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Ephesians 2:1-7
Having looked at just the beginning of Pauls general letter to the churches, we can already appreciate
Pauls purpose for it to have a written record of the essential truths of faith in Christ. We have seen that
Paul began with Gods plan of salvation for mankind, purposed in eternity past by the Father, realized in
time by the Son, and secured for future through the Spirit.
Paul outlined all of the spiritual blessings that the believer possesses. What are some of those blessings that
we have seen, laid out by Paul?
Redemption; were loosed from our sins (v. 7). And were forgiven our sins, because Jesus paid our death
penalty for us (v. 7). Were also given knowledge of the will of God (v. 9-10); and were given an
inheritance our glorified body, that fits us for our heavenly home (v. 11); were given the Holy Spirit,
who is our guide and our guarantee (v. 13-14); and well be holy and without blame before the Father in
love; sanctified (v. 4); in fact, the Father adopts us into His family (v. 5).
Now, in whom do we possess all of these blessings? In Christ; one must be in Him to be so blessed. And
how can a person be in Him? By faith; one believes into Him.
So it is in Christ that one possesses all of these blessings and where do we possess them? In the
heavenlies; they are our eternal possessions; our treasure. But we also possess them in the here and now,
on earth how? By faith.
It is by faith that the unseen spiritual realities are made real to us. Faith is the substance of things hoped for
(Heb 11:1a); that is, faith makes all of these blessings real to you, in the here and now.
Having laid out the Fathers plan for their salvation, Paul then prayed that the believers would really
comprehend it, so that they could apprehend it for themselves, and truly make it theirs.
We live what we believe. We cannot believe what we do not know. But we have the Holy Spirit, by whom
we can know.
Unless those to whom Paul is writing which includes us unless we take the time with the Spirit to fully
know what God has done for us in Christ to understand the significance of it, the ramifications of it it
will remain a string of words to us redemption; forgiveness; adoption; inheritance. Our lives will never
reflect the reality behind those words, because theyre just words to us.
Thats a superficial faith, at best; and it translates into an ineffective life; a life ineffective for our Lord.
Paul desired his readers to comprehend the deep things of God; to know the Father and His ways; and
particularly, to understand the end that the Father has purposed for men, as His glorified sons.
We live what we believe. As we learn of what the Father has purposed for us, and what Christ has
accomplished for us, as we believe it to be true, only then can we truly begin to live it. And living it was
always the point.
As we continue in chapter 2 of Pauls general letter, we will see Paul show that what the Father planned for
mankind in eternity past has now been realized in time. Paul now specifically considers those to whom he
is writing which includes us looking at our past condition, our present life, and our glorious future.

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Paul is making a strong contrast in this section of his letter between the seemingly hopeless situation of
unregenerate men, and the gracious and merciful God of all hope, who saves them.
Were going to read through verse 10, although we will only be considering the first seven verses today. I
am going to read a literal translation of the first verse, which eliminates the italicized portion. The
italicized parts of the text indicate words or clauses that the translators have added, for the sake of
clarifying the English meaning; but in this case, I think the help is a hindrance, as Pauls intention is to
paint a very dark picture of unregenerate men.
[Read Ephesians 2:1-10; verse one has been literally translated, And you, being dead in trespasses and
sins]
Lets return to the first verse.
v. 1 although this verse is a little awkward in the English, I believe it is meant without the italicized
portion, as Paul begins to paint the bleak picture of humanitys condition apart from God. But before we
get into that, I want to draw your attention to how Paul begins this verse: And you.
The and means that this thought continues what Paul had just been writing about in the preceding verses.
Remember, this is a letter; there really isnt any chapter break, or verses for that matter; thats just for
referencing purposes.
Paul had been writing about the exaltation of Christ to the highest heaven, where the Father gave Him to be
head over the church, which is His body. The whole passage we are looking at today deals specifically
with the church those who have responded to the call of the gospel, the good news that Jesus has saved
them. In fact, the whole letter, when speaking of believers collectively, is speaking of the Body of Christ
the true church.
But the you in verse one is even more specific than that. We had seen in the beginning of this letter that
Paul at one point spoke of Jewish and Gentile believers separately. Look back at chapter one, verses 12 and
13. We who first trusted, or hoped in Christ who is that? The Jewish believers. In Him you also
trusted who would that be? The Gentile believers.
In this section of Pauls letter that we are looking at today, Paul again begins speaking of Jews and Gentiles
separately, and he will do so later in his letter, as well. In each case, the we refers to Jewish believers,
because Paul was a Jew; and the you refers to the Gentile believers.
Now, in each case, you will see that Paul does this, not for the sake of differentiating the Jewish and Gentile
believers, but in fact to drive home their equality and unity in Christ. So the you here refers to the
Gentile believers.
The Gentile believers were dead in trespasses and sins. Does this mean the Jewish believers werent? No;
Paul will introduce them in a moment, to show that they were no different, which is his point. Everyone
was in the same situation: dead in trespasses and sins. To trespass means to step outside the bounds of
Gods will. To sin is to miss the mark. Paul uses the two terms together to emphasize that man is
exceedingly sinful.
What does Paul mean by dead in trespasses and sins? Is he referring to the fact that we are condemned
by a holy God to death because of our own trespasses and sins? No; what Paul means is borne out by the
next two verses.

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v. 2-3 What Paul has done here is to make a statement about the condition of mankind in verse 1, and then
show how that condition is manifested among the Gentiles and the Jews (you and we). The
manifestation proves that what Paul said about the condition of mankind is true, and he reiterates that
condition at the end of verse 3.
Basically, he is stating that condition in two different ways. In verse 1, we have dead in trespasses and
sins; at the end of verse 3, we have by nature children of wrath. Now, the word nature in the Greek
generally refers to what is innate in men; what is inherent. Your nature usually refers to what youre like,
based on your birth; your heredity; traits youve inherited from your parents.
Children of wrath is a Jewish idiom which means they will receive wrath, here meaning divine judgment.
By nature, because of their birth, all men will receive divine judgment. Why? Because of their heritage.
All men are born in Adam; in Adam, all men have sinned; in Adam, all men have died. So in Adam, all
men will be judged and condemned.
Is that fair? Actually, it is. Its perfectly fair and just. Adam was the representative head of the entire
creation of mankind that came from him. God only had to test that one man, to demonstrate that given the
freedom to choose, man would chose to disobey his Creator and sin.
Were going to look at this a little more closely. Turn to Romans chapter 5. Paul has been writing to the
Roman assembly about sinners being justified by faith in Christ. Then Paul presents Adam as the
progenitor and representative head of the entire creation of mankind, who brought all mankind into death
with him, through his sin. But God had that more than covered in Christ.
[Romans 5:12-19]
v. 12 We all know this verse very well, but lets consider it together. Paul says that through one man sin
entered the world who would that one man be? Adam. When Adam transgressed the command of God,
he introduced sin into the world.
The command that Adam transgressed carried the death penalty. In the day that Adam sinned, he died so
he also introduced death into the world; death, through his sin.
Paul says thus in this manner death spread to all men. I think the KJV is better, here. It says and so
death passed upon all men. The word passed means to come or go through. Death came through,
went through upon all men through natural birth.
All men are born in Adam. All are born sinners, because it is in them to sin; just as it was in their
progenitor to sin. The test of Adams obedience was the test of every man that would be born of him, that
he carried in his seed.
That test demonstrated that the creation in Adam were rebels; that, as created, they would step outside of
the bounds of Gods will, and miss the mark of Gods high calling for them, to be His sons.
Death came through upon all men, because all men have sinned in Adam. This is shown in the next two
verses.
v. 13-14 What Paul is saying is that before the Law was given to Moses, God did not charge men with sin;
the idea is that you cant be charged with a crime if there is no law against what you did.

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But Paul says in verse 14, nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses clearly so, since they all
died. But if there was no charge of sin against them, why did they die? Because they had all sinned in
Adam they were by nature sinners children of wrath.
All sinned in Adam, and therefore, in Adam, all die (1 Cor 15:22). In Scripture, death alludes to physical
death. The word for dead in the Greek comes from the word for corpse. It is a body that dies.
Were just going to look at some of Pauls language here concerning Adam and the creation that came from
Him.
v. 15 by the one mans offense [the] many died (definite article)
v. 16 the judgment from one offense resulted in condemnation
v. 17 by one mans offense death reigned
v. 18 through one mans offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation
v. 19 by one mans disobedience many were made sinners
v. 21 sin reigned in death over the entire human race.
[Return to Ephesians]
So men are born dead in trespasses and sins (v. 1), by virtue of being born in Adam; they are by nature
children of wrath (v. 3); theyre born into condemnation, born of corruptible seed. Sandwiched between
these two statements, Paul gives the proof that men are born sinners; they sin as a way of life. This
demonstrates the justice of God in condemning them; it is a righteous judgment for men to be condemned
as sinners, because they inevitably sin. It is fair.
Paul begins with the Gentile believers. Before they believed into Christ, they were dead in trespasses and
sins, as sons of Adam; but they also walked in trespasses and sins, according to the course of this world.
Thats where they had their manner of life, where they conducted themselves as part of this world, that
they were born into. We can see that they were born sinners, and so thats how they lived sinning.
This world speaks of the world order that Satan built up on the face of Gods earth through the
unregenerate sons of Adam. This system is anti-God and anti-Christ; life in it, for unregenerate men, is life
lived according to an authority which is contrary to God. Paul qualifies this world system in terms of its
ruler; his power, or domain in this world; and his influence upon men in this world.
The ruler of this world is described as the prince of the power or domain of the air, and he is further defined
as a spirit-being (v. 2). The air refers to the created, atmospheric heavens; a region that is below the
highest heaven, the home of God.
The air was designated by the Jews as the dwelling place of Satan and his demons; the realm of evil spirits.
Johns record of the revelation given to him by Jesus supports this. Turn to Revelation chapter 12. This is
an event which will take place at the mid-point of the Tribulation.
[Revelation 12:7-9] So Satan and his angels demons, evil spirits will not prevail against the angels of
God, and they will be cast out of heaven to the earth.

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[Return to Ephesians]
Clearly Paul is alluding to Satan as the prince of the power of the air. And he may have been thinking of
the power, or domain of the air as the realm of Satans angels those angels who have allied themselves
with Satan. Paul was certainly thinking about exactly that later in his letter (Eph 6:11-13).
But I think there is a further significance to Pauls words here, which may not have been apparent in his
day, but has become abundantly evident in our own day. Pauls words were inspired by the Holy Spirit,
who knew what was to come.
There is another power of the air, in our day; the power of telecommunications. We have the transmission
of words and images information, ideas in the form of electromagnetic signals unseen in the air, but
very real.
First we had the telegraph, then the telephone, the radio, the television now computers and the
transmissions of computers are essentially unregulated. All of these technologies enhance communication
worldwide, depersonalize men and allow the transmission of information across vast distances, to
innumerable recipients.
What is it that technology is accomplishing throughout the world, today? Unification it is creating a
global community, with one language, and one thinking but whose thinking is it? Not Gods thinking. It
is the thinking of the spirit of this world; the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience; that is,
those whose lives are characterized by disobedience.
The idea of Satan working in the sons of disobedience does not mean that he is indwelling them, nor that
they are demon-possessed; in this passage, it simply means that Satan has an influence over them. Consider
telecommunications as an example of one of his many, many influences in this world system. The airwaves
are certainly his domain.
According to the course of this world thats how the Gentile believers conducted themselves. But the
Jewish believers were no different, and in verse 3, Paul quickly sets them on the same plane. We we
Jewish believers we also conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh. And lest men be inclined to think
that Satan works inside them, compelling them to sin, Paul is quick to qualify our own responsibility for sin
sons of Adam conduct themselves according to their lusts their strong desires for self.
How does that work? James explained the whole process quite clearly in his epistle. Turn to James chapter
1. James was writing to Jewish believers about enduring temptation. He made it clear that God does not
tempt men; instead, men allow themselves to be tempted.
[James 1:13-16]
v. 13-14 A man is tempted when he is drawn away from obedience to the truth. The Greek word for
drawn away is used to describe wild game being lured into traps. The temptation is the bait; but the
drawing away comes from the mans strong desire for that bait, as he takes it in through the senses of his
body.
There are different baits that attract different men; there are desires of the flesh, and there are desires of the
mind. But all will result in being ensnared by sin. The Greek word for enticed is a fishing term that means
to catch with bait.

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v. 15-16 Here James personifies temptation and desire like a man and a woman engaged in fornication.
When desire takes in the temptation, she conceives and gives birth to sin the thought has been conceived
in the mind. Then, when sin is full-grown complete it brings forth death as the thought is carried out
through the body. The wages of sin is death (Rm 6:23). James doesnt want the brethren to be deceived;
they are responsible for their own sin.
But where do those temptations come from? From Satans world system; and when the sons of
disobedience taken his worldly temptations in, Satan is able to perpetuate his system through their
cooperation with it. They are in accord with it; they walk according to the course of this world. And as
long as Satan keeps men engaged in fulfilling the lusts of their flesh and of their mind, he keeps them in the
dark concerning God (2 Cor 4:3-4).
[Return to Ephesians]
So Paul includes both Jew and Gentile in his portrait of the sons of disobedience. Notice that he ends verse
3 with just as the others, meaning the Jews were just as the Gentiles. The others in the Greek is hoi
loipoi, the rest, which was what the Jews disparagingly called the Gentiles. Paul wanted to be sure that
both Jews and Gentiles knew they were on the same plane, concerning their former manner of life.
Essentially, Paul was saying something like this: You Gentiles were dead in sin, having sinned in Adam.
You conformed to Satans world system, taking in those temptations he puts out in the world, becoming
part of the system in so doing, in fact, perpetuating it. But we Jews were no different. We also spent our
time fulfilling our lusts, demonstrating that we were children of wrath, just like you. We had the same
inherent nature, because we come from the same stock Adam.
So this is the dark picture that Paul paints of unregenerate men. What a dismal picture! Man is born dead,
born under the condemnation of holy God, is a slave of his lusts and desires and is heading for destruction.
What a wretch! But now Paul paints in the one ray of hope, that pierces this dark scene with its brilliant
light.
v. 4-5 But God. I love But God. It shows that God intervened in our lives, taking us off the course that
was leading to destruction and put us on His course Life everlasting with Him. But God thats the
Divine initiative.
And why did He take that initiative? Because of His great love with which He loved us. Great love great
enough to include you and me to include the whole world. Great love that loves the loveless; the
absolutely loveless. Great love that would give His only begotten Son, to die in the stead of sinners. God
so loved the world (Jn 3:16a).
Why does God so love us? Is it because we are so lovely? Hardly. Is it because we deserve it? Not in the
least. Is it because He owes it to us? He owes us nothing. There is only one reason why God loves us so;
because God is love (1 Jn 4:8), and He simply chose to love us (similar to Israel; Deut 7:6-8). It is not
because of us; it is all because of Him.
God is rich in mercy. Mercy is compassion. In His love for us, God saw our plight, our helplessness to
save ourselves, and in His compassionate love, He came down to our rescue the only One who could
deliver us from death. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us (Rm 5:8). His mercy is rich abounding, overflowing, enough to save every sinner
from death if they will just receive His intervention.

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And how great a salvation! By faith, through our union with Christ in His death, we die out of that old
creation in Adam out of that condemnation that we were born under and we are made alive together
with Christ, a new creation in Him (2 Cor 5:17) were born again. We no longer have our being in
Adam, but in Christ. We have passed from death into Life (Jn 5:24) Life everlasting, in a body of glory.
We see that Paul inserts a parenthetical statement here, a preview of his later statement on salvation by the
grace of God. Grace is a favor done without expectation of return. It is the absolute free expression of the
loving kindness of God to men, finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver. It is
unearned and unmerited favor.
I think that Paul was just marveling over the realization of how God, in His great love, extended His
bountiful grace through His Son to sinful men, to give them Life everlasting with Him. And Paul was
suddenly moved to pay tribute to that grace, by which God has saved men.
Then Paul continued in his thought, of what God has done for us, in Christ.
v. 6 Gods love made us alive together with Christ; but Gods love brought us even higher. God, in His
great love with which He loved us, has raised us up together with Christ. Paul is saying that just as Jesus
was exalted from the earth, ascending back into heaven, we too have been raised to the heavenlies by
virtue of being in Christ.
And Gods love brought us higher still. We are actually seated together with Christ in the heavenlies God
made that our place to sit, in Christ Jesus the place of power and authority, at the Fathers right hand.
From the depths of despair, to the place of highest honor that is just one measure of the great love with
which God loved us.
Looking over the last two verses, we see the word together three times. In the Greek, connecting a
certain prepositional prefix to the verbs in these phrases adds the meaning together to them made alive
together, raised up together, made to sit together. Paul often used this prefix to express the union with
Christ (Rm 6:5, 8:17, Col 2:13); which we have, by faith.
Now, the tense that Paul chose for the verbs raised raised us up together and made made us alive
together, made us sit together is the perfect tense, which is used for completed action, continuous and
permanent in its results. It indicates that these actions are immediate and direct results of salvation.
Paul is saying that in saving us, God has already raised us from the dead in glorified bodies, exalted us to
our heavenly home, and seated us with Christ, where we share in His preeminent glory.
In Him, we are complete. We have already been translated into the kingdom of the Son of Gods love (Col
1:13). That is why we can genuinely say, with Paul, our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20). We are no
longer under the limits imposed by this world, and we no longer operate in conformity to its standards (Rm
12:2); we have been delivered from it.
In the revelation given to John, Jesus said, to him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My
throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne (Rev 3:21). By faith, we have
become those overcomers (1 Jn 5:4); by faith, we are already enthroned together with our Lord.
Having shown us our past, this is what Paul lays out as our present, which is made real to us through our
faith. This is where we are to set our minds, as we continue to live our lives on the earth. We are to be
heavenly minded, so that we can be of earthly use to our Lord, while we are here.

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In the last verse we will look at today, Paul reveals a future purpose of God for the true church.
v. 7 the ages to come refers to a time that follows the present age (which some call the church age). It
would include the 1000-year reign of Christ on the earth the kingdom age but it would stretch even
beyond that. What follows the kingdom age? Eternity.
In the ages to come, God has a further purpose for the church; not for the church per se, but for Himself. It
is to show, or display, the surpassing greatness of Gods undeserved favor in His goodness toward us. The
true church, the Body of Christ, is to be a monument to the grace of God in Christ, a testimony to His mercy
and His love. The church is to be to the praise of His glory (Eph 1:6, 12, 14) forever and ever.
Turn to Revelation chapter 3. In the revelation that Jesus gave to John, he was to write concerning the
condition of seven assemblies in Asia Minor. Each of these assemblies represent a particular church age in
history.
The church in Philadelphia represents the Body of Christ during the missionary age, as they pursued the
Lords ministry of reconciliation; there is no reproof directed by Jesus against this assembly. The church in
Philadelphia represents the true church in our age.
Jesus promises to preserve this church out of the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world (Rev
3:10) showing that the true church will be gathered up to be with the Lord before the Tribulation begins.
Jesus lastly had a message for the overcomers of this assembly those who had truly believed into Him.
v. 12 A pillar in the temple of My God. In Solomons temple, there were two such pillars. They did not
support any structure in the temple, but through the names which were given to them by Solomon, they
served as a witness to the LORD God.
One pillar was named Jachin, which means, He will establish. The other was named Boaz, meaning In
Him is strength (1 Ki 7:15-22). Everyone who saw the pillars could read the testimony to the LORD God
upon them. These were pillars of witness, which declared that the LORD would establish His nation Israel,
who would find their strength in Him.
In the New Jerusalem, the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb will be its temple (Rev 21:22). Believers are
living stones (1 Pet 2:5) that together will form a pillar of witness in that temple, a monument to the
exceeding riches of Gods grace in His kindness toward us, in Christ Jesus.
We shall bear the name of Christ, much as a bride takes the name of her husband; this is the wife of the
Lamb (Rev 19:7). Our glorification will be a reflection of His great love for us, which God will display as
a witness to Himself throughout the ages to come.
We also find a hint of this in Pauls second letter to the Thessalonians. Turn to Second Thessalonians
chapter 1.
The assembly in Thessalonica was in the midst of a fiery trial, being persecuted for their faith in Jesus.
Their afflictions were so severe that they had actually begun to think that the Day of the Lord had come, the
Tribulation; and that Jesus must be coming back for them afterwards.

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The first letter Paul sent to them shows that they had some confusion on these two very different days
before; the Day of Christ, when Jesus returns to catch up His bride, the true church, and take her to her
heavenly home; and the Day of the Lord, the seven year period of judgment, culminating in Christs Second
Coming to the earth as the Judge.
Paul goes through great pains in his second letter to dispel their confusion, making it abundantly clear that
the true church will be removed from the earth before that fiery judgment comes.
The first reference to this is in verses 6-10 of chapter 1. Paul indicates in verse 7 that God will give the
afflicted believers in Thessalonica rest with us with Paul and those believers who were with him. They
will be given rest, while the Tribulation comes upon the earth Gods retributive justice (v. 6).
In fact, they will be resting in heaven during that whole period of trial, having been brought there by the
Lord before it ever began. Paul then goes on to describe the Second Coming of Christ to the earth, at the
end of the Tribulation.
[Second Thessalonians 1:6-10]
v. 6-9 So the Judge of all the earth has come, and He executes His judgment on the nations. His angels
remove the remaining rebels, while Jesus invites those who remain to enter into His Kingdom on earth; a
kingdom of righteousness and peace (Mt 25:31-46).
Paul then continues with what will occur at the end of that Day when the judgment is complete. The
Lord will be seen in a further manifestation of His glory, as the reign of the King of kings begins (Rev
19:6).
v. 10 I dont want to go into this in too much detail here, as we will be looking more closely at this when
we come to chapter 5; but if you would like more on it, you can find it in our study of Second
Thessalonians, CD # 2.
The saints here, in whom Jesus is glorified before other admiring believers, refers to the true church the
Body of Christ who by now have become the wife of the Lamb (Rev 19:7-9). The New Jerusalem has
descended from heaven, and the wife of the Lamb is in her heavenly home 1000 miles above the earth
but visible to those below (Rev 21:2, 9-27).
Remaining on the earth to enter the Kingdom of Christ are the resurrected OT saints; the regenerate nation
of Israel; the Tribulation saints; and the Gentile nations that have been invited into the Kingdom.
Think of their admiration and awe as they gaze up into the heavens at the New Jerusalem, who is shining
forth with the radiant glory of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Truly the church will then be to the praise
of His glory; and it will be forever and ever.