By: Obed Pineda
When committing Scripture to memory, it is common to often overlook the “small” words that are found within the pericope. The group of words that are perhaps almost always dismissed as unimportant are known in English literature as prepositions. Although small in comparison to other words in our language, these words carry a very important role when communicating in English. Words such “by,” “to,” “with,” and “from” are examples of everyday prepositions that one uses frequently when speaking or writing. Prepositions are instrumental in providing a direction, location, or time for an object such as a noun or a pronoun. For this reason it is unwise to ignore the vital function a preposition is doing in a Scripture that is being carefully studied because of its diminutive size. As an example of the importance of a preposition in Holy Writ, let us consider a passage that is repeatedly misunderstood because the prepositions in it are overseen. The Bible states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Proponents of the erroneous “faith only/grace only” doctrine claim that because baptism is missing from this Scripture, then a person is not required to take any action in order to be saved. Although it is true that the word baptism is not found in the pericope, it is not true that this passage is denying the need for an action on behalf of the believer. Notice the preposition through in the sentence. The dictionary establishes that through is “used as a function word to indicate movement into at one side or point out at another and especially the opposite side of” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). Because through is indicating a movement from one side to the other, it is false to claim that salvation comes by an inaction such as having a convincing thought only. Furthermore, observe that the preposition through is indicating that faith is the action word that it is highlighting. This is significant because it proves that the faith that leads to grace is an active faith and not a passive one. Thus, Paul and James are in complete agreement with one another that “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). Additionally, the Greek word used by the Holy Spirit is dia and lexicographers explain that it is a “primary preposition denoting the channel of an act” (Strong’s, G1223). Ergo, in either language the grammatical rule applies in the same way when using the preposition through and thus one concludes that an action must be taken that identifies the person as a believer and that they have obtained grace. The inspired apostle affirms that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” and that this gift was obtained when “we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:23, 4). Indeed, an examination of this one simple preposition proves to be of an enormous value in terms of properly understanding God’s inspired Word. Making the proper pause to consider through and how it functions in the Scripture under consideration reveals also why Jesus referred to believing in Him as an action and not just a thought (cf. John 6:28-29). It is right to also consider that adding prepositions when they are not found in Scripture is just as irresponsible as well. Because prepositions are frequently used in our speech, it becomes very easy to innocently add one of these small words and to believe that we are still saying the same thing. This, however, is not the case. Let us observe how much adding a preposition to a Scripture where it does not have one can alter the instruction being given by God. In the same Ephesian epistle, the apostle Paul exhorted, “you have not so learned Christ” (Ephesians 4:20). If we were to memorize this passage, it would not be uncommon to be tempted to add a “from,” “with,” “in,” or perhaps even “by” before the word Christ. However, doing so impacts negatively the teaching being imparted by the Holy Spirit through Paul’s pen. It is true that one must always pay close attention to what is written in Scripture, but in special Scriptures like the one under consideration it is equally important to be ready to read “in between the lines” as the old adage goes. First, let us bring to memory the immediate context of the pericope being perused. In verses 17-19 of the chapter, the apostle Paul is describing a man outside of the body of Christ, which is the Church (cf. Ephesians 1:22-23). This man is someone who lives a life without purpose, willingly ignores God’s commandments, separating himself from God, and has become desensitized to sin. Therefore, the apostle Paul is providing with his inspired words the sketch of an immoral man and immediately after doing so, he contrasts it with the beautiful face of Jesus. The tremendous effect that this has, is that a clear difference between a saint and a sinner can be visualized in our mind’s eye. The goal of purposely leaving out a preposition in front of the word Christ is to make the reader turn their eyes from the ugly sinner to the glorious Son of God. Paul is refocusing our eyes on “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2a). Thus, by leaving out all prepositions the apostle is encouraging us to learn Jesus Himself, so that we can “be imitators of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1). A Christian (which means “follower of Christ”) must not only follow the instructions spoken by the Master, but he must also emulate Him in every aspect of life. Ephesians 4:20 declares that by keeping our focus solely on Jesus’ example, it is impossible to learn how to sin! On the contrary, sin is learned when we stop watching God because our gaze is drawn toward the Temptress (cf. James 1:13-16). The inspired Luke echoes Paul’s teaching as he declared that in “the former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach” (Acts 1:1). Adding any of the suggested prepositions to the selected passage would clearly deviate from the Holy Spirit’s intended lessons. Spiritual revelations such as the value of a preposition in a Scripture (or lack of one) proves why God’s Word is perfect as it is. It reminds us that He is truly omniscient and that He is not “the author of confusion but of peace” (1st Corinthians 14:33a). Observing the great detail that God put into the inspiration of His Word for humanity also unveils the immense love He has for us, the crown of His creation (cf. Psalm 8:3-8).