Ephesians 2:1–2:3

Ephesians 2:1-3 1. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 1. Et vos, quum essetis mortui delictis et peccatis vestris; 2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 2. In quibus aliquando ambulastis secundum saeculum mundi hujus, secundum principem potestatis aeris, spiritus scilicet, qui nunc operatur in filiis inobedientiae; 3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 3. Inter quos nos quoque omnes aliquando conversati sumus in concupiscentiis carnis nostrae, facientes quae carni libebant, et menti; et eramus natura filii irae, sicut et caeteri. 1. And you who were dead. This is an epexergasia of the former statements, that is, an exposition accompanied by an illustration. [118] To bring home more effectually to the Ephesians the general doctrine of Divine grace, he reminds them of their former condition. This application consists of two parts. "Ye were formerly lost; but now God, by his grace, has rescued you from destruction." And here we must observe, that, in laboring to give an impressive view of both of these parts, the apostle makes a break in the style by (huperbaton) a transposition. There is some perplexity in the language; but, if we attend carefully to what the apostle says about those two parts, the meaning is clear. As to the first, he says that they were dead; and states, at the same time, the cause of the death -- trespasses and sins. [119] He does not mean simply that they were in danger of death; but he declares that it was a real and present death under which they labored. As spiritual death is nothing else than the alienation of the soul from God, we are all born as dead men, and we live as dead men, until we are made partakers of the life of Christ, -- agreeably to the words of our Lord, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." ( John 5:25 ) The Papists, who are eager to seize every opportunity of undervaluing the grace of God, say, that while we are out of Christ, we are half dead. But we are not at liberty to set aside the declarations of our Lord and of the Apostle Paul, that, while we remain in Adam, we are entirely devoid of life; and that regeneration is a new life of the soul, by which it rises from the dead. Some kind of life, I acknowledge, does remain in us, while we are still at a distance from Christ; for unbelief does not altogether destroy the outward senses, or the will, or the other faculties of the soul. But what has this to do with the kingdom of God? What has it to do with a happy life, so long as every sentiment of the mind, and every act of the will, is death? Let this, then, be held as a fixed principle, that the union of our soul with God is the true and only life; and that out of Christ we are altogether dead, because sin, the cause of death, reigns in us. 2. In which for some time ye walked. From the effects or fruits, he draws a proof that sin formerly reigned in them; for, until sin displays itself in outward acts, men are not sufficiently aware of its power. When he adds, according to the course of this world, [120] he intimates that the death which he had mentioned rages in the nature of man, and is a universal disease. He does not mean that course of the world which God has ordained, nor the elements, such as the heaven, and earth, and air, -- but the depravity with which we are all infected; so that sin is not peculiar to a few, but pervades the whole world. According to the prince of the power of the air. He now proceeds farther, and explains the cause of our corruption to be the dominion which the devil exercises over us. A more severe condemnation of mankind could not have been pronounced. What does he leave to us, when he declares us to be the slaves of Satan, and subject to his will, so long as we live out of the kingdom of Christ? Our condition, therefore, though many treat it with ridicule, or, at least, with little disapprobation, may well excite our horror. Where is now the free-will, the guidance of reason, the moral virtue, about which Papists babble to much? What will they find that is pure or holy under the tyranny of the devil? On this subject, indeed, they are extremely cautious, and denounce this doctrine of Paul as a grievous heresy. I maintain, on the contrary, that there is no obscurity in the apostle's language; and that all men who live according to the world, that is, according to the inclinations of their flesh, are here declared to fight under the reign of Satan. In accordance with the practice of the inspired writers, the Devil is mentioned in the singular number. As the children of God have one head, so have the wicked; for each of the classes forms a distinct body. By assigning to him the dominion over all wicked beings, ungodliness is represented as an unbroken mass. As to his attributing to the devil power over the air, that will be considered when we come to the sixth chapter. At present, we shall merely advert to the strange absurdity of the Manicheans, in endeavoring to prove from this passage the existence of two principles, as if Satan could do anything without the Divine permission. Paul does not allow him the highest authority, which belongs to the will of God alone, but merely a tyranny which God permits him to exercise. What is Satan but God's executioner to punish man's ingratitude? This is implied in Paul's language, when he represents the success of Satan as confined to unbelievers; for the children of God are thus exempted from his power. If this be true, it follows that Satan does nothing but under the control of a superior: and that he is not (autokrator) an unlimited monarch. We may now draw from it also this inference, that ungodly men have no excuse in being driven by Satan to commit all sorts of crimes. Whence comes it that they are subject to his tyranny, but because they are rebels against God? If none are the slaves of Satan, but those who have renounced the service, and refuse to yield to the authority, of God, let them blame themselves, for having so cruel a master. By the children of disobedience, according to a Hebrew idiom, are meant obstinate persons. Unbelief is always accompanied by disobedience; so that it is the source -- the mother of all stubbornness. 3. Among whom also we all had our conversation. Lest it should be supposed that what he had now said was a slanderous reproach against the former character of the Ephesians, or that Jewish pride had led him to treat the Gentiles as an inferior race, he associates himself and his countrymen along with them in the general accusation. This is not done in hypocrisy, but in a sincere ascription of glory to God. It may excite wonder, indeed, that he should speak of himself as having walked "in the lusts of the flesh," while, on other occasions, he boasts that his life had been throughout irreproachable. "Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." ( Philippians 3:6 .) And again, "Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and unblamably, we behaved ourselves among you that believe." ( 1 Thessalonians 2:10 ) I reply, the statement applies to all who have not been regenerated by the Spirit of Christ. However praiseworthy, in appearance, the life of some may be, because their lusts do not break out in the sight of men, there is nothing pure or holy which does not proceed from the fountain of all purity. Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. To fulfill these desires, is to live according to the guidance of our natural disposition and of our mind. The flesh means here the disposition, or, what is called, the inclination of the nature; and the next expression (ton dianoion) means what proceeds from the mind. Now, the mind includes reason, such as it exists in men by nature; so that lusts do not refer exclusively to the lower appetites, or what is called the sensual part of man, but extend to the whole. And were by nature [121] children of wrath. All men without exception, whether Jews or Gentiles, ( Galatians 2:15 ,16,) are here pronounced to be guilty, until they are redeemed by Christ; so that out of Christ there is no righteousness, no salvation, and, in short, no excellence. Children of wrath are those who are lost, and who deserve eternal death. Wrath means the judgment of God; so that the children of wrath are those who are condemned before God. Such, the apostle tells us, had been the Jews, -- such had been all the excellent men that were now in the Church; and they were so by nature, that is, from their very commencement, and from their mother's womb. This is a remarkable passage, in opposition to the views of the Pelagians, and of all who deny original sin. What dwells naturally in all is certainly original; but Paul declares that we are all naturally liable to condemnation; therefore sin dwells naturally in us, for God does not condemn the innocent. Pelagians were wont to object, that sin spread from Adam to the whole human race, not by descent, but by imitation. But Paul affirms that we are born with sin, as serpents bring their venom from the womb. Others who think that it is not in reality sin, are not less at variance with Paul's language; for where condemnation is, there must unquestionably be sin. It is not with blameless men, but with sin, that God is offended. Nor is it wonderful that the depravity which we inherit from our parents is reckoned as sin before God; for the seeds of sin, before they have been openly displayed, are perceived and condemned. But one question here arises. Why does Paul represent the Jews, equally with others, as subject to wrath and curse, while they were the blessed seed? I answer, they have a common nature. Jews differ from Gentiles in nothing but this, that, through the grace of the promise, God delivers them from destruction; but that is a remedy which came after the disease. Another question is, since God is the Author of nature, how comes it that no blame attaches to God, if we are lost by nature? I answer, there is a twofold nature: the one was produced by God, and the other is the corruption of it. This condemnation therefore which Paul mentions does not proceed from God, but from a depraved nature: for we are not born such as Adam was at first created, we are not "wholly a right seed, but are turned into the degenerate" ( Jeremiah 2:21 ) offspring of a degenerate and sinful man. Footnotes: [118] "Il expose et esclarcit ce qu'il avoit dit ci-dessus." "He explains and illustrates what he had formerly said." [119] Classical writers employ the same metaphor, to denote not spiritual death, with which they were unacquainted, but the absence of moral principle, or utter ignorance of right and wrong. Thus Epictetus says, nekros men ho paideutes nekroi d ' humeis hote chortasthote semeron, kathosthe klaiontes peri tos aurion pothen phagete. "The instructor is dead, and you are dead. When you are satiated to-day, you sit down and weep about to-morrow, what you shall have to eat." -- Ed. [120] "The Greek word aio'n, and likewise the Latin word AEvum, both signify the lip of man' and from thence, by an easy figure, the manner and custom' of a person's living; and therefore it denotes here the corrupt principles and morals, and particularly the idolatrous practices of the Heathen world, with which the Ephesians were as truly chargeable as the rest of mankind, before their conversion to the faith of Christ." -- Chandler. [121] "Phusis, nature,' in such an idiom, signifies what is essential as opposed to what is accidental, what is innate in contrast with what is acquired. This is its general sense, whatever its specific application. Thus, Pharmakou phusis is the nature of a drug, its color, growth, and potency. Phusis tou Aiguptou is the nature of the land of Egypt -- a phrase referring to no artificial peculiarity, but to results which follow from its physical conformation." -- Eadie.

And {1} you hath he quickened , who were {a} dead in {2} trespasses and sins; (1) He declares again the greatness of God's good will by comparing that miserable state in which we are born, with that dignity unto which we are advanced by God the Father in Christ. So he describes that condition in such a way that he says, that with regard to spiritual motions we are not only born half dead, but wholly and altogether dead. (a) See Ro 6:2. So then he calls those dead who are not regenerated: for as the immortality of those who are damned is not life, so this knitting together of body and soul is properly not life, but death in those who are not ruled by the Spirit of God. (2) He shows the cause of death, that is, sins.

And you hath he quickened , who were dead in trespasses and sins; Who were dead — Natural men are living carcases, walking sepulchres of themselves. In most families it is, as once it was in Egypt, Exodus 12:30 , no house wherein there is not one, nay, many dead corpses. Howbeit, the natural man, though he be theologically dead, yet is ethically alive, being to be wrought upon by arguments; hence, Hosea 11:4 ; "I drew them by the cords of a man," that is, by reason and motives of love, befitting the nature of a man. So the Spirit and Word work upon us still as men by rational motives, setting before us life and good, death and evil.

And you hath he quickened,.... The design of the apostle in this and some following verses, is to show the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and to set forth the sad estate and condition of man by nature, and to magnify the riches of the grace of God, and represent the exceeding greatness of his power in conversion: the phrase hath he quickened, is not in the original text, but is supplied from Ephesians 2:5 , where it will be met with and explained: here those who are quickened with Christ, and by the power and grace of God, are described in their natural and unregenerate estate, who were dead in trespasses and sins; not only dead in Adam, in whom they sinned, being their federal head and representative; and in a legal sense, the sentence of condemnation and death having passed upon them; but in a moral sense, through original sin, and their own actual transgressions: which death lies in a separation from God, Father, Son, and Spirit, such are without God, and are alienated from the life of God, and they are without Christ, who is the author and giver of life, and they are sensual, not having the Spirit, who is the spirit of life; and in a deformation of the image of God, such are dead as to their understandings, wills, and affections, with respect to spiritual things, and as to their capacity to do any thing that is spiritually good; and in a loss of original righteousness; and in a privation of the sense of sin and misery; and in a servitude to sin, Satan, and the world: hence it appears, that man must be in himself unacceptable to God, infectious and hurtful to his fellow creatures, and incapable of helping himself: so it was usual with the Jews to call a wicked and ignorant man, a dead man; they say (i), "there is no death like that of those that transgress the words of the law, who are called, "dead men", and therefore the Scripture says, "turn and live".'' And again (k), "no man is called a living man, but he who is in the way of truth in this world.----And a wicked man who does not go in the way of truth, is called, "a dead man".'' And once more (l). "whoever is without wisdom, lo, he is "as a dead man";'' See Gill on 1 Timothy 5:6 . The Alexandrian and Claromontane copies, and one of Stephens's, and the Vulgate Latin version, read, "dead in your trespasses and sins"; and the Syriac version, "dead in your sins and in your trespasses"; and the Ethiopic version only, "dead in your sins". (i) Zohar in Gen, fol. 41. 3.((k) Ib. in Num. fol. 76. 1. Vid. ib;. in Exod. fol. 44. 2.((l) Caphtor, fol. 30. 2.

Sin is the death of the soul. A man dead in trespasses and sins has no desire for spiritual pleasures. When we look upon a corpse, it gives an awful feeling. A never-dying spirit is now fled, and has left nothing but the ruins of a man. But if we viewed things aright, we should be far more affected by the thought of a dead soul, a lost, fallen spirit. A state of sin is a state of conformity to this world. Wicked men are slaves to Satan. Satan is the author of that proud, carnal disposition which there is in ungodly men; he rules in the hearts of men. From Scripture it is clear, that whether men have been most prone to sensual or to spiritual wickedness, all men, being naturally children of disobedience, are also by nature children of wrath. What reason have sinners, then, to seek earnestly for that grace which will make them, of children of wrath, children of God and heirs of glory! God's eternal love or good-will toward his creatures, is the fountain whence all his mercies flow to us; and that love of God is great love, and that mercy is rich mercy. And every converted sinner is a saved sinner; delivered from sin and wrath. The grace that saves is the free, undeserved goodness and favour of God; and he saves, not by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. Grace in the soul is a new life in the soul. A regenerated sinner becomes a living soul; he lives a life of holiness, being born of God: he lives, being delivered from the guilt of sin, by pardoning and justifying grace. Sinners roll themselves in the dust; sanctified souls sit in heavenly places, are raised above this world, by Christ's grace. The goodness of God in converting and saving sinners heretofore, encourages others in after-time, to hope in his grace and mercy. Our faith, our conversion, and our eternal salvation, are not of works, lest any man should boast. These things are not brought to pass by any thing done by us, therefore all boasting is shut out. All is the free gift of God, and the effect of being quickened by his power. It was his purpose, to which he prepared us, by blessing us with the knowledge of his will, and his Holy Spirit producing such a change in us, that we should glorify God by our good conversation, and perseverance in holiness. None can from Scripture abuse this doctrine, or accuse it of any tendency to evil. All who do so, are without excuse.

CHAPTER 2 Eph 2:1-22. God's Love and Grace in Quickening Us, Once Dead, through Christ. His Purpose in Doing So: Exhortation Based on Our Privileges as Built Together, an Holy Temple, in Christ, through the Spirit. 1. And you—"You also," among those who have experienced His mighty power in enabling them to believe (Eph 1:19-23). hath he quickened—supplied from the Greek (Eph 2:5). dead—spiritually. (Col 2:13). A living corpse: without the gracious presence of God's Spirit in the soul, and so unable to think, will, or do aught that is holy. in trespasses … sins—in them, as the element in which the unbeliever is, and through which he is dead to the true life. Sin is the death of the soul. Isa 9:2; Joh 5:25, "dead" (spiritually), 1Ti 5:6. "Alienated from the life of God" (Eph 4:18). Translate, as Greek, "in your trespasses," &c. "Trespass" in Greek, expresses a FALL or LAPSE, such as the transgression of Adam whereby he fell. "Sin." (Greek, "hamartia") implies innate corruption and ALIENATION from God (literally, erring of the mind from the rule of truth), exhibited in acts of sin (Greek, "hamartemata"). Bengel, refers "trespasses" to the Jews who had the law, and yet revolted from it; "sins," to the Gentiles who know not God. Ephesians 2:1-3 Paul setteth before the Ephesians their former corrupt heathen state, Ephesians 2:4-7 and God’s rich mercy in their deliverance. Ephesians 2:8-10 We are saved by grace, not of works, yet so as to be created in Christ unto good works. Ephesians 2:11-18 They who were once strangers, and far from God, are now brought near by Christ’s blood; who having abolished the ritual law, the ground of distinction between Jew and Gentile, hath united both in one body, and gained them equal access to the Father. Ephesians 2:19-22 So that the Gentiles are henceforth equally privileged with the Jews, and together with them constitute a holy temple for the habitation of God’s Spirit. And you hath he quickened; his verb quickened is not in the Greek, but the defect of it may be supplied from Ephesians 1:19 , thus: The greatness of his power to us-ward, and to you that were dead in trespasses and sins; the remaining part of that chapter being included in a parenthesis, which, though long, yet is not unusual. Or rather, as our translators and others do, from Ephesians 2:5 of this chapter, where we have the word quickened. It imports a restoring of spiritual life by the infusion of a vital principle, (in the work of regeneration), whereby men are enabled to walk with God in newness of life. Who were dead; piritually, not naturally; i.e. destitute of a principle of spiritual life, and so of any ability for, or disposedness to, the operations and motions of such a life. In trespasses and sins: he preposition in is wanting in the Greek by an ellipsis, but the expression is full, Colossians 2:13 ; this dative case therefore is to be taken in the sense of the ablative. By these words he means either all sorts of sins, habitual and actual, less or greater; or rather, promiscuously and indifferently, the same thing several ways. expressed. Sin is the cause of spiritual death; where sin reigns, there is a privation of spiritual life.

And you hath he quickened - The words "hath he quickened," or "made to live," are supplied, but not improperly, by our translators. The object of the apostle is to show the great power which God had evinced toward the people Ephesians 1:19 ; and to show that this was put forth in connection with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and his exaltation to the right hand of God in heaven; see the notes at Romans 6:4-11 ; compare Colossians 2:12-13 ; Colossians 3:1 . The words "hath he quickened" mean, hath he made alive, or made to live; John 5:21 ; Romans 4:17 ; 1 Corinthians 15:36 . Who were dead in trespasses and sins - On the meaning of the word "dead," see the notes at Romans 5:12 ; Romans 6:2 , note. It is affirmed here of those to whom Paul wrote at Ephesus, that before they were converted, they were "dead in sins." There is not anywhere a more explicit proof of depravity than this, and no stronger language can be used. They were "dead" in relation to that to which they afterward became alive - i. e., to holiness. Of course, this does not mean that they were in all respects dead. It does not mean that they had no animal life, or that they did not breathe, and walk, and act. Nor can it mean that they had no living intellect or mental powers, which would not have been true. Nor does it settle any question as to their ability or power while in that state. It simply affirms a fact - that in relation to real spiritual life they were, in consequence of sin, like a dead man in regard to the objects which are around him. A corpse is insensible. It sees not, and hears not, and feels not. The sound of music, and the voice of friendship and of alarm, do not arouse it. The rose and the lily breathe forth their fragrance around it, but the corpse perceives it not. The world is busy and active around it, but it is unconscious of it all. It sees no beauty in the landscape; hears not the voice of a friend; looks not upon the glorious sun and stars; and is unaffected by the running stream and the rolling ocean. So with the sinner in regard to the spiritual and eternal world. He sees no beauty in religion; he hears not the call of God; he is unaffected by the dying love of the Saviour; and he has no interest in eternal realities. In all these he feels no more concern, and sees no more beauty, than a dead man does in the world around him. Such is, in "fact," the condition of a sinful world. There is, indeed, life, and energy, and motion. There are vast plans and projects, and the world is intensely active. But in regard to religion, all is dead. The sinner sees no beauty there; and no human power can arouse him to act for God, anymore than human power can rouse the sleeping dead, or open the sightless eyeballs on the light of day. The same power is needed in the conversion of a sinner which is needed in raising the dead; and one and the other alike demonstrate the omnipotence of him who can do it.

The apostle contrasts the spiritual state of the Ephesians before their conversion, with that into which they had been introduced by the grace of god, Ephesians 2:1-10 . — he contrast their previous condition as aliens, with that of fellow citizens of the saints and members of the family of God, Ephesians 2:11-22 . Ephesians 2:1-10 There are three principal topics treated of in this Section. First, the spiritual state of the Ephesians before their conversion. Second, the change which God had wrought in them. Third, the design for which that change had been effected. I. The state of the Ephesians before their conversion, and the natural state of men universally, is one of spiritual death, which includes — 1. A state of sin. 2. A state of subjection to Satan and to our own corrupt affections. 3. A state of condemnation, Ephesians 2:1-3 . II. The change which they had experienced was a spiritual resurrection; concerning which the apostle teaches — 1. That God is its author. 2. That it is a work of love and grace. 3. That it was through Christ, or in virtue of union with him. 4. That it involves great exaltation, even an association with Christ in his glory, Ephesians 2:4-6 . III. The design of this dispensation is the manifestation through all coming ages of the grace of God. It is a manifestation of grace — l. Because salvation in general is of grace. 2. Because the fact that the Ephesian Christians believed or accepted of this salvation was due not to themselves but to God. Faith is his gift. 3. Because good works are the fruits not of nature, but of grace. We are created unto good works. Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened , who were dead in trespasses and sins . There is an intimate connection between this clause and the preceding paragraph. In Ephesians 2:19 of the first chapter the apostle prays that the Ephesians might duly appreciate the greatness of that power which had been exercised in their conversion. It was to be known from its effects. It was that power which was exercised in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ, and which had wrought an analogous change in them. The same power which quickened Christ has quickened you. The conjunction καί therefore is not to be rendered also , “you also,” you as well as others. It serves to connect this clause with what precedes. ‘God raised Christ from the dead, and he has given life to you dead in trespasses and sins.’ The grammatical construction of these words is doubtful. Some connect them immediately with the last clause of the first chapter. — ‘Who fills all in all and you also,’ i.e. ὑμᾶς is made to depend on πληρουμένου . This, however, to make any tolerable sense, supposes the preceding clause to have a meaning which the words will not bear. Others refer the beginning of this verse to the 20th verse of the preceding chapter — or at least borrow from that verse the verb required to complete the sense in this. ‘God raised Christ, and he has raised you ,’ ἐγείρας τὸν Χριστὸν, καὶ ὑμᾶς ἤγειρε . There is indeed this association of ideas, but the two passages are not grammatically thus related. The first seven verses of this chapter form one sentence, which is so long and complicated that the apostle is forced, before getting to the end of it, slightly to vary the construction; a thing of very frequent occurrence in his writings. He dwells so long in Ephesians 2:2 , Ephesians 2:3 , Ephesians 2:4 , on the natural state of the Ephesians, that he is obliged in verse 5, to repeat substantially the beginning of verse l, in order to complete the sentence there commenced. ‘You dead on account of sin, — wherein ye walked according to the course of the world, subject to Satan, associated with the children of disobedience, among whom we also had our conversation, and were the children of wrath even as others — us, dead on account of trespasses hath God quickened.’ This is the way the passage stands. It is plain, therefore, that the sentence begun in the first verse, is resumed with slight variation in the fifth. This is the view taken by our translators, who borrow from the fifth verse the verb ἐζωοποίησε necessary to complete the sense of the first. Paul describes his readers before their conversion as dead. In Scripture the word life is the term commonly used to express a state of union with God, and death a state of alienation from him. Life, therefore, includes holiness, happiness and activity; and death, corruption, misery and helplessness. All the higher forms of life are wanting in those spiritually dead; they are secluded from all the sources of true blessedness, and they are beyond the reach of any help from creatures. They are dead. The English version renders the clause, τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις , ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ But there is no preposition in the original text, and therefore, the great majority of commentators consider the apostle as assigning the cause, and not describing the nature of this death, ‘Dead on account of trespasses and sins.’ ‹4› The former of these words is generally considered as referring to outward transgressions, the latter is more indefinite, and includes all sinful manifestations of ἁμαρτία , i.e. of sin considered as an inherent principle. ‹5›