@Eph 2:1-22. GOD'S LOVE AND GRACE IN QUICKENING US, ONCE DEAD, THROUGH CHRIST. HIS PURPOSE IN DOING SO: EXHORTATION BASED ON OUR PRIVILEGES AS BUILT TOGETHER, AN HOLY TEMPLE, IN CHRIST, THROUGH THE SPIRIT.
1. And you--"You also," among those who have experienced His mighty
power in enabling them to believe (@Eph 1:19-23).
hath he quickened--supplied from the Greek (@Eph 2:5).
dead--spiritually. (@Col 2:13). A living corpse: without the
gracious presence of God's Spirit in the soul, and so unable to think,
will, or do aught that is holy.
in trespasses . . . sins--in them, as the element in which the
unbeliever is, and through which he is dead to the true life. Sin is the
death of the soul. @Isa 9:2 Joh 5:25, "dead" (spiritually),
@1Ti 5:6. "Alienated from the life of God" (@Eph 4:18).
Translate, as Greek, "in your trespasses," &c. "Trespass" in
Greek, expresses a
FALL or
LAPSE, such as the transgression of Adam
whereby he fell. "Sin." (Greek, "hamartia") implies innate
corruption and ALIENATION from God (literally,
erring of the mind from the rule of truth), exhibited in acts of sin
(Greek, "hamartemata").
BENGEL, refers "trespasses" to
the Jews who had the law, and yet revolted from it; "sins," to the
Gentiles who know not God.
2. the course of this world--the career (literally, "the age,"
compare @Ga 1:4),
or present system of this world (@1Co 2:6,12 3:18,19,
as opposed to "the world to come"): alien from God, and lying in the
wicked one (@1Jo 5:19). "The age" (which is something more external
and ethical) regulates "the world" (which is something more external).
the prince of the power of the air--the unseen God who lies underneath
guiding "the course of this world" (@2Co 4:4); ranging through the
air around us: compare @Mr 4:4, "fowls of the air" (Greek, "heaven") that is, (@Eph 2:15), "Satan" and his demo
ns.
Compare
@Eph 6:12 Joh 12:31. Christ's ascension seems to have cast Satan out
of heaven (@Re 12:5,9,10,12,13), where he had been heretofore the
accuser of the brethren (@Job 1:6-11). No longer able to accuse
in heaven those justified by Christ, the ascended Saviour
(@Ro 8:33,34), he assails them on earth with all trials and
temptations; and "we live in an atmosphere poisonous and impregnated
with deadly elements. But a mighty purification of the air will be
effected by Christ's coming"
[AUBERLEN], for Satan shall be bound
(@Re 12:12,13,15,17 20:2,3). "The power" is here used collectively
for the "powers of the air"; in apposition with which "powers" stand the
"spirits," comprehended in the singular, "the spirit," taken also
collectively: the aggregate of the "seducing spirits" (@1Ti 4:1)
which "work now (still; not merely, as in your case, 'in time past')
in the sons of disobedience" (a Hebraism: men who are not
merely by accident disobedient, but who are essentially
sons of disobedience itself: compare @Mt 3:7), and of which
Satan is here declared to be "the prince." The Greek does not allow
"the spirit" to refer to Satan, "the prince" himself, but to
"the powers of the air" of which he is prince. The powers of the air
are the embodiment of that evil "spirit" which is the ruling principle
of unbelievers, especially the heathen (@Ac 26:18), as opposed to
the spirit of the children of God (@Lu 4:33). The potency of that
"spirit" is shown in the "disobedience" of the former. Compare
@De 32:20, "children in whom is no faith" (@Isa 30:9 57:4). They
disobey the Gospel both in faith and practice (@2Th 1:8 2Co 2:12).
3. also we--that is, we also. Paul here joins himself in the
same category with them, passing from the second person (@Eph 2:1,2)
to the first person here.
all--Jews and Gentiles.
our conversation--"our way of life" (@2Co 1:12 1Pe 1:18). This
expression implies an outwardly more decorous course, than the open
"walk" in gross sins on the part of the majority of Ephesians in
times past, the Gentile portion of whom may be specially referred to in
@Eph 2:2. Paul and his Jewish countrymen, though outwardly more
seemly than the Gentiles (@Ac 26:4,5,18), had been essentially like
them in living to the unrenewed flesh, without the Spirit of God.
fulfilling--Greek, doing.
mind--Greek, "our thoughts." Mental suggestions and purposes
(independent of God), as distinguished from the blind impulses of "the
flesh."
and were by nature--He intentionally breaks off the construction,
substituting "and we were" for "and being," to mark emphatically his and
their past state by nature, as contrasted with their present state
by grace. Not merely is it, we had our way of life fulfilling our
fleshly desires, and so being children of wrath; but
we were by nature originally "children of wrath," and so consequently
had our way of life fulfilling our fleshly desires. "Nature," in
Greek, implies that which has grown in us as the peculiarity of
our being, growing with our growth, and strengthening with our
strength, as distinguished from that which has been wrought on us by
mere external influences: what is inherent, not acquired
(@Job 14:4 Ps 51:5). An incidental proof of the doctrine of original
sin.
children of wrath--not merely "sons," as in the Greek, "sons of
disobedience" (@Eph 2:2), but "children" by generation; not
merely by adoption, as "sons" might be. The Greek order more
emphatically marks this innate corruption: "Those who in their (very)
nature are children of wrath"; @Eph 2:5, "grace" is opposed to "nature"
here; and salvation (implied in @Eph 2:5,8, "saved") to "wrath."
Compare Article IX, Church of England Common Prayer Book. "Original
sin (birth-sin), standeth not in the following of Adam, but is the fault
and corruption of the nature of every man, naturally engendered of Adam
[Christ was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Ghost of the
Virgin], whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and
is of his own nature inclined to evil; and therefore, in every person
born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation." Paul
shows that even the Jews, who boasted of their birth from Abraham, were
by natural birth equally children of wrath as the Gentiles, whom the
Jews despised on account of their birth from idolaters
(@Ro 3:9 5:12-14). "Wrath abideth" on all who disobey the Gospel
in faith and practice (@Joh 3:36). The phrase, "children of wrath,"
is a Hebraism, that is, objects of God's wrath from childhood, in our
natural state, as being born in the sin which God hates. So "son of
death" (@2Sa 12:5, Margin); "son of perdition"
(@Joh 17:12 2Th 2:3).
as others--Greek, "as the rest" of mankind are
(@1Th 4:13).
4. God, who is rich--Greek "(as) being rich in mercy."
for--that is, "because of His great love." This was the special ground of God's saving us; as "rich in mercy" (compare
@Eph 2:7 1:7 Ro 2:4 10:12) was the general ground. "Mercy takes
away misery; love confers salvation"
[BENGEL].
5. dead in sins--The best reading is in the Greek, "dead in our (literally, 'the') trespasses."
quickened--"vivified" spiritually, and consequences hereafter,
corporally. There must be a spiritual resurrection of the soul before
there can be a comfortable resurrection of the body
[PEARSON]
(@Joh 11:25,26 Ro 8:11).
together with Christ--The Head being seated at God's right hand, the
body also sits there with Him [CHRYSOSTOM].
We are already seated there
IN Him ("in Christ Jesus," @Eph 2:6), and hereafter shall be seated
by Him; IN Him already as in our Head, which is the ground of our
hope; by Him hereafter, as by the conferring cause, when hope shall
be swallowed up in fruition [PEARSON].
What God wrought in Christ, He
wrought (by the very fact) in all united to Christ, and one with Him.
by grace ye are saved--Greek, "Ye are in a saved state." Not
merely "ye are being saved," but ye "are passed from death unto life"
(@Joh 5:24). Salvation is to the Christian not a thing to be waited
for hereafter, but already realized (@1Jo 3:14). The parenthetic
introduction of this clause here (compare @Eph 2:8) is a burst of
Paul's feeling, and in order to make the Ephesians feel that grace from first to last is the sole source of salvation; hence, too, he says
"ye," not "we."
6. raised us up together--with Christ. The "raising up" presupposes
previous quickening of Jesus in the tomb, and of us in the grave of our
sins.
made us sit together--with Christ, namely, in His ascension. Believers
are bodily in heaven in point of right, and virtually so in spirit, and
have each their own place assigned there, which in due time they shall
take possession of (@Php 3:20,21). He does not say,
"on the right hand of God"; a prerogative reserved to Christ
peculiarly; though they shall share His throne (@Re 3:21).
in Christ Jesus--Our union with Him is the ground of our present
spiritual, and future bodily, resurrection and ascension. "Christ Jesus"
is the phrase mostly used in this Epistle, in which the office of
the Christ, the Anointed Prophet, Priest and King, is the prominent
thought; when the Person is prominent, "Jesus Christ" is the phrase
used.
7. Greek, "That He might show forth (middle reflexive voice; for
His own glory, @Eph 1:6,12,14) in the ages which are coming on,"
that is, the blessed ages of the Gospel which supersede "the age (Greek, for 'course') of this world" (@Eph 2:2), and the past
"ages" from which the mystery was hidden (@Col 1:26,27). These good
ages, though beginning with the first preaching of the Gospel,
and thenceforth continually succeeding one another, are not
consummated till the Lord's coming again (compare @Eph 1:21 Heb 6:5).
The words, "coming on," do not exclude the time then present, but
imply simply the ages following upon Christ's "raising them up
together" spiritually (@Eph 2:6).
kindness--"benignity."
through Christ--rather, as Greek, "in Christ"; the same expression
as is so often repeated, to mark that all our blessings center
"IN
HIM."
8. For--illustrating "the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness."
Translate as in @Eph 2:5, "Ye are in a saved state."
through faith--the effect of the power of Christ's resurrection
(@Eph 1:19,20 Php 3:10) whereby we are "raised together" with Him
(@Eph 2:6 Col 2:12). Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "through
your (literally, 'the') faith." The instrument or mean of salvation
on the part of the person saved; Christ alone is the meritorious agent.
and that--namely, the act of believing, or "faith." "Of yourselves"
stands in opposition to, "it is the gift of God" (@Php 1:29). "That
which I have said, 'through faith,' I do not wish to be understood so as
if I excepted faith itself from grace"
[ESTIUS]. "God justifies
the believing man, not for the worthiness of his belief, but for the
worthiness of Him in whom he believes"
[HOOKER]. The initiation, as well
as the increase, of faith, is from the Spirit of God, not only by an
external proposal of the word, but by internal illumination in the soul
[PEARSON]. Yet "faith" cometh by the means which man must avail himself
of, namely, "hearing the word of God" (@Ro 10:17), and prayer
(@Lu 11:13), though the blessing is wholly of God (@1Co 3:6,7).
9. Not of works--This clause stands in contrast to "by grace," as is
confirmed by @Ro 4:4,5 11:6.
lest--rather, as Greek, "that no man should boast"
(@Ro 3:27 4:2).
10. workmanship--literally, "a thing of His making"; "handiwork."
Here the spiritual creation, not the physical, is referred to
(@Eph 2:8,9).
created--having been created
(@Eph 4:24 Ps 102:18 Isa 43:21 2Co 5:5,17).
unto good works--"for good works." "Good works" cannot be performed
until we are new "created unto" them. Paul never calls the works of the
law "good works." We are not saved by, but created unto, good
works.
before ordained--Greek, "before made ready" (compare
@Joh 5:36). God marks out for each in His purposes beforehand, the
particular good works, and the time and way which tie sees best. God
both makes ready by His providence the opportunities for the works, and makes us ready for their performance (@Joh 15:16 2Ti 2:21).
that we should walk in them--not "be saved" by them. Works do not
justify, but the justified man works (@Ga 5:22-25).
11. The Greek order in the oldest manuscripts is, "That in time
past (literally, once) ye," &c. Such remembrance sharpens gratitude
and strengthens faith (@Eph 2:19) [BENGEL].
Gentiles in the flesh--that is, Gentiles in respect to circumcision.
called Uncircumcision--The Gentiles were called (in contempt), and
were, the Uncircumcision; the Jews were called, but were not truly,
the Circumcision [ELLICOTT].
in the flesh made by hands--as opposed to the true "circumcision of
the heart in the Spirit, and not the letter" (@Ro 2:29), "made without
the hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ" (@Col 2:11).
12. without Christ--Greek, "separate from Christ"; having no
part in Him; far from Him. A different Greek word (aneu) would
be required to express, "Christ was not present with you"
[TITTMANN].
aliens--Greek, "alienated from," not merely "separated from."
The Israelites were cut off from the commonwealth of God, but it was as
being self-righteous, indolent, and unworthy, not as aliens and
strangers [CHRYSOSTOM]. The expression, "alienated from," takes it
for granted that the Gentiles, before they had apostatized from the
primitive truth, had been sharers in light and life (compare
@Eph 4:18,23). The hope of redemption through the Messiah, on their
subsequent apostasy, was embodied into a definite "commonwealth" or
polity, namely, that "of Israel," from which the Gentiles were
alienated. Contrast @Eph 2:13 Eph 3:6 4:4,5, with @Ps 147:20.
covenants of promise--rather, ". . . of the promise," namely, "to
thee and thy seed will I give this land" (@Ro 9:4 Ga 3:16). The plural
implies the several renewals of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, and with the whole people at Sinai [ALFORD]. "The promise" is
singular, to signify that the covenant, in reality, and substantially,
is one and the same at all times, but only different in its accidents
and external circumstances (compare @Heb 1:1, "at sundry times and
in divers manners").
having no . . . hope--beyond this life (@1Co 15:19). The
CONJECTURES of heathen philosophers as to a future life were at best
vague and utterly unsatisfactory. They had no divine "promise," and
therefore no sure ground of "hope." Epicurus and Aristotle did not
believe in it at all. The Platonists believed the soul passed through
perpetual changes, now happy, and then again miserable; the Stoics, that
it existed no longer than till the time of the general burning up of all
things.
without God--Greek, "atheists," that is, they had not "God" in
the sense we use the word, the Eternal Being who made and governs all
things (compare @Ac 14:15, "Turn from these vanities unto
the living God who made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all
things therein"), whereas the Jews had distinct ideas of God and
immortality. Compare also @Ga 4:8, "Ye knew not God . . . ye did
service unto them which are no gods" (@1Th 4:5). So also pantheists
are atheists, for an impersonal God is
NO GOD, and an ideal immortality
no immortality [THOLUCK].
in the world--in contrast to belonging to "the commonwealth of Israel."
Having their portion and their all in this godless vain world
(@Ps 17:14), from which Christ delivers His people
(@Joh 15:19 17:14 Ga 1:4).
13. now--in contrast to "at that time" (@Eph 2:12).
in Christ Jesus--"Jesus" is here added, whereas the expression before
(@Eph 2:12) had been merely "Christ," to mark that they know Christ
as the personal Saviour, "Jesus."
sometimes--Greek, "aforetime."
far off--the Jewish description of the Gentiles. Far off from God and
from the people of God (@Eph 2:17 Isa 57:19 Ac 2:39).
are--Greek, "have been."
by--Greek, "in." Thus "the blood of Christ" is made the seal of
a covenant IN which their nearness to God consists. In @Eph 1:7, where
the blood is more directly spoken of as the instrument, it is
"through His blood" [ALFORD].
14. he--Greek, "Himself" alone, pre-eminently, and none else.
Emphatical.
our peace--not merely "Peacemaker," but "Himself" the price of our
(Jews' and Gentiles' alike) peace with God, and so the bond of union
between "both" in God. He took both into Himself, and reconciled them,
united, to God, by His assuming our nature and our penal and legal
liabilities (@Eph 2:15 Isa 9:5,6 53:5 Mic 5:5 Col 1:20). His title,
"Shiloh," means the same (@Ge 49:10).
the middle wall of partition--Greek, ". . . of the partition"
or "fence"; the middle wall which parted Jew and Gentile. There
was a balustrade of stone which separated the court of the Gentiles from
the holy place, which it was death for a Gentile to pass. But this,
though incidentally alluded to, was but a symbol of the partition
itself, namely, "the enmity" between "both" and God (@Eph 2:15), the real cause of separation from God, and so the mediate
cause of their separation from one another. Hence there was a twofold
wall of partition, one the inner wall, severing the Jewish people from
entrance to the holy part of the temple where the priests officiated,
the other the outer wall, separating the Gentile proselytes from access
to the court of the Jews (compare @Eze 44:7 Ac 21:28). Thus this
twofold wall represented the Sinaitic law, which both severed all
men, even the Jews, from access to God (through sin, which is the
violation of the law), and also separated the Gentiles from the Jews. As
the term "wall" implies the strength of the partition, so "fence"
implies that it was easily removed by God when the due time came.
15. Rather, make "enmity" an apposition to "the middle wall of
partition"; "Hath broken down the middle wall of partition
(not merely as English Version, 'between us,' but also
between all men and God), to wit, the enmity
(@Ro 8:7) by His flesh"
(compare @Eph 2:16 Ro 8:3).
the law of commandments contained in--Greek, "the law of the
commandments (consisting) in ordinances." This law was "the partition"
or "fence," which embodied the expression of the "enmity" (the "wrath"
of God against our sin, and our enmity to Him, @Eph 2:3)
(@Ro 4:15 5:20 7:10,11 8:7). Christ has in, or by, His crucified
flesh, abolished it, so far as its condemning and enmity-creating power
is concerned (@Col 2:14), substituting for it the law of love, which
is the everlasting spirit of the law, and which flows from the
realization in the soul of His love in His death for us. Translate what
follows, "that He might make the two (Jews and Gentiles) into one new
man." Not that He might merely reconcile the two to each other, but
incorporate the two, reconciled in Him to God, into one new man; the old
man to which both belonged, the enemy of God, having been slain in His
flesh on the cross. Observe, too, ONE new man; we are all in God's sight
but one in Christ, as we are but one in Adam [ALFORD].
making peace--primarily between all and God, secondarily between Jews
and Gentiles; He being "our peace." This "peace-making" precedes its
publication (@Eph 2:17).
16. Translate, "might altogether reconcile them both in one body (the
Church, @Col 3:15) unto God through His cross." The Greek for
"reconcile" (apocatalaxe), found only here and in @Col 1:20,
expresses not only a return to favor with one (catallage), but so to
lay aside enmity that complete amity follows; to pass from enmity to
complete reconciliation [TITTMANN].
slain the enmity--namely, that had been between man and God; and so
that between Jew and Gentile which had resulted from it. By His being
slain, He slew it (compare @Heb 2:14).
thereby--Greek, "therein"; "in" or "by the cross," that is, His
crucifixion (@Col 2:15).
17. Translate, "He came and announced glad tidings of peace." "He came"
of His own free love, and "announced peace" with His own mouth to the
apostles (@Lu 24:36 Joh 20:19,21,26); and by them to others, through
His Spirit present in His Church (@Joh 14:18). @Ac 26:23 is
strictly parallel; after His resurrection "He showed light to the people
('them that were nigh') and to the Gentiles ('you that were afar off'),"
by His Spirit in His ministers (compare @1Pe 3:19).
and to them--The oldest manuscripts insert "peace" again: "And peace
to them." The repetition implies the joy with which both alike would
dwell again and again upon the welcome word "peace." So @Isa 57:19.
18. Translate, "For it is through Him (@Joh 14:6; @Heb 10:19) that we have our access (@Eph 3:12 Ro 5:2), both of us, in (that is, united in, that is, "by," @1Co 12:13, Greek) one Spirit to the Father," namely, as our common Father, reconciled to both alike; whence flows the removal of all separation between Jew and Gentile. The oneness of "the Spirit," through which we both have our access, is necessarily followed by oneness of the body, the Church (@Eph 2:16). The distinctness of persons in the Divine Trinity appears in this verse. It is also fatal to the theory of sacerdotal priests in the Gospel through whom alone the people can approach God. All alike, people and ministers, can draw nigh to God through Christ, their ever living Priest.
19. Now, therefore--rather, "So then" [ALFORD].
foreigners--rather, "sojourners"; opposed to "members of the
household," as "strangers" is to "fellow citizens." @Php 3:19,20,
"conversation," Greek, "citizenship."
but--The oldest manuscripts add, "are."
with the saints--"the commonwealth of (spiritual) Israel"
(@Eph 2:12).
of God--THE
FATHER; as
JESUS
CHRIST appears in @Eph 2:20, and
THE
SPIRIT in @Eph 2:22.
20. Translate as Greek, "Built up upon," &c. (participle;
having been built up upon; omit, therefore, "and are"). Compare
@1Co 3:11,12. The same image in @Eph 3:18, recurs in his address
to the Ephesian elders (@Ac 20:32), and in his Epistle to Timothy at
Ephesus (@1Ti 3:15 2Ti 2:19), naturally suggested by the splendid
architecture of Diana's temple; the glory of the Christian temple is
eternal and real, not mere idolatrous gaud. The image of a building is
appropriate also to the Jew-Christians; as the temple at Jerusalem was
the stronghold of Judaism; as Diana's temple, of paganism.
foundation of the apostles, &c.--that is, upon their ministry and
living example (compare @Mt 16:18). Christ Himself, the only true
Foundation, was the grand subject of their ministry, and spring of their
life. As one with Him and His fellow workers, they, too, in a secondary
sense, are called "foundations" (@Re 21:14). The "prophets" are
joined with them closely; for the expression is here not "foundations of the apostles and the prophets," but "foundations of the
apostles and prophets." For the doctrine of both was essentially one
(@1Pe 1:10,11 Re 19:10). The apostles take the precedency
(@Lu 10:24). Thus he appropriately shows regard to the claims of the
Jews and Gentiles: "the prophets" representing the old Jewish
dispensation, "the apostles" the new. The "prophets" of the new also are
included. BENGEL and ALFORD refer the meaning solely to these
(@Eph 3:5 4:11). These passages imply, I think, that the New Testament
prophets are not excluded; but the apostle's plain reference to
@Ps 118:22, "the head stone of the corner," proves that the Old
Testament prophets are a prominent thought. David is called a "prophet"
in @Ac 2:30. Compare also @Isa 28:16; another prophet present to
the mind of Paul, which prophecy leans on the earlier one of Jacob
(@Ge 49:24). The sense of the context, too, suits this: Ye were
once aliens from the commonwealth of Israel (in the time of her
Old Testament prophets), but now ye are members of the true Israel,
built upon the foundation of her New Testament apostles and Old
Testament prophets. Paul continually identifies his teaching with that
of Israel's old prophets (@Ac 26:22 28:23). The costly
foundation-stones of the temple (@1Ki 5:17) typified the same truth
(compare @Jer 51:26). The same stone is at once the corner-stone
and the foundation-stone on which the whole building rests. Paul
supposes a stone or rock so large and so fashioned as to be both at
once; supporting the whole as the foundation, and in part rising up at
the extremities, so as to admit of the side walls meeting in it, and
being united in it as the corner-stone [ZANCHIUS]. As the corner-stone,
it is conspicuous, as was Christ (@1Pe 2:6), and coming in men's way
may be stumbled over, as the Jews did at Christ (@Mt 21:42 1Pe 2:7).
21. In whom--as holding together the whole.
fitly framed--so as exactly to fit together.
groweth--"is growing" continually. Here an additional thought is
added to the image; the Church has the growth of a living organism,
not the mere increase of a building. Compare @1Pe 2:5;
"lively stones . . . built up a spiritual house." Compare
@Eph 4:16 Zec 6:12, "The Branch shall build the temple of the
Lord," where similarly the growth of a branch, and the building of a
temple, are joined.
holy--as being the "habitation of God" (@Eph 2:22). So "in the
Lord" (Christ) answers to "through the Spirit"
(@Eph 2:22; compare @Eph 3:16,17). "Christ
is the inclusive Head of all the building, the element in which it has
its being and now its growth" [ALFORD].
22. are builded together--Translate, "are being builded together."
through--Greek, "in the Spirit." God, by His
Spirit in believers, has them for His habitation
(@1Co 3:16,17 6:19 2Co 6:16).