewed in v. 5 with the addition of explanatory γάρ (gar), “[F]or by grace you are saved through faith.” The verb is a periphrastic perfect, in which the perfect tense form converts a verb that denotes a telic (“bounded”) action (“save” or “deliver”) into a virtual stative event: “you are saved (or delivered).”³³⁵ This presents the salvation as completed and the Christian as enjoying the benefits of that deliverance.³³⁶

NOTES

335. See the introduction on verb tense analysis for brief discussion and general bibliography on Greek verb analysis. See Hoehner (332–33) for use of σῴζω (sōzō) in Paul (cf. Lincoln, 104–5). Romans 5:9–10 is especially interesting in connection with Eph 2:3, 5, 8, where believers are explicitly said to be saved from divine wrath (cf. Matt 19:15 and parallels).

336. It is analogous to “you are healed” (θεραπεύω, therapeuō, of which σῴζω, sōzō; is a synonym sometimes as, e.g., Matt 9:22; Luke 18:42; Acts 4:9), where the healing is completed and the person is in a state of good health (e.g., Luke 8:2; John 5:10; Acts 4:14). In contrast the Greek pres. tense would express the event as continuing and not necessarily completed yet: “you are being saved” (cf. 15:2; 2 Tim 1:9).

S. M. Baugh, Ephesians: Evangelical Exegetical Commentary, ed. Wayne H. House, Hall W. Harris III, and Andrew W. Pitts, Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 158.