Ephesians 2

New Life Individually

¹ And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

The Ephesian saints were all born dead in their transgressions and sins. Being spiritually dead, they had no connection with God. In this prior condition, they did not understand or seek God.

 ² in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience,

Not only were the Ephesians born dead in their transgressions and sins, but their dead spiritual bodies were energized by Satan. They were once walking down the paths of the satanic world system.  

³ among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest.

The Ephesians loved their sin nature and did not want to give it up. They were children of wrath, meaning that if God left them alone, they would follow their Father the Devil into the Lake of Fire.

 ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us,

God is extremely wealthy in grace and kindness. He loved the Ephesians with a tremendous love. He did not want any of them to perish.

 ⁵ even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved!

A dead man cannot choose anything, because he is without thought, without energy, without movement, without breath, and without life. Therefore, God used His divine power (mentioned in chapter one) to make the dead Ephesians alive. Once the Holy Spirit made the Ephesians alive, God opened up their eyes, their minds, their ears, and their hearts so that they could hear the gospel and believe. According to Romans 10, faith comes by hearing. God sent another believer to each of the Ephesians so that they could hear the gospel and be saved.

 ⁶ and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Christ raised up the spiritually dead Ephesians, gave them a new intellectual attitude, and seated them in the heavenly realms. Christ changed their citizenship from the satanic world system to the heavenly realms. Instead of being slaves of Satan, they were now princes and princesses of God. 

 ⁷ to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The Greek word for "demonstrate" is ἐνδείκνυμι (endeiknumi), meaning to demonstrate publicly in open display. God is going to demonstrate openly to all of creation that He is able to give out tremendous wealth to His children. God did this, because He is very wealthy and He is very kind.

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

The Greek word for “saved” is σεσῳσμένοι (sesosmenoi). It is in the perfect tense, meaning that it was an action that was started in the past and it continues forever. According to the Greek, once a person is saved, he is saved for eternity. Arminianism is destroyed with this one little Greek word.

The Greek word for “this” is τοῦτο (touto). It is not masculine or feminine, but a neutral pronoun, meaning that it cannot refer to grace or faith. Therefore, it refers back to the preceding clause, which is salvation. Paul was teaching that salvation does not come from "yourselves." Salvation is the gift of God.

Since there was no way that the Ephesians could save themselves, God was kind and He gave them the free gift of eternal life. Otherwise, they would have perished. Their former dead spiritual position was helpless to save them from their sins.

 ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.

If an Ephesian could get to heaven by doing good works, then he would be able to boast to the others who did not make it there. He would say, "See, I am better than you, so God let me into heaven, but you were not good enough to make it." God takes away this boasting by saving men who do not have the capability to save themselves.

How many sins does it take to keep one out of heaven? How many good works must a person do to get into heaven? What if a person is one short?

The answer is that one sin will keep a man out of heaven. God is perfect. He will not allow any sin into His heaven. Since even a bad thought is a sin, then everyone is disqualified. If a person does not follow the exact will of God even one time in his life, then he is disqualified. One must enter heaven with the same, exact righteousness of Christ, or he will not be allowed to enter through the gates.  Once a person believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, then his sin is transferred to Christ, and Christ's righteousness is transferred to the believer. When this great transfer takes place, then God no longer sees the sin of the believer. Instead, He sees the righteousness of Christ.

¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.

The Greek word for "workmanship" is ποίημα (poiama), meaning a masterpiece work of art or a poem. The Ephesians were God's masterpieces or poems that had been created through sanctification in Christ Jesus. The purpose of this poem is to produce good works that bring glory to God. God wrote the Ephesians as poems before the foundations of the earth were even created.

Verses 2:1-10 basically teach that man was helpless and dead and heading to the Lake of Fire, but God was so kind that He awakened the man and gave him the ability to believe in Him so that his future citizenship would transfer from the Lake of Fire to the heavens.

New Life Corporately

¹¹ Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands –

Most of the Ephesian church was Gentile. The former Ephesian Gentiles were once called "uncircumcised" by the Jews. Circumcision was only a Jewish ritual that pointed back to the Abrahamic Covenant. It was performed by human hands. Circumcision could not save anyone from the Lake of Fire.  

¹² that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

All Gentiles were at one time cut off from the Messiah. Gentiles were not citizens of theocratic Israel. No covenants were given to the Gentiles. No promises were given directly to the Gentiles (although there were promises of Gentile salvation given to the Jews). The Gentiles did not know God and had no hope of a coming Messiah. The Gentiles were without God in the world, because they did not want Him. Only the Jews possessed the written Word of God. Only the Jews possessed the truth.

The Gentiles were in a desperate situation. They had no meaning, no hope, no purpose, and no direction in life. The best that a Gentile could do was to become a Jewish proselyte, like Rahab or Ruth.

 ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

When an Ephesian Gentile believed in Christ Jesus, they would no longer be far from God. They had been brought near to God by the blood of Christ. God was living inside of them.

¹⁴ For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility,

The Jews and Gentiles hated each other. The wall of partition cannot be the curtain between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, because it was a wall and not a curtain.

 

 

 

There was a wall in the Temple Compound that separated the Court of the Jews from the Court of the Gentiles. Jesus destroyed this wall spiritually by His atonement, making both groups into one group. Once Jews and Gentiles were baptized into the body of Christ, they came together as one in Christ. The blood of Christ ended the Jewish and Gentile hostility.

 

 

 ¹⁵ when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace,

The Greek word for "nullified" is καταργέω (katargeó), meaning to make something inoperative or ineffective. The reason that the hostility ended between Jew and Gentile was because Jesus caused the Law to be inoperative. Neither Jew nor Gentile had to keep the Law, so there was no division between them. They both approached God through faith alone in Christ alone. They were both saved by grace.

The Greek word for "new" is καινός (kainos), meaning fresh and new in opportunity and position. The new man is now called into the body of Christ, or the Church. Jews do not become Gentiles. Gentiles do not become Jews. They both become a new man, or a new organism, called the Church.

¹⁶ and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 

Through the painful ordeal of the cross, Jesus ended hostility between Jews and Gentiles. 

¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near,

The Greek word for "preached" is εὐαγγελίζω (evangelize), meaning to teach the good news of Christ. The Greek word for "peace" is εἰρήνη (eirainae), which comes from the Hebrew word שָׁלום (shalom), meaning peace with God. The Gentiles were far away from God, but Jesus preached the gospel to them so that they could have peace with God. 

 ¹⁸ so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Both Jews and Gentiles have access to the same God through the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who revived their spiritually dead bodies so that they could see the living Christ.

 ¹⁹ So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

The Jews were no longer foreigners. They were now citizens and members of God's household. There are no second-class citizens or social classes in God's kingdom.

 ²⁰ because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

There is no Greek article, so the prophets are those of the New Testament who existed in the early church before the New Testament was completed. The apostles and prophets laid the foundation of the gospel. Jesus was the cornerstone of this new building. The cornerstone was the most important stone of construction, because it was the first stone laid down. Everything else was added to it.

²¹ In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

The Greek word for "joined" is συναρμολογέω (sunarmolgeo), meaning to carefully, efficiently, and effectively connect the stones together. In this new building, Jesus is the cornerstone. The Jewish and Gentile believers were the stones of the building. Jesus the cornerstone very carefully, efficiently, and effectively is joining all of the living believers together to form a holy temple. The Holy Spirit will dwell inside this living holy temple. Notice that the building was growing, meaning that it was incomplete at this time. 

 ²² in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. 

Herod's Temple at that time was under construction, but functional. The body of Christ at that time and even now is under construction, but functional. Jesus has been building this holy temple of living believers for the last 2000 years and He is still adding living stones each and every day. Each individual living stone is a different Christian, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and interconnected to the cornerstone, which is Christ.