THE PASSAGE FROM EPHESIANS 2:1-7. Eph 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.” 

SOME NOTES ON THE PASSAGE FROM EPHESIANS 2:1-7

1.]       The Bad News About Our Human Situation

All humans were once spiritually dead in sin! Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” This obviously means spiritually dead, not alive to God. That is a frightening thought, to be dead towards God. 

It was our trespasses and sins that had made us dead towards Him. We were once spiritually bound in sin! Controlled by the 3 enemies of humans.

• Controlled by The World. Verse 2 “in which you once walked, following the course of this world.” “World” is [kosmos; κόσμος] and can mean the universe or here, the unbelieving world separate from and opposed to Christ. “Following” is kata meaning according to. They had lived lives in accordance with all others in the unbelieving world. 

• Controlled by the The Devil. “following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—.” Again ”following” is kata, according to. They were living not as God wanted but as the devil had tempted them to live. It was as though they were living as sons in a family of those always yielding to the devil’s temptations. 
• Controlled by the The Flesh. 3 “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. The word “flesh” has many meanings but its use here seems to mean our fallen human nature that is opposed to God. We were doing what comes naturally to us as humans as we obeyed the mental and physical dictates of our fallen nature. 

The Result of giving way to the above 3 enemies of humans? God’s revealed assessment! “And were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” God is telling us as it is. We chose to follow the world, the flesh and the devil and incurred the wrath of God for our disobedience to Him. 

2.]       The Good News About What God Has Done About Our Human Situation

i]. His motivation for helping us. Mercy. Great Love!

Then come those magnificent words “BUT GOD”. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us.” Ephesians 2:4.  BUT! Is there a chance something could change our human predicament? There is every chance when God is involved! For He is merciful and loving.

GOD IS MERCIFUL. “being rich in mercy!” Mercy, not just pity, but compassion in action.

GOD IS LOVE! “because of the great love with which he loved us,” Love acted in Jesus to do something for us that we could not do for ourselves. 

ii]. His Method for Helping Us [Made Us Alive With! Raised Us Up With! Seated Us With HIM! 

It is interesting that each of the three verbs to “make alive,” to “raise,” and to “seat”  all have the  prefix [syn] attached to them meaning “together with.” The other interesting thing is that all these verbs are in the past tense. It is something that God sees as having been accomplished already. They are not waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus in glory. They are present-day truths we can believe and act upon.  

• He made us alive together with Christ. He brought us from spiritual death to being alive in the spirit. From spiritual death to spiritual life! Eph 2:5 “[God] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” [Grace, mercy and love acted!] From death to life! Alive now in Christ.
• He raised us up with Christ. From spiritual death and bankruptcy He raised us up and seated us with Him into the place of acceptance and spiritual authority. Eph 2:6 “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  God declares that He has identified us with Christ in His death [2 Tim 2:12], burial [Col 2:12], resurrection [Col 2:1] and His sitting at the right hand of God. We are identified and united with Him.

What a joy it has been to share those truths with believers over the years. To tell them how God sees them right now as believers. He tells us He sees us as being seated with Christ at the right hand of God, the place of acceptance, honour and authority. He accepts us as we trust in Him and we can never be more acceptable to Him than when we first believed. We need to become more available and useful to Him but we are already fully acceptable to Him. We are in the place of honour because God honours all those who humble themselves before Him and honour His Son by receiving Him as Saviour and Lord. We are in the place of authority because we are seated with Christ in the place of authority. Our faith-filled prayers have real authority. 

iii]. His purpose in helping us. To show the riches of His grace

Eph 2:7 “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” God longs to display His rich gracious kindness to His people to encourage others to recognise His character and for them also to draw upon His mercy and grace.

 A SUGGESTED PRAYER TO PRAY BASED ON EPHESIANS 2:1-7. 

“Heavenly Father, We thank You that though we were dead in our sins, You made us spiritually alive in Christ. 

We thank You that when we were held in bondage by our three main enemies, You brought us liberty. 

• You set us free from the power of the enemy around us, the pressure of the unbelieving world, as we began to trust in You.
• You set us free from the enemy against us, Satan and the powers of darkness, so that we became free to live as You wanted us to live. 
• You set us free from the enemy within us, our old nature, so that we could live for You by Your grace and power.  

We thank You too that in Your great love and mercy for us, You made us alive with Christ and made us to sit with Him in the place of honour and acceptance at Your right hand. 

We thank You that You have shown us and will continue to show us in the days ahead, just how much You love us. 

Accept our grateful thanks for all Your mercies to us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN!”

Blog No.501 posted on Wednesday 27 September 2023