The Epistle to the Ephesians
Lesson 5
The Biography of a Believer
Ephesians 2:1-10
Introduction
In Ephesians1, we were overwhelmed with spiritual blessings. We reveled
in the concept of “in the heavenlies, in Christ.” In Chapter
2 the Apostle abruptly changes the subject. Paul reminds us we were
once “dead in trespasses and sins” but as believers we
are heirs to a glorious inheritance, sealed by the Holy Spirit until
that day.
Ephesians 2:1-10 presents a unique and accurate biography of every
believer. In Ephesians 2:1-3, our past life is displayed. We were spiritually
dead. We
patterned our lives according to the ways of this wicked world. We were subject
to the whims and will of Satan. Living among a rebellious Christ-rejecting
people, we adopted their lifestyle. We yielded to the lusts and desires
of our sinful
flesh. We were by nature, abiding under, and destined to suffer the wrath of
God.
Ephesians 2:4-6 refreshes our souls by relating what God, by His infinite
love and matchless grace, has done for us. He has given us life – eternal life – even
the life of Christ, and has saved us by His grace. We have been raised up and
seated with Christ “in the heavenlies.”
Ephesians 2:7-10 reveals a glorious destiny for all believers and spells
out the reasons for our assurance of such an amazing inheritance. We are
saved,
not by our works, but by God’s gifts of grace and faith. We have been newly
created in Christ by God’s workmanship, not simply to do good works, but
that we might enjoy, observe, and bask in the exceeding riches of His grace,
which will take eternity to unfold.
Importance of this Lesson
- Ephesians 2:1-10 must be considered one of the greatest passages
of scripture relating to the story of salvation.
- These 10 verses are
of such importance that you should meditate on and memorize
every verse.
- This passage will strengthen your faith, enlighten your mind,
and cause you to rejoice in the grace that saves you and the hope
that awaits you.
The Lesson
I. Ephesians 2:1-2 “And you hath
he quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins:
Wherein in time past ye walked
according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”
In his book, In The Heavenlies (Loizeaux Brothers, July 1939) an exposition of Ephesians, Dr. H. A. Ironside recalls an incident in his life which took place while he was traveling on an Interurban in California:
"A fortune teller wearing a shawl over her head and with hair dangling over the forehead came and sat down beside him. She put out her hand and told him she would tell him his past, present and future if he would cross her palm with a quarter. He told her that it was not really necessary because he already had his fortune told in a little book in his pocket. She was amazed that his fortune could be in a book. He then pulled a New Testament from his pocket and proceeded to expound Ephesians 2:1-10. She became increasingly agitated and finally fled down the aisle saying that she took the wrong man."
II. OUR PAST
- WHAT WE
ONCE WERE
“ And you hath he quickened (or made alive) who were
dead in trespasses and sins...”
- “you” and “ye” – Paul uses
these pronouns in verses 1-2, undoubtedly referring to the Gentiles.
In verse 3, Paul
quickly reverts to “we,” including both Jews and Gentiles
as being “dead in
trespasses and sins.”
- “hath He quickened” – This phrase is
not found in the earliest manuscript but inserted later by
the editors. Most evangelical scholars believe that this phrase
should remain because it clarifies
Ephesians 2:5 and makes the English flow more smoothly. This is
also my opinion.
Ephesians 2:1 is actually a continuation of Ephesians 1:19-20 in
which Paul refers to the exceeding greatness of God’s power
toward us who believe, “according
to the working of his mighty power, Which He wrought in Christ, when
he raised him from the dead.…” Paul is stating here
that the same mighty power God used to raise Jesus from the dead
is the same power he employs
to raise us out of our spiritual death and give to us eternal life.
- “dead in trespasses and sins” – In what
sense were we dead before Christ came into our hearts?
We were dead spiritually and our trespasses and sins revealed just
how dead in sin we were.
- trespasses – Trespasses are overt acts
of defiance or rebellion against a revealed law. God
said to Adam, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die” (Genesis 2:17). Adam ate of that tree with full knowledge
of what would happen. He transgressed a clear “THOU SHALT
NOT” (1
Timothy 2:14). Though Adam continued to live physically, he died
spiritually and
his sinful, disobedient, fallen nature has been passed on to
every person born
since that time. Because of this first sin, God sees every member
of mankind as spiritually dead.
Romans 5:12 – “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all
men, for
that all have
sinned.”
1 Corinthians 15:22 – “For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
- Sins – The
word sin means “missing the mark.” This
mark is Gods righteousness and
holiness. Sin is any thought, word, or deed that falls short
of God’s
righteousness.
- What does it mean to be spiritually dead? It
means that everyone outside of Christ cannot see, hear, understand
the
spiritual
things of God. Daydreamers
miss the point entirely when they convey the idea that 1 Corinthians
2:9 refers to Heaven: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him.” Heaven
is indeed a wonderful place being prepared for us (John 14:2).
- The context here, however, makes perfectly clear that Paul
is referring to the new spiritual life we receive when we welcome
Christ
into our
hearts.
1 Corinthians 2:11 – “For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save (except) the spirit of a man which
is
in him?
even so the
things of
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:14 – “But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness
unto him:…because
they are spiritually discerned.”
- HOW WE ONCE LIVED
While still without Christ and dead in trespasses and sins,
we walked “according
to the course of this world.”
- Walked – Paul uses
this word seven times in Ephesians. It means our manner
of life. In this text, it means that
before our acceptance
of
Christ
we patterned our lives according to the ways of this
world. We simply did what the rest of the world was doing,
and accepted
that as the
standard way
of living.
- the course of this world – A clear definition
of this phrase is given by the Apostle John in
1 John 2:15-16. He pleads with us not to love the world
nor the things that are in it; because if we love the
world, the love of God is not
in us. He then describes “world” for us – “For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
- Many
sinners, without Christ, think they are free and living as they please
in this world. Read carefully the rest of Ephesians 2:2. In our
past life, we walked according to the world as well as according to
the “prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience.”
- Who is the prince of the power of the air?
This is one of the titles given to Satan, God’s greatest
enemy. While Satan has been deposed of his original status (Isaiah
14:12-15),
he retains an enormous amount
of power. He is not omnipresent, but his influence is exercised
all over the world, through the great number of evil spirits
under his
control.
- Satan is not only the prince of the power of the air,
he is the prince of this world (John 12:31), and the god of
this world
(2 Corinthians
4:4). In that capacity he deceives and blinds sinners to the
glorious Gospel of Christ, tempting and appealing to them by
the lusts mentioned
in
1 John 2:16.
- HOW WE ONCE WALKED
Ephesians 2:3 “Among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and
of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even
as others.”
- Among whom – Before we received
Christ, we were a part of the “sons
of disobedience,” the whole worldly crowd who rejected
the Gospel of Christ.
- and were by nature the children of
wrath – In 1
John 4:8,16, we read that God is love. How wonderfully
true that is! We
must remember that the God of the Bible is infinitely holy. He surely
loves all of
mankind (John 3:16) but being a holy God He abhors sin.
The unbelieving and unrepentant sinner not only has the
wrath of God abiding
on him (John
3:36), he is also destined to suffer the full fury of God’s
wrath (Romans 2:5,8; Revelation 6:17).
III. OUR PRESENT
Ephesians 2:4-6 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus”
- BUT GOD – Could any two words provide
us with greater joy? Our wonderful Lord has intervened on
our behalf. We were lost, but He found us. We were sinking in sin but
He pulled us out. We were
blind, but He opened our eyes. We were bound, but He broke the chains. We
were enslaved, by sin
but He set us free. We were dead in sin, but He gave us life. The phrase “but
God” occurs throughout
Paul’s Epistles. Whenever you come to it in your reading, mark it well.
They all speak of God’s love
and faithfulness to sustain us, deliver us, and supply our every need. For
examples, read Romans 5:8;
1 Corinthians 10:13; and Philippians 4:19.
- WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, for his
great love with which he loved us.
In Ephesians 2:7, Paul writes of “the riches of his grace.” Here,
we are introduced to the “riches of his mercy.” Both grace
and mercy originate in the love of God, “For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son…” (John 3:16).
- Grace – provides
our salvation (Ephesians 2:5,8; Titus 2:11).
- Mercy – reveals
the loving kindness, the tenderheartedness, and mercies of God, by
which the wrath of God and the penalty for
sin is withheld. “The
Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Psalm
103:8).
- EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS, hath quickened us together
with Christ, (by grace are ye saved);And hath raised us up together,
and made us sit
together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
- In Ephesians 2:8
Paul repeats the phrase, “by grace are ye saved”.
His repeated emphasis should make us aware of the fact that
our salvation is entirely by grace, apart from works or merit.
- Both
Ephesians 2:5 and 6 are somewhat repetitious of Ephesians
2:1. All three verses continue Paul’s expression in Ephesians
1:19-20, where he writes concerning “the working of his (God’s)
mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him
from the dead,
and set him at his
own right hand in the heavenly places.” Just as God,
by His infinite grace and incomparable power raised Jesus
from the dead,
brought Him
back to Heaven, and seated Him at His own right hand, so
God, by that same power has raised us up and given us new
life in Christ.
He then
raised us up to sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
- “the heavenly places” – In Ephesians 1:3,
we said that this is the entire sphere of our spiritual
experience we share with
Christ. All that Christ is and has He shares with us. As
we walk and talk with Him, we share His peace and joy, His sufferings
and His power.
What a great God and wonderful Savior we have!
IV. OUR FUTURE :
Ephesians 2:7-10 “That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 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. For we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them.”
- in
the ages to come – This expression can only refer to eternity.
God has so much for us to see
and know it will take eternity to reveal it.
- the exceeding riches of his
grace – This is the second such phrase
in Ephesians. The first use is in Ephesians 1:7, where Paul writes that the
forgiveness of our sins is according to the riches of His grace. Paul is
saying here that in the ages to come, God is going to put those riches on
display!
- Note carefully that the riches that will be displayed are all
the kindnesses He has shown to us through Christ
Jesus. All the riches,
the blessing, and
the glory we shall share will all be because of what
Christ did for us at Calvary.
- For by grace are ye saved – Since this phrase, or
its equivalent is found numerous times in the
New Testament, especially in the writings of the Apostle Paul, it is
good to know what grace is.
Here are some definitions of grace.
- Grace is the unhindered, wonderful
and immeasurable love of God, poured out upon us in an infinite
variety of ways without limit. Not
according
to what we deserve but according to His limitless heart of love.
- Grace is the free, unmerited favor of God in Christ Jesus.
- FREE – it must be exercised or bestowed without the
possibility of anything being offered in exchange. Otherwise,
it would simply
be a barter or an exchange (Romans 11:6).
- UNMERITED – God’s
grace is poured out upon us in utter disregard of the extent
of our sins. No one has any
merit
to offer God
in payment for
His grace. To recognize merit is to nullify grace.
- through
faith ; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – Here
is an amazing fact. Even the faith we exercise when we open
our hearts to Christ and cry , “Lord I believe!,” is
given to us as a gift from God. If you are not yet a Christian,
do not let this fact hinder or frighten you.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 – “Come
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.” Also, in Revelation
22:17 we read, “…And let him that is athirst come.
And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” So
remember, the fact that faith is a gift from God does not eliminate
personal
responsibility.
We all
must repent (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30). God will receive and grant
faith to
all who come to Him with an honest and hungry heart to be saved.
- Not of works, lest any man should boast – This clear
statement shatters any possibility of earning your way to Heaven. Millions
of people
are living under the delusion that Heaven can be gained by good deeds.
No one will ever strut around heaven saying, “I made it.” We
are saved and kept saved by God’s grace alone. God does the saving
and God does the keeping (1 Peter 1:4-9; Jude 24).
- For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath
before ordained
that we should walk in them.
- When you received Christ, something
wonderful occurred in you. By the power and grace of God a whole
new nature was formed in you. You
became a new creation in Christ Jesus.
- We are to reckon ourselves
to be dead to that old life of sin and “put
on the new man (Christ), which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24; Romans 6:4).
- The proper
attitude towards “good works” is that
we do not work to be saved, we work because we have been saved.
Here is
the
life God has ordained for us. We were created in Christ that we
should walk in good works.
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