*Ephesians 2:1-22
Despite being dead in sin, believers are reconciled to God and made part of his dwelling place through faith in Christ.
- From Death to Life:
- Paul describes how believers were once spiritually dead due to their disobedience and sins.
- He emphasizes that they previously lived according to worldly ways and were under the influence of Satan, the spirit at work in those who are disobedient.
- Grace and Salvation:
- Despite their past, God, who is rich in mercy and love, made believers alive with Christ even when they were dead in sins—it is by grace that they have been saved.
- Believers are saved through faith, not by their own efforts or works, so that no one can boast.
- Created for Good Works:
- Believers are described as God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for them to do.
- Reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles:
- Paul explains that Christ has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles.
- By His sacrifice, Christ abolished the law with its commands and regulations to create in Himself one new humanity, thus making peace.
- One in Christ:
- Both Jews and Gentiles have access to the Father by one Spirit through Christ.
- Christ’s purpose was to create one new unified group from the two, thereby promoting peace.
- The Household of God:
- Believers are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of His household.
- This household is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.
- In Christ, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
- Believers are also being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.
Ephesians 2:1-22 teaches us that we are saved by God’s grace, not by anything we do. He loves us so much that He brought us from spiritual death to life through Jesus. Because of this, we should live with gratitude and treat others with kindness. This passage also reminds us that we are part of God’s family, united by His love. We can apply this by accepting His grace, showing love to others, and remembering that we all belong to God, no matter our differences.
Ephesians 2:1-22 (WEB)
2:1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions 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 children of disobedience. 3 We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.11 Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision” (in the flesh, made by hands), 12 that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility through it. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, 20 being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; 21 in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.