Ephesians 4.18b-Unregenerate Gentiles are Alienated from the Life of God
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday June 10, 2025
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:18b-Unregenerate Gentiles are Alienated from the Life of God
Lesson # 257
Ephesians 4:17 Therefore, at this particular time I am communicating, specifically, at this particular time I am solemnly and earnestly making a request on the basis of the Lord’s sovereign authority. Namely, that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to no longer make it your habit of conducting your lives as in fact the Gentiles are conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by their thinking. 18 Specifically, because they are darkened with respect to their understanding (of the three-fold revelation of the triune God). Consequently, they are alienated from the life, which originates uniquely in the character and nature of the one and only God because of the ignorance, which is a characteristic within them because of the hardness, which is produced by the function unique to their hearts. (Lecturer’s translation)
As we noted, the second participial clause in Ephesians 4:18, namely ontes apēllotriōmenoi tēs zōēs tou theou (ὄντες ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ θεοῦ), “Consequently, they are alienated from the life, which originates uniquely in the character and nature of the one and only God.” (Lecturer’s translation) presents the result of unregenerate Gentile members of the human race conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by the way they think.
Namely, their lifestyle “results in” them being alienated from the life of the triune God.
In this second participial clause, the verb eimi (εἰμί) expresses the idea of the unregenerate Gentile members of the human race “possessing the characteristic” of being alienated from the life of God.
In other words, it expresses the idea that they “are characterized by” being alienated from the life of God.
The participle conjugation of this verb eimi (εἰμί) functions as a nominative of simple apposition, which means it “describes” these unregenerate Gentile members of the human race as being characterized as alienated from the life of God.
The verb eimi (εἰμί) functions as a participle of result, which expresses the idea that these unregenerate Gentile members of the human race conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by the way they think “results in” them being alienated from the life of the triune God.
The present tense of this verb eimi (εἰμί) is a gnomic present, which expresses the idea that the unregenerate Gentile members of the human race “as an eternal spiritual truth” are characterized as alienated from the life of God.
The present tense of this verb also functions as a customary present or stative present, which expresses the idea that the unregenerate Gentile members of the human race “exist in the state of” being characterized as alienated from the life of God.
The verb apallotrioō (ἀπαλλοτριόω) expresses the idea that unregenerate Gentile members of the human race “are alienated” from the life of God.
It also functions as a nominative of simple apposition, which means it serves to “describe, define,” or “explain” the result of unregenerate Gentile members of the human race conducting their lives by means of the futility of their thinking or the way they think.
Namely, they are alienated from the life of God.
The verb apallotrioō (ἀπαλλοτριόω) functions as a periphrastic participle which it is used with the verb eimi (εἰμί) to form a single finite verbal idea which is that of existing in the state of being alienated from the life of God.
Like the verb skotoō (σκοτόω), the perfect conjugation of the verb apallotrioō (ἀπαλλοτριόω) is an intensive perfect.
This expresses the idea of these unregenerate Gentile members of the human race “existing in the present state” of being alienated from the life of the triune God as a result of conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by the way they think.
The passive voice of this verb indicates that these unregenerate Gentile members of the human race received the action of being alienated from the life of the triune God as a result of conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by the way they think because of the ignorance, which resides in their minds.
In Ephesians 2:12, the apostle Paul employs this same verb apallotrioō (ἀπαλλοτριόω) to describe the recipients of this epistle before their justification as being alienated from the citizenship of Israel.
In Colossians 1:21, Paul also uses the verb apallotrioō (ἀπαλλοτριόω) to describe the unregenerate state of the Colossians Christian community.
Now, as we noted, in Ephesians 4:18, the second participial clause contains the noun zōē (ζωή), which refers to one of the attributes of God, which help to compose His divine essence or holy character.
It refers to eternal life which is received as a gift by the sinner the moment they exercise faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and it is experienced by the justified sinner after conversion through obedience to the teaching of the Word of God.
Specifically, it is experienced by the believer after conversion when they appropriate by faith their identification with Christ in His death and resurrection and which faith expresses itself by considering oneself dead to sin, Satan and the Law and alive to God.
The articular construction of this noun is monadic which indicates that this life is “unique” to the character and nature of the triune God.
The noun theos (θεός) refers to the Father which is indicated by the articular construction of the noun, which in the New Testament commonly signifies the Father unless otherwise indicated by the context.
Furthermore, in every instance in which the word has appeared in this epistle up to this point in the Ephesian letter, the Father is this word’s referent (1:1, 2, 3, 17, 2:4, 8, 10, 16, 19, 22, 3:2, 7, 9, 10).
The articular construction of the noun theos (θεός) expresses the idea that there were many gods in the world, but the God Jewish and Gentile Christians worshipped was the one and only true God in contrast to unregenerate humanity in the first century A.D. which worshipped the pantheon of Graeco-Roman gods.
The noun theos (θεός) functions as a genitive of source, which means that this life “originates in” the character and nature of God or in other words because it is one of His attributes, which help to form His divine essence or nature.
The noun zōē (ζωή) functions as a genitive of separation which would indicate that the unregenerate Gentile members of the human race are alienated “separated from” the life of the triune God.
Therefore, unregenerate Gentile members of the human race are alienated from the life, which is unique to the character and nature of the one and only God because they have rejected the Holy Spirit’s testimony about God in creation, as well as in their conscience and through the presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In other words, they are alienated from the life of the Father, which is eternal, because they rejected His one and only Son as their Savior and thus refused to receive the gift of eternal life.
