Ephesians

2:1-10

2. The mystery and the church - we are all one in Christ, 2:1-22

i] How we are united with God through Christ

In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, 1:15-2:20, he prays for his readers, asking for wisdom. This prayer is amplified through a description of God's wondrous power in raising Christ to life, 1:19-23 and by raising us to new life, 2:1-10. In this passage Paul deals with the issue of God's life-giving power.

Paul has already introduced the theme of his letter, "the power of God's actions in Christ", O'Brien, and now he further develops it by reminding his readers that a mighty change "has been effected in their lives: they were spiritually dead, v1-3, but out of his great kindness and mercy God has raised and exalted them with Christ, v4-7", O'Brien. The reality of this salvation, achieved in Christ, is summarized in v8-10. This passage, dealing with the idea of the Gentiles, once lost, now saved, is paralleled in v11-22 with a similar construct, of Gentiles separated from the covenant promises now reconciled and included in God's people. Both passages are considered as examples of narratio in rhetorical criticism, but see introductory notes.

The mystery / gospel (of your salvation), which concerns the summing up / uniting of all things in Christ, "the boundless riches of Christ", or simply "Christ", reveals the power of God's actions in Christ. "In chapters 2 and 3 Paul explains the execution of this eternal plan by showing how God makes sinners into saints and builds them into the church, the body of Christ. In 2:1-10 Paul states how sinners, who deserve nothing but God's wrath, became trophies of his grace", Hoehner.

In the Gk. the passage consists of two sentences. The first, v1-7, takes as its main verb suneqwopoihsen, "he made alive with", the subject being "God". The second sentence, v8-10, takes as its main verb the paraphrastic construction este sesw/smenoi, "you have been saved."

Gentiles, prior to their conversion, were dead in their transgressions and sins, v1-3.

kai "as for" - and. Connective, not with 1:23, but "with the whole of the preceding pericope", Lincoln.

uJmaV pro. "you" - Emphatic use of the pronoun. "You" is plural = "you Gentiles." "The power of God historically and presently operating in Christ is also working in you", Hoehner.

ontaV (eimi) pres. part. "were" - Here introducing a parenthesis which continues through to v4, so interrupting the sentence "and you ..... he made alive in/with Christ. The participle is probably adverbial, concessive; "although dead in your transgressions and sins." Note the concessive clause is repeated at the beginning of v5 as Paul picks up again on his main point, although there it is "we" not "you"; "so (kai coordinating) although we were dead in trespasses he made [you/us] alive in/with Christ."

nekrouV adj. "dead" - "Spiritually dead", TEV.

toiV paraptwmasin (a) dat. "in [your] transgressions" - falling away, slip, trespass. The dative here is probably not instrumental, ie. dead "by means of your transgressions", and certainly not causal, "dead because you sinned and fought against God", CEV", rather, it is descriptive of the state of death; their death is not like Christ's, but is a death in/of sin, dead while alive because of sin, ie. a local dative of sphere, as NIV.

uJmwn gen. "your" - The genitive is possibly subjective, so Larkin, but better possessive.

en + dat. "in [which]" - Local, sphere.

periepathsate (peripatew) aor. "you used to live" - you walked about..... A term Paul uses for life-style, particularly with moral connotations. It reflects the word "way", a term which encapsulates the Christian life. The word has the same meaning as "lived" in v3, so "to conduct oneself."

kata + acc. "when you followed" - according to. Here probably adverbial, expressing manner, "after the manner of [the values of the world]". Introducing a prepositional phrase which "describes the walk before conversion", Hoehner.

ton aiwna tou kosmou toutou gen. "the ways of this world" - the age/eon of this world. The genitive "world" is adjectival, attributive; "worldly age." The phrase is not easily rendered in English. It's "this age" and "this world", both describing a single entity, an entity that is passing away and will soon be replaced by the age to come; an entity the believer is to live in, but not be conformed to. "This present evil age", Gal.1:4.

kata + acc. "and" - according to. "After the manner of [the prince of darkness]", as above.

ton arconta (wn ontoV) "ruler" - prince, ruler, governor... Here a term for Satan, Beelzebub, the prince/power of darkness.

thV exousiaV (a) gen. "of the kingdom" - of the power, authority / domain, realm. The genitive is adjectival, of subordination, "the ruler over the domain of the air", or attributive, "the evil powers who haunt the air", Barclay. Probably as NIV, "kingdom", in the sense of the domain where authority is exercised.

tou aeroV (ahr) "of the air" - of the air, atmosphere. The genitive is adjectival, epexegetic. It was believed that Satan and his minions operate in the air between the earth and the moon, which operation was curtailed when confined to the deep / the waters under and around the earth. "The ruler of the spiritual powers in space", TEV.

tou pneumatoV (a atoV) gen. "the spirit" - of the spirit. "Spirit" should be in apposition (one noun against another in a sentence to expand the meaning) to "ruler", but they don't agree in case. "Kingdom" and "air" are genitive, so is "spirit" in apposition to "of the power/kingdom/authority of the air"? This doesn't work. It does agree with "[the ruler] of the eon of this world" and therefore may mean "[the ruler] of the spirit of this age" which has taken root in the lives of the rebellious.

nun adv. "now" - Temporal.

tou ... energountoV (energew) pres. part. "who is [now] at work" - the one now working. The participle is adjectival, attributive; "the ruler of the spirit of this age who is now working ...."

en + dat. "in" - Spacial, sphere; "among".

toiV uiJoiV thV apeiqeiaV (a) "those who are disobedient" - the sons of disobedience. A Hebraism = "the disobedient ones." There are numerous "sons of ......" in the scriptures. "Everyone who doesn't obey God", CEV.

kai hJmeiV "all of us also" - also we. Possibly "we" = Jews, so, "we Jewish believers also", so O'Brien, although panteV, "all", "we all", Jews and Gentiles, is also possible, so Hoehner. If "we" = Jewish believers then Paul is saying that the Jews were in a similar situation, following their own sinful desires and facing God's judgment because of it.

anestrafhmen (anastrefw) aor. pas. "lived" - conducted ourselves, followed (in the sense of imitated). "We Jews, like all humanity, did what we wanted to do."

en + dat. "among them" - in [whom]. Spacial / sphere, "among whom", ie. "among the sons of disobedience."

en + dat. "-" - in [the lusts]. Expressing the sphere of their walk/life, so adverbial, modal, expressing the manner of their living "among them", namely ""lived a life dominated by the desire of our lower nature", Barclay.

thV sarkoV (x koV) gen. "of [our] sinful nature" - of the flesh [of us]. The genitive is usually treated as subjective here such that it is the flesh that produces the desires, but possessive is just as valid in that the desires belong to the flesh, are a natural accompaniment of the flesh. The term usually takes a negative sense, of the corrupted flesh, of humanity in rebellion against God, and thus with a negative ethical connotation.

hJmwn "our" - Again the problem "Jews" or "all humanity".

poiounteV (poiew) pres. part. "and following [its desires]" - doing [the desires of the flesh]. The participle is adverbial, modal, expressing the manner of their living "among them" = "among the sons of disobedience."

twn dianoiwn (a) "thoughts" - of the understanding, thought, mind, intention. The genitive may again be subjective or simply possessive; "performing the desires of the flesh and [the desires] of the reasoning process." Often the word "heart" is used in the scriptures to represent the seat of understanding. All humanity is sinful through and through, acting out the natural urges of the body and the deceitful reasonings of the mind.

kai "-" - and. Here epexegetic; "that is / namely, we (Jews ??) deserve God's anger like the rest of humanity."

fusei (iV ewV) dat. "by nature" - origin, descent / inherent to nature, natural condition / created nature. The first sense is likely, while the dative is instrumental, "we were by descent (by means of the inheritance of our parent's sin) objects of divine anger", or possibly causal, "because of." Either way, the issue is original sin. Describing a condition without moral overtones, "tis the way I am."

tekna ... orghV (h) "objects of wrath" - children of wrath. A Hebraism similar to "sons of disobedience." Destined to suffer God's anger", TEV.

Yet, although once lost, God, in his mercy, has made believing Jews and Gentiles alive with Christ, v4-7. "Having discussed the terrible situation of the unregenerate, Paul now demonstrates the gracious act of God in redeeming people from their desperate straits", Hoehner.

de "but" - but, and. Here adversative, as NIV.

dia + acc. "because of" - because of, on account of. Causal; "out of his great love", BAGD.

h}n pro. "for [us]" - which [he loved us]. Introducing a relative clause indicating that the divine love is directed toward "us". Although the "we" of v3 may be "we Jews", the "us" here is most likely not believing Jews, but all God's people, ie. it is inclusive.

w]n (eimi) pres. part. "[God] who is" - [God] being. The participle is possibly adjectival, descriptive, attributive, "God who is rich in mercy", or adverbial, causal, "because he was rich in mercy", so Lincoln, Larkin, or temporal, "God, being as he is, rich in mercy, because of his great love, (v5) even though we were dead in sins, made us alive ....", so Ellicott, Hoehner.

plousioV adj. "rich" - The adjective serves as a substantive, nominative predicate of the participle "being", fronted for emphasis; "God being rich", cf. Larkin.

en + dat. "in [mercy]" - Reference / respect, "with respect to mercy", Larkin, or simply spacial / sphere, "the sphere in which God is rich, namely, in mercy", Hoehner.

sunezwopoihsen (suzwpoiew) aor. "made us alive with" - quickened, make alive together with. Main verb of the sentence covering v1-7. The word is used only here and in Colossians 2:13. Barth suggests the meaning may be "to keep alive" in the sense of preserve life. The move from "made", v5, to "raised", v6, is not progressive. "Raised us to life with Christ", Barclay.

tw/ Cristw/ dat. "Christ" - in/with Christ. Dative of direct object, here prompted by the sun verb "made alive together with." Prompted by the verb, the meaning is one of identification with Christ, here an identification with his resurrection.

o[ntaV (eimi) pres. part. "even when [we] were" - [we] being. As in v1, the participle is adverbial, probably concessive; "although we were dead." Resumptive, ie. Paul is picking up on the thought he began with in v1.

toiV paraptwmasin (a) "in transgressions" - in trespassers. Locative dative, of space / sphere.

cariti (iV ewV) dat. "by grace" - by grace, favour, gratitude, kindness. The dative is obviously instrumental. In the New Testament it means "grace" in the sense of a gift or blessing given to believers by God through Christ. In a more specific sense, particularly when reflecting an Old Testament use, it means "God's covenant mercy", his "favour" toward his covenant community in the realization of his covenant promises. With Paul it is often used with a defining genitive, eg. "the grace/favour/kindness of God."

seswsmenoi (swzw) perf. part. "you have been saved" - you are having been saved. The participle with the present tense of the verb to-be forming a periphrastic perfect, probably serving to emphasize aspect, "the resulting state", Best, Larkin. It is not a present tense as if salvation is a process, nor is it aorist as if salvation is a single divine act, nor is it imperfect as if only a past continuous act, but rather it is perfect in that it is a past act with present permanent ongoing consequences.

It is easy to slip over the profound nature of Paul's statement in this verse. The idea that a believer is already seated with Christ in the heavenlies is driven by Paul's understanding of the gospel. The gospel / the mystery manifests, and thus facilitates, the "righteousness of God" / God's righteous reign / his setting all things right, and this on the basis of the appropriation of the faith/faithfulness of Christ. The person who is justified / set right with God / who lives, realizes the fullness of new life in Christ such that they already possess the totality of God's promised blessings. So, even now we are with Christ in the heavenlies experiencing the fullness of God's promised new life. Given Paul's understanding of this truth it is no wonder that he gets distressed by the notion that a believer can promote their Christian life by law-obedience, as if we can add to what Christ has achieved for us. As the saying goes, Christ supplemented is Christ supplanted.

kai "and" - O'Brien and Schnackenburg suggest that the particle here is epexegetic such that the following two verbs explain "made alive with"; "that is, he raised us with him ....."

sunhgeiren (sunegeirw) aor. "God raised us up with Christ" - he raised up together with. The "us" and "Christ" is understood. This verb, as with "made alive" and "seated with" are all "aspects of the same act of God", Best. Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, we too were dead and through our identification with Christ we are raised from the dead (dead to sin and therefore raised from spiritual death) and have ascended with Christ.

sunekaqisen (sunkaqizw) aor. "seated us with him" - seated together with, sit down together with someone. "Has given us a place beside Christ in heaven", CEV.

en toiV epouranioiV (oV) "in the heavenly realms" - heavenly, heaven, spiritual sphere. The preposition is locative, space / sphere, "in"; it is in the sphere of spiritual activities where Christ reigns.

en + dat. "in [Christ Jesus]" - Expressing association; believers have been made alive with Christ, raised with him and are seated with him in the heavenlies, so Best, O'Brien, Lincoln. Larkin opts for a local sense, "incorporative union".

iJna + subj. "in order that" - that. Introducing a purpose clause. Christ was glorified for the purpose of ....

en + dat. "in [the coming ages]" - in [the ages]. The preposition here serves to introduce a temporal clause, "the time when God will demonstrate his kindness", Hoehner; "in the ages to come", Cassirer.

toiV epercomenoiV (ercomai) pres. part. "coming [ages]" - The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "ages"; "the ages which are coming." "Future ages", Barclay.

endeixhtai (endeiknumi) aor. subj. pas/mid. "he might show" - he might display, demonstrate, manifest, give evidence to, show forth. "He might display", Bruce.

to uJperballon (uperballw) pres. part. "the incomparable" - the exceeding, surpassing, extraordinary. The participle is adjectival, limiting "riches / abundance / wealth". From the idea of throw beyond. "Extraordinary greatness", TEV.

thV caritoV (iV itoV) gen. "of [his] grace" - of the grace, unmerited favor [of him]. The genitive is adjectival, attributed, where the head noun "[incomparable] riches" limits / modifies the genitive "grace". Larkin suggests epexegetic, Hoehner "of the thing"; "the surpassing wealth which is his grace", cf. 1:7.

en + dat. "in" - Possibly adverbial, expressing manner, "in kindness toward us", so Larkin.

crhstotthti (hV htoV) "his kindness" - goodness, kindness. Of showing kindness toward another, that which is useful, what is benevolent, benevolence*. "That he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in (expressed in) his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

ef (epi) + acc. "to" - towards. Spacial, as NIV.

en + dat. "in [Christ Jesus]" - Locative, giving the location, namely the person and work of Christ, of the action of God's unmerited favor which operates toward us, so Hoehner, Best. Larkin opts for a local sense, "incorporative union", so also O'Brien; Abbott opts for reason, "because of Christ"; and Calvin goes for instrumental, "by Christ".

Now, alive with Christ, believers, both Jew and Gentile, are a new creation, v8-10.

gar "for" - Expressing cause / reason, explaining how salvation (being made alive, raised up and seated with Christ) is all of God's grace and is apart from works of the law.

th/ .. cariti (is ewV) dat. "it is by grace" - The dative is instrumental, means; "by the means of God's unmerited favor" we are saved. Unlike v5 there is an article, but this simply indicates that the phrase is being repeated; "for by this grace (the grace I was speaking about earlier) ....

este sesw/smenoi (swzw) perf. pas. part. "you have been saved" - A periphrastic perfect construction emphasizing aspect, here "the resulting state", Larkin, Best.

dia + gen. "through [faith]" - through, by means of the instrumentality of [faith]. It is always difficult to know how Paul intends us to understand the word "faith". He seems to use it in a technical sense where there is a relationship between Christ's faith/ faithfulness, his obedience to the will of God on our behalf, and our faith in Christ's faithfulness. The presence of an article may indicate that both ideas are intended, the preposition ek "out of" / "on the basis of" possibly stresses Christ's faithfulness, while the preposition dia, as here, possibly stresses our reliance / trust. If we take "faith" to mean "reliance on the faithfulness of Christ" we probably come close to what Paul intends.

kai "and" - Possibly epexegetic; "that is to say, ...."

touto pro. "this" - Barth points out that the pronoun could refer back to either "faith", "saved", or "grace. Hoehner thinks it refers indirectly to all three, ie. "the concept of salvation by grace through faith." So, referring to a salvation achieved apart from works of faithfulness. The "this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God" is therefore not referring to "faith". In support of "faith", the Westminster Shorted Catechism states that saving faith is a gift of God's grace by which the Holy Spirit acts to "persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel".

ouk ex + gen. "not from [yourselves]" - out of, from [you]. Source. The pronoun "you" takes a reflective sense, as NIV.

qeou to dwron "it is the gift of God" - God's the gift. Since God is the predicate, "it is a gift and the gift is God's."

ex + gen. "by [works]" - Basically expressing source, "out of, from", here leaning toward result, "not the result of works", Cassirer, or means, "by", as NIV. For a Jew, the "works" are obviously the "works of the law", but for Gentiles a wider sense is implied, ie. "human effort", Hoehner. Just as salvation is not because of human initiative, v8, then neither is it a reward for good deeds, cf. O'Brien.

iJna mh "so that no one" - lest. Introducing a negated final clause expressing purpose. "Any achievement of ours is ruled out to make it impossible for anyone to boast", Barclay.

kauchshtai (kaucaomai) aor. subj. mid. "can boast" - boast, exalt proudly. When it comes to salvation, we have nothing to boast about because we have nothing to do with it - salvation rests totally on the faithfulness of Christ.

gar "for" - Expressing cause / reason, introducing an explanation as to why this salvation is not of human works.

poihma (a atoV) "workmanship" - product, design, created thing, masterpiece. A difficult word to render and only used in one other place in the New Testament, Rom.1:20. The LXX uses it for God's handiwork in the creation, so possibly "design", as in the creation of a work of art.

ktisqenteV (ktizw) aor. pas. part. "created" - having been created, founded, made. The participle is adverbial, probably causal; "because we were shaped in Christ for good works."

en "in [Christ]" - This preposition always cause problems when we try to translate a prepositional phrase like "in Christ." The sense may be local, "in our union with Christ Jesus", TEV; instrumental, "created by Christ Jesus", "through Jesus Christ we have been created", Barclay. The undecided, as NIV, live with "in".

epi + dat. "to do" - for. Here expressing purpose, "with a view to."

epi ergoiV agaqoiV "good works" - good works. "That we may do good works." Although salvation is achieved apart from / independent of good works, the consequence of salvation is the creation of a people who will perform good works. So, the divine purpose is fulfilled in good works by a people who are formed apart from good works. The "good work" is undefined and therefore may be justice (Biblical ethics), love of the brotherhood, and certainly the communication of the gospel, but is likely also to have an eternal purpose yet to be revealed (the reconciliation of all things?). It is often stated that the purpose of the "good work" is God's glory, a glory set before all powers and authorities, earthly and heavenly. Yet, such a purpose does seem to smack of self-aggrandizement and so is surely less than the full picture.

oi|V dat. pro. "which" - Dative by attraction to egoiV agaqoiV, "good works."

prohtoimasen (proetoimazw) aor. "prepared in advance" - previously prepared, prepared beforehand. The eternal purpose was in the mind of God even before the creation of the world.

iJna + subj. "for" - that. Forming a final clause expressing purpose; "in order that we might walk in them." "The divine intention .... is that we should walk in good deeds ...... show all the hallmarks of the new creation", O'Brien.

en + dat. "-" - in [them]. Local; "so that we might enjoy our lives in the doing of them (ie. the good works)", Cassirer.

peripathswmen (peripatew) aor. subj. "us to do" - we should walk about. "That we might walk", "walk" in the sense of "live out", "do."

Ephesians Introduction.

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