Ephesians 2: 1-5 Part II

     We begin chapter 2 of Ephesians by having to go back to 1: 19, in which Paul asserts that he prays that they might come to see the exceeding greatness of God’s power. “and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength. (Eph 1: 19 NIV) Christ’s resurrection, exaltation and headship of the Church are ways in which we see that power. Paul declares in this section of Ephesians the spiritual renewal of all people! The theme is verse five itself; “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.”

    What we find in this short section is the apostle contrasting verses 1-3 and 4-10.

Spiritual death which is separation from God caused by sin (trespass). Understand, Paul isn’t just saying that man apart from God is “subject to death or even under a sentence of death” he’s actually dead. This makes me think of the scene in “Princess Bride” where they take the hero to the magician and say, “help us he’s dead” and Billy Crystal says “no, he’s not dead, he’s mostly dead.” WE ARE DEAD IN OUR SINS/TRESPASSES, actually, completely dead. The reason in this passage that we see the word trespass used here rather than sin (and in the NIV that is significant). It is because in this passage Paul asserts both – trespass (GK paraptoma) and sin (GK hamartiai) to emphasize the total nature of this death. Trespass alludes to “the desires of the flesh, open, gross, and palapable”; sin alludes to “the desires of the mind, sins of thought and ideas, of purpose and inclination” absolutely everything is included in this thought.

     In verse two the idea is that these people conducted their lives in conformity to the thoughts and pursuits of their day. In other words, spiritually dead folk have forsaken the rules of God for the rules of man. Instead of being oriented to the life of the age to come and the heavenly realm, the past lives of the readers had been dominated by the present norms and values of their day wholly hostile to God. Now the phrase the “ruler of the kingdom of the air.” W. Wink in Naming Powers says, “that power of the air is not the locale of demons but the world atmosphere, the spiritual matrix of inauthentic living.  FF Bruce says this means that the devil is the leader of those ‘spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places’ of whom we are told in Ephesians 6: 12. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The Ephesians once bowed to the god of this world and their rewards were temporary. But Christ brought them liberation from the devil and his powers. If you are interested in a book about spiritual warfare I can recommend an EXCELLENT resource, “What About Spiritual Warfare” by Doug Rumsford. I have this in my library and have given away more copies than I can count. Every person interested in spiritual things really should read it.

    In verse three the thought is that the readers were once under the full control of the flesh. Its desires dominated their lives and had to be fulfilled. Sin was in every part of them, there was no inner place not affected. Their thoughts were corrupt and controlled their actions, senses and impulses. They lived their lives in total absorption with self. They were deserving of wrath and death. This “objects of wrath” phrase not a personal thing with God but His active judgment against all forms of sin and evil, and is evidence of his absolute holiness. This is a Hebrew thought process/understanding, which is given in this verse and used often in the Old Testament. Therefore, “children of wrath/objects of wrath” are those who are doomed to God’s wrath because through their condition of sinful rebellion, they deserve his righteous judgment. The wording in this section is not only directed to the Ephesians but Paul makes it universal, taking in all of humanity.

     These first three verses carry an attitude of hopelessness, but there is good news. Verse 4 begins with BUT and it might be the biggest but in the New Testament. (I just couldn’t help myself J) This little word presents a contrast, showing the situation and expected results are not necessarily final, “God made us alive with Christ.” It is by love and mercy we are saved. This incredible thought and truth comes from God who has done everything on our behalf, and all that He has spared us from, is NOT because of who we are, but in spite of who we are! GRACE, no other word describes God better, grace is undeserved merit. God, by His mercy and love, pardoned us and made us alive through Jesus. It is good to be reminded when we feel ugly and our past haunts us, or if today we feel dirty and empty, we are saved by grace. It’s not based on what we have or have not done, it’s based on who we know - Christ. Now that is good news, which is what the word gospel means. Information obtained from “Ephesians: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition” by Mark A. Holmes; “Word biblical Commentary” by Andrew Lincoln; and Beacon Bible Commentary (Ephesians) by William H. Taylor.

Ephesians 2: 1-5 Part I

Scripture Study – Ephesians 2: 1-5

NIV    ¹As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

The Message   ^{1 -6}It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

     Once again as we look at this scripture we are looking at a piece of a letter. On the positive side it gives us insight into the most personal of writings. We can and will see Paul’s heart every time we read one of his letters. It’s a pastor’s heart, a parent’s heart full of love, pain, and a desire to make his “children” the best followers of Jesus they could be. On the other side there is no writing in the Bible more difficult to understand than a letter. Now, some would think it would be the prophetic books or the poetry but, not really, because when we read a letter and only see one side, it is sooooooooooooooo easy to misinterpret! So when we read the letters of Paul we are often in a difficulty. We don’t have any idea what the letter he was answering said or if he’d had visitors and was addressing something they had told him. It is only from the letter itself we can piece together what was in Paul’s heart.

     It is clear that Paul was the writer of Ephesians, it is also clear he was in jail because of the faith when he wrote it. There is some connection between Colossians and Ephesians because Tychicus was the bearer of both and they are similar in construction. One of the main questions behind Ephesians is to whom was it really written.

     In Paul’s day letters were written on rolls of papyrus. They were rolled and tied with thread, if they were really private or official they were then sealed. But an address was seldom written on them, letters were delivered by hand and there was no postal system. So the titles of the New Testament letters are not part of the original letters at all. They were inserted afterwards when the letters were collected and published for all the Church to read.

    So when we look at Ephesians closely we note some interesting things. This letter is the most impersonal Paul ever wrote, it has none of the intimate greetings or good-byes we note in other letters, this is odd given the fact he was in Ephesus longer that any other city. And in Acts 20: 17-35 there is some real intimacy between Paul and the elders of Ephesus. The other interesting comment is in 1: 15 “because I have heard of your faith” Paul had not just heard of their faith he had been part of it. In 3: 2 he writes “assuming that you have heard”, Paul would know this info if it were Ephesus. Lastly, none of the early manuscripts of the Greek NT contain the words “in Ephesus” they all read “Paul…to the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus.” So if not to Ephesus, where? The oldest suggestion is Laodicea. This comes from Paul’s statement in Colossians 4: 16: “And when this letter had been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read also the letter from Laodicea.” That statement makes it certain that a letter had gone to Laodicea. So how could this have happened? Well, Paul’s letters were well loved, treasured and copied for instruction. It could be as simple as the letter from Laodicea was copied or sent to Ephesus where it survived. Who knows… what we do know is the letter to the Ephesians is one of the most beautiful and instructive letters we have. A holy and inspired work laid down to guide, encourage and direct the Church then and the Church now. Info gathered from “The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians” by William Barclay.