Ephesians Chapter 2

In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul describes the greatness of His power that was exercised in each of us when we were born again.  Remember, the theme of Ephesians is adoption.  Paul is describing our birth into the family of God. 

Ephesians 2:1-7 “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.  ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

In the first verse of chapter 2, Paul compares our new birth to the raising of Jesus from the dead.  Jesus died spiritually on the cross and became separated from God.  Jesus said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” At that point, Jesus had become sin for us and became separated from God.  He went to hell for us so that we could receive His new life and be born again.  We were dead in trespasses and sins and separated from God.  We walked according to the course of this world.  Satan worked within us just as he now works in the children of disobedience or non-Christians.  

Verse 2 helped me to understand chapter 6 of Ephesians more clearly.  It speaks of the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience or unbelievers.  This explains the warfare analogy in chapter 6.  We are not battling demonic powers that are reigning in the outer atmosphere or heavenly places.  Satan is working in unbelievers.  Our warfare is to preach the gospel to unbelievers and to set them free from demonic powers.  Our warfare is not to spend our time praying and casting down demonic powers as some have supposed.  The gospel is the power of God.  When we preach the gospel and unbelievers receive it and believe, they are set free and transferred out of Satan’s realm into the kingdom of God.  That is spiritual warfare.

We lived our lives in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath.  This describes the three-fold nature of man: the flesh or body, the mind, and the spirit or inward nature.  Before we are born again, all three parts of man are corrupted by sin and separated from God. 

God is rich in mercy toward us.  He sent Jesus to bear the penalty for sin.  When we believe in Jesus, God makes us alive together with Christ.  We are born again into the family of God.  God raises us up together with Christ and makes us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  Notice that God is saying we are joint-heirs or fellow-heirs with Christ.  This is our inheritance.

Notice that God’s rich mercy is what caused us to be born again.  In contrast, Paul said that in the ages to come, God will show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  This exceeding riches will begin with the redemption of our physical bodies.    

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

We are saved by grace through faith.  We are not saved by our works.  We do not maintain our salvation after we are born again by our works either.  Even the faith that saves us is a gift of His grace to us.  We are His workmanship.  He created our spirit in His image when we were born again.  We are created in Christ Jesus for good works.  These good works do not save us or maintain our salvation.  Our good works reveal the nature and character of God through us.  God wants to reveal Himself through us to others as we allow His love and holiness to be expressed in us.  This takes place in us as we renew our minds to God's Word.

Ephesians 2:11-18 “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— ¹² that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  ¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. ¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”

God has reconciled both Jews and Gentiles to Himself through the blood of Christ.  There is not a separate plan for salvation for the Jews.  Both Jews and Gentiles are saved by grace through faith.  We all must hear the gospel and believe in Jesus.  Jesus broke down the middle wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles.  This is a reference to the wall of separation in the Jewish temple.  Both Jews and Gentiles have access by one Spirit to the Father through our Lord Jesus.

On the cross, Jesus abolished the Ten Commandments in the lives of Christians.  He removed the barrier between Jews and Gentiles.  The Old Testament law was given to show God’s perfect standard and convict us all of sin.  None of us can keep the Law perfectly.  When we see that we are sinners and have a problem with sin and need a Savior, the Law has done its job.  When we accept Jesus, we are no longer under the Law but under grace.

Jesus Himself is our peace with God.  It is a permanent peace; we do not lose our fellowship nor reconciliation to God when we sin.  Jesus bore the penalty for our sins.  God is not counting our sins against us.  If we have trusted in Jesus, we will never face punishment for our sins.    

Ephesians 2:19-22 “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Paul described the church as the temple of the Lord.  We are a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.  Jesus Himself is the chief cornerstone of the temple.  The apostles and prophets make up the foundation.  We as Christians are part of this temple which is continuing to grow and enlarge as more people come to the Lord.

Notice the language of adoption in verse 19.  We are fellow citizens with the saints.  We are members of the household of God.  In Ephesians chapter 3, we will look at the inheritance that we have received in the Lord.

Keith Oliver