Ephesians 2.1-10-Summary of the Contents of Ephesians 2.1-10
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Saturday November 4, 2023
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 2:1-10-Summary of the Contents of Ephesians 2:1-10
Lesson # 99
Ephesians 2:1 Now, correspondingly, even though, each and every one of you as a corporate unit were spiritually dead ones because of your transgressions, in other words, because of your sins. 2 Each and every one of you formerly lived by means of these in agreement with the standard of the unregenerate people of this age, which is the production of the cosmic world system, in agreement with the standard of the sovereign ruler, namely the sovereign governmental authority ruling over the evil spirits residing in the earth’s atmosphere. Specifically the spirit who is presently working in the lives of those members of the human race who are characterized by disobedience. 3 Among whom, each and every one of us also formerly for our own selfish benefit conducted our lives by means of those lusts, which are produced by our flesh. Specifically, by indulging those inclinations which are produced by our flesh, in other words, those impulses, which are the product of our flesh. Consequently, each and every one of us caused ourselves to be children who are objects of wrath because of our natural condition from physical birth. Just as the rest correspondingly caused themselves to be children who are objects of wrath because of their natural condition from physical birth. 4 But because God is rich with regards to mercy, because of the exercise of His great love with which He loved each and every one of us, 5 even though each and every one of us as a corporate unit were spiritually dead ones because of our transgressions, He caused each and every one of us to be made alive together with the one and only Christ. Each and every one of you as a corporate unit are saved because of grace! 6 Specifically, He caused each and every one of us as a corporate unit to be raised with Him. Correspondingly, He caused each and every one of us as a corporate unit to be seated in the heavenlies because of our faith in and union and identification with Christ Jesus. 7 He did this so that He could display for His own glory during the ages, which are certain to come, the incomparable wealth, which is the product of His grace because of kindness for the benefit of each and every one of us because of our faith in and union and identification with Christ Jesus. 8 Each and every one of you as a corporate unit are saved because of grace by means of faith! In other words, this never originated from any one of you as a source. It originated as the gift from God. 9 It does not originate from meritorious actions as a source so that a person cannot for their own benefit enter into the state of boasting. 10 For each and every one of us are His creative workmanship. For each and every one of us has been created by means of our faith in and union and identification with Christ Jesus in order to produce actions, which are divine good. These God prepared in advance so that each of us would conduct our lives by means of them. (Lecturer’s translation)
The contents of Ephesians 2:1-10 emphatically teach that the church age believer was never saved based upon performing good works but rather they were saved for the purpose of performing good works.
The Father could not accept any good works from them prior to their justification because they had absolutely no merit with Him whatsoever since He is holy, pure and sinless whereas they were sinners by nature and practice.
Thus, they were spiritually dead.
However, after their justification, they now had the capacity to perform good works, which please the Father.
Specifically, they can now perform actions, which please the Father because they are permanently indwelt by the Trinity, they are regenerated and are now spiritually alive possessing an eternal relationship and fellowship with the Trinity as a result of the Father declaring them justified through faith in His Son.
Therefore, the church age believer was saved because of the Father’s grace policy, which provided this divine righteousness.
They were also saved by means of faith in the Father’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
Thus, their salvation is a gift from God.
The moment the church age believer trusted in His Son, the Father imputed His righteousness, which resulted in the Father acknowledging His righteousness in the believer and then declared them justified.
Thus, the church age believer possesses the Father’s righteousness, which will always please.
Consequently, the believer can live in this divine righteousness by loving the Father with their entire being and their neighbor as themselves.
They can also live in this righteousness by practicing the command in John 13:34 and 15:12 to love their fellow believer as Christ loved, them and loves them and will love them in the future.
They experience this divine righteousness in a perfective sense at the rapture of the church when they receive their resurrection body.
Furthermore, at the moment of their justification, the Father identified the church age believer with His Son in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at His right hand through the baptism of the Spirit.
Consequently, the church age believer is saved, sanctified, and made righteous as God in a positional sense.
With regards to salvation, the church age believer is delivered in a positional sense from the Father’s wrath, enslavement to the sin nature, and Satan and his cosmic system, personal sins, condemnation from the Law, as well as spiritual and physical death because of their union and identification with His Son.
Specifically, the Father now views them in a positional sense as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with His Son at His right hand.
He also now views them in a perfective sense as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with His Son at His right hand.
This means that He views them now as already perfected in a resurrection at the rapture of the church.
Experientially, they can experience this deliverance by appropriating by faith their union and identification with His Son by considering themselves as dead to the sin nature and the cosmic system of Satan and alive to God because they have died with Christ and have been raised and seated with Him.
With regards to sanctification, the church age believer has been set apart to serve God the Father exclusively in a positional sense because of their union and identification with His Son.
Specifically, the Father now views them in a positional sense as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with His Son at His right hand.
He also now views them in a perfective sense as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with His Son at His right hand.
This means that He views them now as already perfected in a resurrection at the rapture of the church.
Experientially, they can experience being set apart to serve the Father exclusively by appropriating by faith their union and identification with His Son by considering themselves as dead to the sin nature and the cosmic system of Satan and alive to God because they have died with Christ and have been raised and seated with Him.
The church age believer can now produce actions or works, which are divine good in quality and character and please the Father and will be rewarded by His Son at the Bema Seat, which takes place immediately after the rapture, because the Spirit is producing these actions in the believer.
The Spirit produces these actions which are divine good in quality and character when the believer exercises faith in the Spirit inspired teaching contained in the Word of God.
This faith produces obedience to the various Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions in the Spirit inspired Scriptures.
In other words, the church age believer can now produce actions, which are divine good in quality and character because they are the product of the Spirit’s teaching in Scripture.
Specifically, they are the product of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit works through the church age believer to perform these actions when they exercise faith in what the Spirit is teaching them in Scripture.
This post-justification faith produces obedience to the various Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions found in the Word of God.
Therefore, the church age believer can now produce actions, which are divine in quality and character and which please the Father and will be rewarded by His Son at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church because they now possess divine righteousness and because of their union and identification with His Son.
Lastly, they can now produce actions, which are divine good in quality and character, because the Spirit can now work through them to produce these actions when they exercise faith in the Spirit teaching of the Word of God.
This faith again produces obedience to the various Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions of Scripture.
This faith and obedience enables the Spirit to perform these actions, which are divine good in quality and character and which please the Father.
Eventually, the Lord Jesus Christ will reward the church age believer at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.
We conclude our study of Ephesians 2:10 by addressing the reason why Paul employs the second person plural in Ephesians 2:8-9 but then switches to the first person plural in Ephesians 2:10.
In fact, I have addressed this switch in our study of Ephesians 1:1-2:5.
Paul again switches from the second personal plural in Ephesians 2:5b to the first person plural in Ephesians 2:6-7.
Lastly, he does this again by employing the second person plural in Ephesians 2:8 and then switching to the first person plural in Ephesians 2:10.
He does this again because he as a Jewish Christian is identifying with the recipients of this letter who were Gentile Christians according to Ephesians 2:11.
This switch is an attempt to express his solidarity with them.