Click Banner to go to main page

By: Rich Puckett

As with most of my studies, my comments are in red. The blue is from Matthew Henrys and Believers Study Bible commentary.

Ephesians 2: (v. 1-10) The riches of God's grace towards men, shown from their deplorable state by nature, and the happy change Divine grace makes in them.

(v. 11-13) The Ephesians called to reflect on their state of heathenism.

(v. 14-22) And the privileges and blessings of the gospel.

The riches of God's grace towards men, shown from their deplorable state by nature, and the happy change Divine grace makes in them

This could be said like this you who Christ has made alive once being dead in your sins.

quick·en (kwkn)
v. quick·ened, quick·en·ing, quick·ens
v. tr.

1. To make more rapid; accelerate.
2. To make alive; vitalize.
3. To excite and stimulate; stir: Such stories quicken the imagination.
4. To make steeper.

v. intr.

1. To become more rapid.
2. To come or return to life: "And the weak spirit quickens" (T.S. Eliot).
3. To reach the stage of pregnancy when the fetus can be felt to move

(vv. 1-3) In 1:3-14 Paul addressed the blessings of a man "in Christ." Here he speaks of man's condition outside of Christ. Man is described in these verses as (1) a corpse (v. 1), (2) one who is controlled by the world, Satan, and the sin nature (vv. 2, 3), and (3) one who is justly condemned (v. 3b). Man's utter depravity and rebellious nature could not be expressed more concisely or clearly (cf. Rom. 3:9-20).

Eph 2:1: Verses 1-10. Sin is the death of the soul. A man dead in trespasses and sins has no desire for spiritual pleasures. When we look upon a corpse, it gives an awful feeling. A never-dying spirit is now fled, and has left nothing but the ruins of a man. But if we viewed things aright, we should be far more affected by the thought of a dead soul, a lost, fallen spirit. A state of sin is a state of conformity to this world. Wicked men are slaves to Satan. Satan is the author of that proud, carnal disposition which there is in ungodly men; he rules in the hearts of men. From Scripture it is clear, that whether men have been most prone to sensual or to spiritual wickedness, all men, being naturally children of disobedience, are also by nature children of wrath. What reason have sinners, then, to seek earnestly for that grace which will make them, of children of wrath, children of God and heirs of glory! God's eternal love or good-will toward his creatures, is the fountain whence all his mercies flow to us; and that love of God is great love, and that mercy is rich mercy. And every converted sinner is a saved sinner; delivered from sin and wrath. The grace that saves is the free, undeserved goodness and favour of God; and he saves, not by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. Grace in the soul is a new life in the soul. A regenerated sinner becomes a living soul; he lives a life of holiness, being born of God: he lives, being delivered from the guilt of sin, by pardoning and justifying grace. Sinners roll themselves in the dust; sanctified souls sit in heavenly places, are raised above this world, by Christ's grace. The goodness of God in converting and saving sinners heretofore, encourages others in after-time, to hope in his grace and mercy. Our faith, our conversion, and our eternal salvation, are not of works, lest any man should boast. These things are not brought to pass by any thing done by us, therefore all boasting is shut out. All is the free gift of God, and the effect of being quickened by his power. It was his purpose, to which he prepared us, by blessing us with the knowledge of his will, and his Holy Spirit producing such a change in us, that we should glorify God by our good conversation, and perseverance in holiness. None can from Scripture abuse this doctrine, or accuse it of any tendency to evil. All who do so, are without excuse.

(vv. 5,6) "He made alive" in v. 1 is in italics, informing us that those words do not appear in the original text. Indeed they do not actually appear until v. 5. Paul would remind us that one must understand his lost, spiritually dead, and helpless state before he can fully appreciate the salvation provided in Christ. In Christ we have been (1) made alive (spiritually), (2) raised up, and (3) seated in heavenly places. These positional privileges will in the future be experientially realized and enjoyed.

Good works can not save us. We are forgiven of our sins because we put our faith, our trust in God. There is nothing you can do in your self to forgive sin; God did that by the blood of Jesus as a gift to us. It's up to us to accept that pardon of our sins. And even more so he does not just forgive us but justifies us and make the sin of our past no more.

Grace (charis, Gk.) refers to the beneficial actions of God in which He reveals Himself, His gifts, and to some, His life -- all bestowals which grow out of His love rather than any worth or merit of man. In its biblical usage, the term refers to God's goodness manifested to undeserving man. God manifests "common grace" toward all men because they are His creatures (cf. Ps. 145:9, 15; Matt. 5:45), but the overriding exercise of His grace lies in the provision of salvation in Christ-"not by works of righteousness which we have done" (Titus 3:5). The full sense of the expression "you have been saved" is difficult to capture in English. The Greek perfect tense emphasizes action initiated in the past, the effects of which continue into the present and beyond. Therefore, salvation has a moment of initiation in the past, but the results of that primary experience continue. This is another evidence of the permanence of our salvation, a doctrine which is called the "eternal security of the believer." Salvation is the general term used to describe all that God does for the believing sinner solely on the basis of the atoning work of Christ. The work of salvation is essentially threefold: (1) The past tense, in which at the moment of faith, God justifies the believer, i.e., declares him to be perfectly righteous before a Holy God, thus freeing him forever from the legal penalty of sin. This is justification, which transpires at the moment of conversion/regeneration. (2) The present tense, which suggests that at the moment of justification the Holy Spirit permanently indwells the believer, affording him the power to resist the still-present Adamic nature, thus potentially freeing him from the power of sin. This is called sanctification, which is movement toward Christlikeness. (3) The future tense, which looks to the time when the believer receives his glorified body at Christ's appearing. Then he will be forever freed from the very presence of sin, his salvation thus totally consummated. This is called glorification, and is the perfect realization of Christlikeness as glorified humanity.

How often we hear some one say look what I have done. We can do nothing, of our self, we must give God the glory. You can build fine church's, feed the poor, heal the sick but if your heart is not right with God, if you have not been born of his Spirit you are still lost in the end.

(vv. 9,10) We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works. The word "workmanship" (poiema, Gk.) carries the idea of a "work of art." The English word "poem" is derived from this Greek word.

We are to do good works, because faith without works is dead.

The Ephesians called to reflect on their state of heathenism

Eph 2:11: Verses 11-13. Christ and his covenant are the foundation of all the Christian's hopes. A sad and terrible description is here; but who is able to remove himself out of it? Would that this were not a true description of many baptized in the name of Christ. Who can, without trembling, reflect upon the misery of a person, separated for ever from the people of God, cut off from the body of Christ, fallen from the covenant of promise, having no hope, no Saviour, and without any God but a God of vengeance, to all eternity? To have no part in Christ! What true Christian can hear this without horror? Salvation is far from the wicked; but God is a help at hand to his people; and this is by the sufferings and death of Christ.

You are not a Christian because you're white, black, or Jew you are one because of your heart changes.

And the privileges and blessings of the gospel

The "middle wall of separation" refers to the Mosaic Law, but may be symbolized by the wall in the temple which separated the court of the Gentiles from the court of the Jews -- the wall beyond which no Gentile was permitted to pass. Stone markers, engraved in Hebrew and Greek, warned Gentiles against crossing the line on pain of death. One complete marker and a fragment of another have been excavated from Herod's temple. In Acts 21:27-29, Paul was falsely accused of bringing the Ephesian Trophimus into the Jewish area and desecrating the temple. The elaborate Jewish observances of the law, including the painful rite of circumcision, had long represented hindrances to the Greeks' coming into the synagogue as full Jews. Many preferred to remain "God-fearers" and worship God at a distance. There was no longer any reason for one to feel left out of the full worship of the true God.

Eph 2:14: Verses 14-18. Jesus Christ made peace by the sacrifice of himself; in every sense Christ was their Peace, the author, centre, and substance of their being at peace with God, and of their union with the Jewish believers in one church. Through the person, sacrifice, and mediation of Christ, sinners are allowed to draw near to God as a Father, and are brought with acceptance into his presence, with their worship and services, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, as one with the Father and the Son. Christ purchased leave for us to come to God; and the Spirit gives a heart to come, and strength to come, and then grace to serve God acceptably.

There is only one Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit.

There is but one true church, one family of God, and if you are born again it does not matter what you call yourself such as Baptist or whatever. There has been to long to much fighting among the family of God.

Eph 2:19: Verses 19-22. The church is compared to a city, and every converted sinner is free of it. It is also compared to a house, and every converted sinner is one of the family; a servant, and a child in God's house. The church is also compared to a building, founded on the doctrine of Christ; delivered by the prophets of the Old Testament, and the apostles of the New. God dwells in all believers now; they become the temple of God through the working of the blessed Spirit. Let us then ask if our hopes are fixed on Christ, according to the doctrine of his word? Have we devoted ourselves as holy temples to God through him? Are we habitations of God by the Spirit, are we spiritually-minded, and do we bring forth the fruits of the Spirit? Let us take heed not to grieve the holy Comforter. Let us desire his gracious presence, and his influences upon our hearts. Let us seek to discharge the duties allotted to us, to the glory of God.