Archives for posts with tag: Ephesians 2

Made Alive pt 8

August 17, 2009 //
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Part 8 in a series looking at Ephesians 2:1-10 (for previous days click here).



Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God



1. “For…” links this verse to the previous. In verse 7 Paul tells us why we were saved. In verse 8, he is going to tell us how.

2. “By grace you have been saved…” This tells us that, were is not for God, we could never be saved. Salvation is impossible without God’s grace (His free favor towards us). We cannot be saved by our own attempts. Our best efforts can never match up to God’s holiness. The Bible says that our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), meaning any good works we do are stained by the sin that we constantly commit. The situation is so grave that Paul tells us we were “dead in sin“. God knows our predicament, and although He does not have to, He willingly shows grace towards us. When we should be condemned, He provides the way of salvation. Without God’s grace, our sinful state would deserve judgment, condemnation and punishment. That would be the fair outcome for those who have rebelled against God. But, because of God’s grace, God destroyed our sin in Jesus so that He didn’t have to destroy us.

3. “And this is not your own doing…” Salvation was not our idea. We were content as slaves to sin, willfully destroying our souls and separating ourselves from God. But God, in His love for us, decided to save us. Anyone who receives the salvation that comes by God’s grace is merely responding to what God has done. Even our response is made possible by God. This is why the term, “made alive” is so important. We were dead and could not see, hear, know, or choose God. But, by His grace, the Holy Spirit came to us and made our hearts alive (regeneration). Only then could we see the beauty, glory, and greatness of Jesus, and the horror and destructive power of our sin. Only then could we see our need for forgiveness, and find it at the cross. Only then could we say, “Jesus is Lord” and surrender our lives to be transformed by Him.

4. “…it is the gift of God“. Our salvation is not a loan. It is not paid to us in advance with the expectation that we pay God back. A true gift is given freely, with no expectation of recompense. This makes the grace of God even more glorious. Our sin made us debtors to God, and it was an impossible, eternal debt that we could never pay. God canceled out our debt when Jesus paid the price for us on the cross (atonement). When we are saved by God, our debt is wiped out, our sin forgiven and forgotten, and the burden lifted from us. Before we were unrighteous, but through our faith in Jesus, we are made righteous (justification). Now we are free to live as His sons and daughters, not trying to pay back God, but flourishing in a new relationship with our Father.

This is the main difference between religion and the gospel. Religion says, “I obey, therefore I am accepted“. This leads to a lifetime of guilt, failure, and uncertainty about God’s love for you. The gospel says, “I am accepted, therefore I obey“. Grace destroys the drudgery or following God out of duty, and replaces it with the joyfulness of following God out of love. The free gift assures us that God loves us, and that we belong to Him, no and forever.



Next: Verse 9


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Categories Theology, Jesus, Bible, God, Holy Spirit, God The Father

Made Alive pt3

August 3, 2009 //
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I love Ephesians 2:1-10 and count it among my favorite portions of scripture in the Bible. Those ten verses are so rich in God’s love, grace and salvation that when I read them, it fills my heart with a deep thankfulness for the wisdom and ways of God.

Over the next little while, I’m going to go through the passage verse by verse, listing some thoughts, ideas, and observations from them. For previous posts, click here.



Today is verse 3:

Ephesians 2:3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (ESV)



1. Paul again makes the point that no one is exempt from the sinful nature – “among whom we all once lived”. Paul does not let self-righteous Christians off the hook. He will not tolerate the claims of those who say they have always been ‘good people’, because doing so would negate the power of the gospel. If you have always been good, you do not need Jesus. Paul restates the point in Romans 3:23.

2. “…in the passions of our flesh.” The word “passion” can be defined as “the emotions as distinguished from reason,” or, “an overmastering feeling”. The passions Paul talks about are controlling factors that we cannot escape. From where are the controlling factors arising? From our “flesh”. When Paul uses the word “flesh”, he is not referring merely to the meat on our bones, but to the person whose spirit is dead – that is, when we live in the flesh, we do not sense our spiritual connection to God, and cut ourselves off from our true Source of life. We live only in relation to the physical world, unaware of the spiritual realm (Rom 8:5-7).

3. “Carrying out the desires of the body and mind”. This is a further definition of “passions of our flesh”. Interestingly, Paul says that we “carry out” these desires, implying that although we are beholden to these passions, we are still responsible for our sin. This also tells us something about the nature of temptation. Although it often feels like temptation comes from outside of us, we are only truly tempted because the desire is already within our hearts (Jas 1:14-15).

4. “…and were by nature children of wrath.” The picture of life before Christ is bleak, and this is Paul’s nail in the coffin. He says that we were “children of wrath”, meaning that our separation from God placed us under judgment (John 3:36). We were like Children who disowned their Father, called Him a liar, and rejected His love for us (an echo of “sons of disobedience” in verse 2). Not only that, but Paul says that we were this way “by nature”. It wasn’t just bad choices that we made, but the very core of our being stands in opposition to the God who loves us. Any hope of trying to change by behavior modification is gone (Rom 7:18). It wasn’t just what we did, but who we were.

5. This problem does not just afflict the few. We were “like the rest of mankind”, meaning this issue is present in the hearts of every person (Rom 5:12).



This all seems pretty bleak, and I think it’s meant to be. Paul is not trying to beat us up, but is lovingly showing us the way things are without Jesus. If we go to the doctor, we don’t want him to tell us things are better than they really are – we want the truth. Paul is giving us truthful diagnosis which sinks the heart. What we haven’t heard yet is that there is a glorious cure that makes us whole again…

Tomorrow: verse 4.

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Categories Theology, Bible, God

Made Alive pt 1

July 30, 2009 //
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Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)



Ephesians 2:1-10 is one of my favorite portions of scripture, perhaps even my favorite. I find those ten verses to be so rich in God’s love, grace and salvation that when I read it, it fills my heart with a deep thankfulness for the wisdom and ways of God. It seems to me that the theme of this passage is God so transforming and changing us, that we can say that we have been, “made alive”.

Over the next little while, I’m going to go through the passage verse by verse, listing some thoughts, ideas, and observations from them. Today is verse 1:


Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (ESV)


1. …”you” is universal. Paul was addressing the church at Ephesus, and through his words, the Holy Spirit addresses each of us. Among those who are saved, there are no exceptions to what Paul is saying.

2. …”dead” is a strong term. It is not the same as “jaded” or “distracted” or “mistaken”. Dead means lifeless, and unable to experience life. “You were dead,” tells us that there was a time when each of us was, in some way, dead. Paul is referring to a spiritual death, an inability within each of us to sense, hear, or see God. Our spiritual disposition towards God was that of a dead person.

3. What made us this way? Firstly, our “trespasses”. A trespass is an unlawful act committed on another person. The person in this context is God. Although we hurt each other with our actions, the ultimate victim is God (Ps 51:4). He is holy and righteous, and made us to be perfect and to glorify Him. Any rejection of that purpose is a trespass against God.

4. Secondly, “sin” has made us dead towards God. The word “sin” is often dealt with in a narrow way, that is, we think mostly about actions. And it’s true – sin does lead to evil actions. Others consider sin to be “out there” in the world, and to be avoided. And it is true that there are sinful things in the world that we want no part of. But those instances of sin are merely symptoms of a much larger, more sinister problem – that is, that sin dwells deeply in the heart of each person, and actually defines them (Matt 15:19). Because we are sinful at our core, we cannot know the true, living, holy God. Our hearts are dead towards Him, and do not desire Him. We create dead gods as substitutes for our dead hearts to worship.



Next: Verse 2…


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Categories Theology, Bible, God
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