Ephesians 4.18d-The Hearts of Unregenerate Gentiles are Hardened
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Saturday June 14, 2025
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:18d-The Hearts of Unregenerate Gentiles are Hardened
Lesson # 259
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)
The second prepositional phrase dia tēn pōrōsin tēs kardias autōn (διὰ τὴν πώρωσιν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν), “because of the hardness, which is produced by the function unique to their hearts” (Lecturer’s translation) modifies the prepositional phrase which immediately precedes it.
Therefore, it presents the reason why unregenerate Gentile members of the human race are ignorant within their souls and it asserts that it is because of the hardness, which is unique to their hearts.
The noun pōrōsis (πώρωσις) refers to the “stubborn unwillingness” of unregenerate Gentile members of the human to accept the three-fold revelation of the triune God.
The articular construction of this word is monadic, which indicates that this hardness is “unique” to the hearts of unregenerate Gentile humanity.
As we noted in our study of Ephesians 1:18 and 3:17, the noun kardia (καρδία) pertains to that aspect of the soul, which circulates thought or mental activity and is where one’s frame of reference and memory center resides.
It is also the place where one’s vocabulary and the classification of thoughts reside as well as the conscience where the norms and standards reside.
A person’s entire mental attitude circulates in the kardia (καρδία) as well as the subconscious where various categories of things that shock or impress from adversity, sin, failure or disappointment are located.
Also, it contains volition, which enables a person to make decisions.
Therefore, this word refers to a person’s mentality, volition, conscience, sub-conscience and emotions.
Unlike Ephesians 1:18 and 3:17, the word here in Ephesians 4:18 refers to the hearts of the unregenerate Gentile members of the human race.
The noun kardia (καρδία) functions as a genitive of production, which expresses the idea that this hardness is “produced by” the hearts of these unregenerate Gentile members of the human race.
This interpretation is supported by the fact that this hardness is the result of making a volitional decision to reject God’s three-fold revelation of Himself to the human race and as we noted the volition of a human being is found in their heart.
Once again, Paul employs the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός).
The referent of this word is once again the members of the unregenerate Gentile community.
This time the articular construction of the noun kardia (καρδία) is employed with the dative third person neuter plural form of the personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “their” to denote possession.
Therefore, this construction expresses the idea that these hearts “belong to” or are “the possession of” the unregenerate Gentile members of the human race.
The noun pōrōsis (πώρωσις) is the object of the preposition dia (διά), which this time marks the hardness of unregenerate Gentile members of the human race as the reason why they possess the characteristic of being ignorant of the three-fold revelation of the triune God.
Namely, it is because of the hardness of their hearts.
Therefore, this second and final prepositional phrase makes clear that unregenerate Gentile members of the human race are culpable for being darkened in their understanding of the revelation of the triune God.
They are also volitionally responsible for being alienated from the life God because in both instances, their volition was involved.
As we noted, the heart contains volition and thus through the function of their volition these unregenerate Gentile members of the human race rejected God’s three-fold revelation of Himself.
They are darkened in their understanding of this revelation and are thus alienated from the life of God.
In other words, they don’t possess eternal life because of rejecting this three-fold revelation and specifically, in Paul’s day, because they rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior.
This “hardening” of an unregenerate person’s heart is familiar Old Testament motif with the most well-known being the “hardening” of Pharaoh’s heart.
The Scriptures teach that God hardened Pharaoh (Exodus 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:8).
There were prophecies that God would do this to Pharaoh (Exodus 4:21; 7:3).
However, the Scriptures also teach that Pharaoh would harden himself (Exodus 7:13, 14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34, 35).
God’s hardening of Pharaoh is the result of Pharaoh first hardening himself in the sense of rejecting over and again God’s command to release the nation of Israel from her bondage to him in Egypt.
God permitted Pharaoh to exercise his volition repeatedly to reject His command to release the nation of Israel from her bondage in Egypt.
Pharaoh was responsible for his evil actions.
God’s hardening was His response to Pharaoh’s hardening or in other words, it was in response to Pharaoh repeatedly rejecting His command to release the nation of Israel from her bondage in Egypt.
Thus, God’s hardening is a manifestation of His wrath, i.e., righteous indignation towards sin and is an expression of His holiness.
God used Pharaoh’s evil actions and negative volition to glorify Himself in the sense that through Pharaoh’s disobedience to His commands, God manifested His omnipotence in delivering Israel from her bondage to Pharaoh’s Egypt.
Repeated sinning as in Pharaoh’s case hardens the conscience so that it becomes “seared” like scar tissue (1 Timothy 4:2).
To continually reject God’s truth as Pharaoh did causes the conscience to become progressively calloused, hardened and less sensitive to sin, as if covered with layers of unspiritual scar tissue.
In Romans 9:18, Paul uses this example of God hardening Pharaoh because in context in Romans 9-11 he is speaking of the nation of Israel’s rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah in his day and is defending God’s righteousness in rejecting the nation for rejecting Jesus Christ.
In Paul’s day God had hardened unregenerate Israel for her rejection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, as their Messiah just as He hardened Pharaoh’s heart for Pharaoh rejecting His revelation of Himself and command to release the nation of Israel.
Ephesians 4:17-18 is not the first time Paul describes the state of unregenerate humanity because he does so in Ephesians 2:1-3 and 2:12 when describing the unregenerate state of the recipients of this epistle prior to their justification by faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
The apostle Paul also describes unregenerate humanity in Colossians 1:21 when describing the Colossian Christian community prior to their justification.
Colossians 1:21 Indeed, because each and every one of you at one time existed in the state of being alienated, specifically enemies because of your attitude, because of your evil actions. (Lecturer’s translation)
Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:21-22 echoes his statement in Ephesians 2:1-10 as well as Romans 5:1-10.
Romans 5:1 Therefore, because we have been justified by means of faith as a source, we, as an eternal spiritual truth, always have peace in the presence of God through our Lord who is Jesus, who is the Christ. 2 Through whom also, we have as a permanent possession access to this gracious benefit in which we forever stand and in addition we make it a habit to rejoice upon the confident expectation of sharing God’s glory. 3 In fact, not only this but we also make it a habit to rejoice on account of our adversities because we know for certain that adversity, as an eternal spiritual truth, produces perseverance. 4 And in addition, perseverance, as an eternal spiritual truth produces tested character and in addition tested character, as an eternal spiritual truth, produces confidence. 5 In fact, this confidence, as an eternal spiritual truth, never disappoints because God’s love is always being poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us for our benefit. 6 For while, we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, still helpless, still, at that particular appointed moment in history, Christ died as a substitute for the benefit of the ungodly. 7 For, it is unlikely, anyone will die as a substitute for the benefit of a righteous person. 8 In fact, possibly, someone might also have the courage to voluntarily die as a substitute for the benefit of the good person. But, God (the Father), as an eternal spiritual truth and fact of history, proves His own divine-love for the benefit of all of us by the fact that while we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, still sinners, Christ died as a substitute for the benefit of all of us. 9 Therefore, because we have been justified on the basis of His blood, how much more will we be delivered from His righteous indignation through Him. 10 For if, while, we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, enemies, we were reconciled to God (the Father) by means of the spiritual death of His Son? Of course, we believe that this is true! How much more then because, we have been reconciled will we be delivered on account of His life. (Lecturer’s translation)
