Ephesians 2 — But God, Who Is Rich in Mercy
Paul paints the believer's pre-conversion state in the bleakest possible terms: dead in trespasses, walking according to the course of this world, children of wrath. Then come two of the Bible's mightiest words — but God. Rich in mercy, He has made the dead alive together with Christ. By grace are ye saved through faith. The chapter's second half: the cross has broken down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, making one new man and one household of God, built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
— Ephesians 2:8-9
- v.1-3 Dead in trespasses — children of wrath
- v.4-7 But God — quickened together with Christ
- v.8-10 By grace through faith; created unto good works
- v.11-13 Sometimes far off — now made nigh by the blood
- v.14-18 The middle wall broken down — one new man
- v.19-22 No more strangers — a holy temple in the Lord
Three influences before conversion: the course of this world (the human current we drift in), the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience (the inner pull of our own rebellion). All three operate at once.
By nature children of wrath — this is not what we became; this is what we were born. Original sin in three words.
Paul includes himself with the rest. The Pharisee of Pharisees was no exception.
Two of the most consequential words in the Bible: But God. They break verse 3's death-sentence in half. Whatever is true on one side is reversed by what is true on the other.
Rich in mercy — His mercy is not rationed. He spends it from infinite reserves.
When we were dead — He did not wait for us to improve. He acted at our worst.
The parenthesis by grace ye are saved will be unfolded in verse 8. Paul cannot finish the sentence without slipping it in.
By grace — the means. Through faith — the channel. Not of yourselves — the disclaimer. The gift of God — the source.
Even the faith that lays hold of grace is itself God's gift. Salvation is of the Lord at every link.
The motive God excludes. Boasting in heaven is impossible because boasting in heaven is forbidden by the way salvation came.
Works are not the root of salvation but its fruit. God has prepared specific works for each believer to walk in — already laid out in His plan.
Workmanship — Greek poiēma, our word poem. Each saved person is a divine composition.
Far off — outside the covenants, the prophets, the temple. Gentile distance described in spatial terms.
The blood does not just save individuals; it bridges nations. Distance is collapsed in the cross.
Middle wall — the temple in Jerusalem had a literal wall in the Court of the Gentiles, with inscriptions threatening death to any Gentile who crossed. Paul may have had this exact wall in mind. The cross broke it down.
He is our peace — not merely makes it. Is it. Peace is a Person before it is a feeling.
A whole Trinity at work in a single verse. Through Him (Son) by one Spirit (Spirit) unto the Father (Father). The believer's prayer life passes through all three Persons.
The apostles and prophets are the foundation (cf. Rev 21:14). Christ is the chief cornerstone — the stone that ties the foundation together and sets the angle for the whole building.
The church's foundation is laid; no other can be laid (1 Cor 3:11). What we add to it is the building, not the foundation.
Mark in your Bible the but God of verse 4. Whenever the news of your past, your guilt, or your hopelessness rises, hold that page open. Three verses describe what you were; the rest of the chapter describes what He has made you. Memorize verses 8-10 as a single unit: grace as the cause, faith as the channel, works as the fruit.
The chapter could be titled by the verbs done in Christ: quickened, raised, made-to-sit, brought near, made one, given access, builded into a habitation. Every verb has the same subject — God — and the same locus — Christ. The Christian life is what God has done in Christ to and for the formerly dead.
Dead — not weak, not sick, not stumbling. Dead. The condition is total inability, not partial deficit.
Quickened — made alive. The verb echoes Genesis 2:7 where God breathed into clay. Spiritual life is the same divine breath, given again.