Ephesians 2:1-10: Who You Were, and How God Helped

Today's sermon is on Ephesians 2:1-10. But I want to start by reading all of chapter 2. We often make a mess of chapter 2, especially in verses 8-10, and the reason we make that mess is because we ignore Paul's larger argument. Paul is writing to Gentiles, explaining to them that they are made alive, and made part of God's family, through Jesus, and not through the Mosaic covenant.

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And (it was)[1] y'all[2]--

the ones being dead in your wrongdoing and sins,

in which y'all formerly walked

according to the age of this world,

according to the ruler of the authority of the air-- the one now working in the sons of disobedience--

in which[3]we[4]also all lived formerly in the desires of our flesh,

doing the will of the flesh and of the mind,

and we were children by nature[5] for wrath[6]as also the rest of them[7]--

Now[8]God,

being rich in mercy,

because[9]of his great love

with which he loved us[10]--and us being dead in our wrongdoing--

he made us alive together[11] in/by Christ--by grace y'all are saved--

and he seated us together[12]in the heavenly places in/by Jesus Christ,

in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in/by Christ Jesus.

For[13] by grace y'all are saved through allegiance,

and this not from yourselves,

of/from God (it is) the gift,

not from works,[14]

in order that no one can boast.[15]

For FOR HIM we are a made thing,[16]

created in King Jesus for good works,

which God prepared before hand,

in order that in them[17]we may/will walk.[18]

Therefore[19], remember that formerly y'all--[20]

the nations in/by the flesh,

the ones being called uncircumcision by the ones being called circumcision in the flesh made by hands--

that y'all were at that time apart from Christ,

having been alienated from the citizenship of Israel

and strangers to the covenants of the promise,

not having hope

and without God in the world.

Now[21]in Christ Jesus y'all--,[22]the ones formerly being far away--[23]

have become near by the blood of the King.

For he is our peace,

the one making both[24]one,

and the dividing wall of the partitionbreaking-- the enmity by his flesh--

the law of the commandments in ordinances abolishing,

in order that:

the two he might create in/by himself into one new person,

making peace.

and he might reconcile both by one body to God through the cross,

killing the enmity in himself.

and coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace to y'all-- to the far[25]--

and peace to the ones near.[26]

because through him we have access-- we both[27]-- by/in one Spirit to the Father.

Therefore[28], consequently, no longer you are strangers and foreigners,

but you are fellow citizens of the holy ones and household members of God,

being built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets,

being the cornerstone of King Jesus himself,

in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

in whom also y'all are being built up together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.

Verses 1-3

And (it was) y'all[29]--

the ones being dead in your wrongdoing and sins,

in which y'all formerly walked

according to the age of this world,

according to the ruler of the authority of the air-- the one now working in the sons of disobedience--

in which[30]also we[31]all lived formerly in the desires of our flesh,

doing the will of the flesh and of the mind,

and we were children by nature[32]for wrath[33]as also the rest of them[34]--

One of the things our English Bibles work very hard at, is making it so you can read any single verse on its own and have it make sense. This makes it easier to memorize, and easier to understand. The problem with this comes in passages like Ephesians 2, where verses 1-3 aren't supposed to make sense on their own. We don't actually get the main point-- the main verbs-- until verse 4. But before Paul can get to his main point, he needs the Ephesians to pictures themselves in a particular way.

Stop, for just a minute, and think about what your life looked like before you submitted to Jesus as King, before you repented from your sins and pledged allegiance to Jesus. If you held a mirror in front of your life back then, what did it look like?

Basically, when we read verses 1-3, imagine them answering this question: "Who were you?"

So who were you Ephesians?

You were dead in your wrongdoing and in your sins. Youwent through life on a road of wickedness, like the rest of the world, obeying Satan-- who gets quite the title here. He is "The ruler of the authority of the air-- the one now working in the sons of disobedience."

Whatever else you might have been, whoever else you might have been, doesn't matter right now. The important thing is to remember that you were dead, living a life of sin against God. When you hold up the mirror to your life back then, you need to see how ugly you were. It's gross. It's embarrassing. It's humbling.

Verse 3 adds a wrinkle to this, but I have to start at verse 1 again, or you'll miss it:

And (it was) y'all--

the ones being dead in your wrongdoing and sins,

in which y'all formerly walked

according to the age of this world,

according to the ruler of the authority of the air-- the one now working in the sons of disobedience--

(3) in which we also all lived formerly in the desires of ourflesh,

doing the will of the flesh and of the mind,

and wewere children by nature for wrath as also the rest of them--

Notice in verse 3 that Paul is all of a sudden talking about "we also." "We also" all lived formerly in the desires of "our" flesh. "We also" were children by nature for wrath as "also the rest."

Who is "we also?" We know who the "y'all" is. It's the Gentile Ephesians. But who is "we also?" If you don't catch this, you aren't going to hear Ephesians correctly. This is a big deal. There are two distinct groups here. There's "y'all Gentile Ephesians. And there's ALSO "we," "us" who also lived a sinful life, who were also rightly objects of God's wrath. Who is "we also?" If we read all of chapter 2 at the same time, the answer is obvious. "We also" is Jews.

Let's pick up at verse 11:

For he is our peace,

the one making both[35]one,

and the dividing wall of the partitionbreaking-- the enmity by his flesh--

the law of the commandments in ordinances abolishing,

in order that:

the two he might create in/by himself into one new person,

making peace.

and he might reconcile both by one body to God through the cross,

killing the enmity in himself.

and coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace to y'all-- to the far[36]--

and peace to the ones near.[37]

"Y'all" are Gentiles, who were far from God, worshipping idols, living wickedly. "We also" are the Jews who started near. We Jews didn't worship idols; we Jews knew who God was. However, "we Jews" were not righteous. We Jews also lived a life of sin; we Jews also deserved God's wrath. The bottom line is that "we Jews" and "you Gentiles" were all in the same boat. All of us were sinners; all of us deserved God's condemnation (cf. Rom. 3:9-20).

So hopefully you see yourselvesclearly, and Jews, clearly. In verses 1-3, Paul holds up a mirror, and he says, "This is what you looked like. You Gentiles were ugly, walking in sin, doing wrong. And so were we Jews."

This brings us to verses 4-7:

Now God,

being rich in mercy,

because of his great love

with which he loved us--and us being dead in our wrongdoing--

he made us alive together in/by Christ--by grace y'all are saved--[38]

and he seated us together in the heavenly places in/by Jesus Christ,

in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.

Here, Paul gets to his main point.[39] Now that you've seen yourselves, and Jews, the way Paul wants you to, you can see how good God has been to you-- and to the Jews.

"God, (1) being rich in mercy, (2) because of his great love for us-- and us being terrible, wicked people-- God did 2 things for us.

(1) He made us alive together in Christ.

(2) He seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ.

It makes no difference to God whether you are a Jew or Gentile. Either way, God made all of us alive together IN CHRIST. Either way, God seated us together in Christ.

Why did God would do this? (1) God loves you. God loves you despite your wrongdoing-- despite the fact that he has every right to be angry with you. (2) God wanted to show how good he could be to you. This was verse 7: "in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus." Do you understand this? Do you see how good God has been to you? Do you see how richly he has blessed you in Christ Jesus?

So it doesn't matter, as far as salvation goes, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile by birth. Either way, all of us walked in sin. Either way, all of us were by nature children for God's wrath by right. Either way, God made us alive together IN CHRIST.

This brings us to verses 8-10, which you maybe know:

For by grace y'all are saved through allegiance/faithfulness,

and this not from yourselves,

of/from God (it is) the gift,

not from works,

in order that no one can boast.

For FOR HIM we are a made thing,

created in King Jesus for good works,

which God prepared before hand,

in order that in them we may/will walk.

First, just a word about the two "for"s in these verses. What "for" does is signal that Paul is about to strengthen an argument he just made. He's not going to say anything new; he's not pushing his argument forward.

Verse 8 basically answers one question. Given everything we just read, HOW are we saved? And the answer is, "by grace."[40] What this means, specifically, is we are saved by the grace that God gives through Jesus. We are saved by being joined to Christ through allegiance.

If we are saved by grace, through JESUS, how are we NOT saved? We are NOT saved by "works," because God is determined to make sure no one can boast. And if salvation was by "works," people would have a reason to boast.

I'm guessing everyone in this room thinks that "works" are "good works." Or maybe we'd say, "legalistically trying to obey God, apart from Christ." This is how this passage is commonly taught. But most NT scholars[41]would disagree with this, and I think it really doesn't work at all.[42]

The better answer goes something like this: "works" is a shorthand for "works of the Mosaic law, done in an effort to obey the covenant God set up between himself and Israel." James Dunn says it best (I'm paraphrasing): "When Paul talks about "works," or "works of the law," it's not just any works that Paul has in mind. "Works" are works of the Mosaic law, done in the attempt to place yourself under the Mosaic covenant in the belief that it's through keeping the covenant that we are rightly related to God." The clearest passage teaching this is Galatians 2:11-16.

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.[a] 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not made right by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be made right by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be made right.

Whenever you see Paul talking about "works," or "works of the law," if you look 10 verses to either side, he is ALWAYS talking about the relationship between Gentiles and the Mosaic law. Basically, God accepts Gentiles on the basis of their allegiance to King Jesus-- not on the basis of their becoming Jews. Specifically, this means that Gentiles don't have to be circumcised, or follow the food laws, or keep the Sabbath, or keep other holy days. They are made right with God through Jesus, and not through the Mosaic covenant.

So how are we made alive? How are we saved? We answer this question the same way, regardless of whether we are Jews or Gentiles by birth. The path to salvation runs through Jesus. Jesus is God's grace to us.

Why did God set it up this way, so that salvation is only through Jesus? Paul says that God is determined to make it so no one can boast. Here, we tend again to think about people bragging about how righteous they are, as though our non-Christian friends are going around trying to please God by obeying him.[43] But boasting in Paul is usually a specifically Jewish problem.[44]

Rom 2:17: But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God... (really I should read through verse 27 at least)

Romans 3:27: Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is made right[45] apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,30 since God is one—who will make right[46] the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Jews had lots of reasons to boast, but God has deliberately set it up so no one-- no Jew-- can boast. Jews and Gentiles, TOGETHER, are saved by grace-- by what God has done for us in Jesus.

Now Paul knows, from experience, that when people read this, some people will immediately hear this and try to take advantage of it. They'll say something like this: "Jesus destroyed the Mosaic law, so we can live however we want. We aren't under law; we are under grace" (Rom. 6:1ff is a longer version of this argument; 1 Cor. 6:12).

So he immediately, in verse 10, clarifies his argument. Verse 10 answers the question: "What were we saved for?"

For FOR HIM[47]we are a made thing,[48]

created in Jesus Christ for good works,

which God prepared before hand,

in order that in them[49]we may/will walk.[50]

When God made us alive, made us a new creation, he did so for a specific reason. God made us alive FOR HIMSELF. God made us alive so that we would walk IN GOOD WORKS. I've known so many Christians that really don't understand this verse, and it scares me. Anytime they hear someone teach about the importance of obedience, and loyalty, and allegiance, and good works, they start squirming. They can't wait to jump in and say, "we are saved by faith and not by works." What they've done is take Ephesians 2:8-9 as a promise. They think Paul is saying, "My obedience doesn't matter. Good works are optional."

But if we remember that what faith really means, is faithfulness, and allegiance, we will understand that faith and obedience are inseparable. You can't bend your knee, in submission to King Jesus, without committing to serve and obey him.

What we were saved for? We were saved FOR HIM. We were saved for good works, done in obedience to God.

I don't know how to explain this any better. God made you a new creation, so that you could do good works-- so you would love God, and love others. If you are trying to please God, don't worry about being legalistic. Don't worry that you're obeying God for the wrong reasons. Don't worry that you are trying to earn your salvation. Just obey. Do good works. Live FOR HIM. That's why God saved you. That's why God made you a new creation. LIVE FOR HIM.

So when we step back, and try to see Paul's argument as a whole, what do we get here? What's the big idea? All of you, whether you were born a Jew or Gentile, lived a life of sin. You were wrongdoers; you were immoral; you were people who by all rights should've suffered God's wrath (vs. 1-3). But God, because he is rich in mercy, and because he loves you, sent Jesus to die on the cross for your sins. When we place our loyalty/faith/allegiance in King Jesus, we are joined to Christ. We are made alive together-- Jew and Gentile--IN CHRIST; we are seated in the heavenlies together--Jew and Gentile-- IN CHRIST. This salvation is IN CHRIST-- it is through God's grace (vs. 4-7).

Some of the Ephesians seem to be struggling with this.[51] They wondered if Jesus wasn't enough-- if they needed Jesus, plus the Mosaic covenant, to be made right with God (vs. 8-9). Paul says this is absolutely wrong. God has richly blessed you, been rich in mercy toward you, and he has done this through Jesus. If you understand how much God loves you, and what Jesus' death did for you, you won't be tempted to become Jews. There's no point. Instead, you come to Jesus in faith, pledging your allegiance to him, submitting to Jesus as King, living FOR GOD (vs. 10).

God has made you alive in Christ, and not in Moses. God has made you a new creation in Christ, and not in Moses. God did this so you would live FOR GOD. So live FOR God, out of your allegiance (faith) to Jesus.

[1] I added "it was" in order to show that "y'all" is a direct object of a missing verb. It's not the subject of the verb, something is being done to "y'all"-- we just don't know what yet. It's the object of the verb. [2]Bolded/underlined where emphasis in the Greek through word order. Paul speaks deliberately as a Jew to Gentiles. It was "ya'll" who walked in your sins, in which we (Jews) also walked. God made US-- Jew and Gentile-- alive together in Christ. [3]"which" is the wrongdoings from v. 1 [4]"We also" is a group distinct from "Ya'll (Gentile) Ephesians." This becomes clearer the farther we get into this passage, but "we also" is referring to Paul speaking as a representative of Jewish Christians. [5]"We" (Jews) were by nature objects for wrath, as also the rest (of the Gentiles). A remarkable statement. [6]Best, ICC: "Children of wrath are not angry people but people subject to the wrath of God; for this form of the idiom see Jn 17:12; Lk 20:36; 2 Th 2:3; 2 Pet 2:14." [7]"rest of them"=Gentiles [8]"de." Argument is taking a step forward here. [9] Reason/Result frame—The fronting of a subordinate reason or result clauses (e.g. ἵνα· , ὅτι·or ἐπεὶ·clauses) or phrases (e.g. prepositional phrases using διὰ) in order to create a specific frame of reference for the main clause that follows. They state the goal or rationale for the main proposition before the reader actually learns what the proposition is. The reason/result frame makes explicit why the proposition that follows is being made. [10]All of verses 1-3 basically supposed to be funneled into "us." We need to understand how terrible we were, or we won't understand how good God was to us in Christ. [11]"He made us-- Jew and Gentile-- alive together in Christ. [12]He seated us-- Jew and Gentile--together in Christ. [13]"For" statements explain/strengthen some point just made. [14]Works are not "good works." Works is a short-hand for "works of the Mosaic covenant, done in the belief that it's through keeping the Mosaic covenant that people are right with God." [15]Boasting is a specifically Jewish problem usually. "We" Jews boast in our privileges-- the covenant, the promises, the blessings. Romans 2:17-24 is very close to this whole passage, esp. v 23. ALSO ROMANS 3:27. [16]Or, We are HIS made thing. [17]Position 2, given emphasis [18]Paul comes back to this in 4:1. "I exhort you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were walked." Also 4:17: "No longer walk just as the nations walk..." This is a problem in the church. [19]This is the "therefore" that builds off the preceding argument. "Since this is true, . . . " διό. [20]Here, proof that "you" refers to Gentiles. Overspecification, describing "y'all" in a particular way. [21]"de." Argument is taking a step forward here. [22]Here, again it's clear-- "ya'll" refers to Gentiles. Jews were "near"; Gentiles were "far." [23]Here again, overspecification. "Think about yourselves, as ones who were far away from God." [24]Jew and Gentile [25]Gentiles [26]Jews. [27]Jew and Gentile [28]ouv signaling a resumption of the argument after a very lengthy "for" (gar). [29]Bolded/underlined where emphasis in the Greek through word order. Paul speaks deliberately as a Jew to Gentiles. It was "ya'll" who walked in your sins, in which we (Jews) also walked. God made US-- Jew and Gentile-- alive together in Christ. Massive overspecification. "Think of yourselves in a particular way, as people who were dead..." [30]"which" is the wrongdoings from v. 1 [31]Jews [32]"We" (Jews) were by nature objects for wrath, as also the rest (of the Gentiles). A remarkable statement. [33]Best, ICC: "Children of wrath are not angry people but people subject to the wrath of God; for this form of the idiom see Jn 17:12; Lk 20:36; 2 Th 2:3; 2 Pet 2:14." [34]"rest of them"=Gentiles [35]Jew and Gentile [36]Gentiles [37]Jews. [38]Note that "saved"= being made alive. We have to be careful to let Paul explain what it means to be saved. [39]The "de" ("Now") signals the argument is pushing ahead here, and we finally get our main verbs ("God made alive"; "God seated"). [40]Paul fronts this for emphasis, to make sure we don't miss it. "BY GRACE" you are saved. [41]The main voices against this are John Piper, Douglas Moo, D.A. Carson (I think), Thomas Schreiner, and Francis Watson. People advocating this include Matera, N.T. Wright, E.P. Sanders, James Dunn, Martyn de Boer, Sharyn Dowd, Michael Gorman, Scot McKnight, Garlington, J. Louis Martyn, etc. The traditional view is quickly losing-- it's just a matter of spreading this to churches from academia. [42]Other problems with this approach is that (1) Paul everywhere assumes that no one tries to obey God-- so no one does good works (2) faith and works are inseparable, especially once people realize "faith" is about allegiance/loyalty, not about believing something is true or not true; (3) Paul doesn't seem concerned that people think good works coming from faith in/with the Spirit are necessary for eternal life (Gal. 6:6-8; Rom. 6:22; Eph 5:5)--they are. [43]But Ephesians 2:1-3, not to mention Rom. 2-3, specifically says non-Christians don't go around trying to please God. This is a huge problem for the standard Reformation view of Eph. 2:8-10. [44]See also Phil. 3:3, and surrounding argument. "We" Christians boast in Christ, but Paul has lots of reasons to have confidence in the flesh. Paul is deliberately messing with the "boasting" language. [45]ESV has "justified." [46]ditto. [47]Position 2 Emphasis. [48]Or, We are HIS made thing. [49]Position 2, given emphasis [50]Paul comes back to this in 4:1. "I exhort you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were walked." Also 4:17: "No longer walk just as the nations walk..." This is a problem in the church. [51]It's also possible that Paul just customarily puts this in letters, to make sure his Gentile churches don't start walking down the wrong path. Writing this footnote after finishing the sermon series and cleaning this up, Paul doesn't make a big deal about the dangers of Judaism and being under the Mosaic covenant-- nothing like Galatians in feel.