The Epistle to the Ephesians
Lesson 5
The Biography of a Believer
Ephesians 2:1-10

Introduction
Ephesians 1 overwhelmed us with spiritual blessings. We enjoyed the idea of “in the heavenlies, in Christ.” In Chapter 2 the Apostle changes the subject. Paul reminds us we were once “dead in trespasses and sins” but as believers we are heirs to a glorious inheritance. The Holy Spirit sealed us until that day.

Ephesians 2:1-10 presents a beautiful and true life story of every believer. Ephesians 2:1-3 shows our past life. We were spiritually dead. We used the ways of this wicked world as examples for our lives. We obeyed the ideas and will of Satan. We lived among people who rebelled against Christ and rejected Him. We adopted their way of living. We gave ourselves to the desires of our sinful flesh. Because we lived according to our sinful nature God’s wrath was sure to come upon us.

Ephesians 2:4-6 refreshes our souls by telling us what God did for us. It shows His endless love and incomparable grace. He gave us life – eternal life – even the life of Christ. He saved us by His grace. He raised us up and seated us with Christ “in the heavenlies.”

Ephesians 2:7-10 reveals a glorious future for all believers. It gives us the reasons for our assurance of such an amazing inheritance. Our works did not save us, but God’s gifts of grace and faith brought us salvation. God created us anew in Christ. We are God’s creation, not simply to do good works, but that we might enjoy, discover, and enjoy the riches of His grace which are greater than any other riches. It will take eternity to describe them.

Importance of this Lesson

• Ephesians 2:1-10 must be considered one of the greatest passages of scripture about salvation.
• These 10 verses are of such importance that you should meditate on and memorize every verse.
• This passage will strengthen your faith. It will give you understanding. It will cause you to rejoice in the grace that saved you and the hope that awaits you.

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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

1. WHAT WE WERE LIKE IN THE PAST
   “ And you hath he quickened (or made alive) who were dead in trespasses and sins…”
   1. “you” and “ye” – In these words in Ephesians 2:1-2, we are sure that Paul referred to the Gentiles. In verse 3, Paul quickly goes back to “we”, and includes both Jews and Gentiles as “dead in trespasses and sins.”
   2. “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 says that God’s power toward us who believe is greater than any other power, “according to the working of his mighty power which He wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.…” Paul tells us here that the mighty power God used to raise Jesus from the dead is the same power he uses to raise us out of our spiritual death and give to us eternal life.
   3. “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 showed just how dead in sin we were.
      1. trespasses – Trespasses are public acts of rebellion against a revealed law. God said to Adam, “Thou shalt not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for the moment thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”(Genesis 2:17). Adam ate of that tree with full knowledge of what would happen. He broke a clear command that said, “THOU SHALT NOT” (1 Timothy 2:14). Adam continued to live physically, but he died spiritually. 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 the human race as spiritually dead.
         • Romans 5:12 – “Wherefore as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men for all have sinned.”
         • 1 Corinthians 15:22 – “For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
      2. “sins” – The word sin means “missing the mark.” This mark is God’s righteousness and
         holiness. Sin is any thought, word, or deed that falls short of God’s righteousness.
   4. What does it mean to be spiritually dead? It means that every person who is not a Christian is unable to understand the spiritual things of God. Some people misunderstand I Corinthians 2:9 completely when they say that it refers to Heaven: “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love him.” Heaven is indeed a wonderful place being prepared for us (John 14:2).
   5. The verses before and after it make perfectly clear that Paul refers to the new spiritual life we receive when we receive 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, for they are spiritually discerned….”
2. THE WAY WE LIVED IN THE PAST
   While still without Christ and dead in trespasses and sins, we walked “according to the course of this world.”
   1. Walked – Paul uses this word seven times in Ephesians. It means “the way we live.” In this text, it means that before we accepted Christ we lived according to the ways of this world. We did what the rest of the world did, and accepted that as the normal way of life.
   2. the course of this world – The Apostle John gives us the clear meaning of this phrase in 1 John 2:15-16. He begs us not to love the world or the things that are in the world; because if we love the world, the love of God is not in us. He then explains the word “world” to us – “for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world….”
   3. Many unbelievers think they are free and live 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 sons (or children) of disobedience.”
      1. Who is the prince of the power of the air? This is one of the titles given to Satan. Satan is God’s greatest enemy. God put Satan down from his original position (Isaiah 14:12-15), but he still possesses great power. He is not present everywhere at the same time like God, but he uses his power all over the world, through the great number of evil spirits under his control.
      2. Satan is the prince of the power of the air, and he is also the prince of this world (John 12:31), and the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). In that position he deceives and makes sinners blind to the glorious Gospel of Christ. He tempts people and tempts them through the desires mentioned in 1 John 2:16.
3. HOW WE LIVED ACCORDING TO THE FLESH
   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.”
   1. Among whom – Before we received Christ, we were a part of the “sons of disobedience.” We were part of the people in the world who rejected the Gospel of Christ.
   2. and were by nature the children of wrath – In 1 John 4:8,16, we read that God is love. That is wonderfully true! We must remember that the God of the Bible is holy without end. He surely loves all of mankind (John 3:16) but as a holy God He hates sin. At the present time the wrath of God is on the sinner who does not believe and who does not repent (John 3:36). In the future he will also suffer the full result 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”

1. BUT GOD – Could any two words provide us with greater joy? Our wonderful Lord came between us and our sin. 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 slaves of 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 support us, to deliver us, and to supply every need we have. For examples, read
   Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 10:13; and Philippians 4:19.
2. WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, for his great love with which he loved us… - In Ephesians 2:7, Paul writes about “the riches of his grace.” In this verse Paul introduces us 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).
   1. Grace – provides our salvation (Ephesians 2:5,8; Titus 2:11).
   2. Mercy – shows the loving kindness, the tenderheartedness of God. These things hold back the anger of God and the punishment for sin. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy…” (Psalm 103:8).
3. EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SIN hath made us alive together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved), and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
   1. In Ephesians 2:8 Paul repeats the phrase, “by grace are ye saved.” Paul repeated this phrase to make us aware of the fact that our salvation is entirely by grace, apart from works or merit.
   2. Both Ephesians 2:5 and 6 repeat the idea of Ephesians 2:1. In all three verses Paul continues to talk about the idea of Ephesians 1:19-20, where he writes concerning “the working of 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 heavenlies.” God raised Jesus from the dead, by His endless grace and power that cannot be compared to anything else. By His power God brought Jesus back to Heaven, and seated Him at God’s own right hand. God raised us up and gave us new life in Christ, by that same power. He then raised us up to sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
   3. “the heavenlies” – In Ephesians 1:3, we said that this is the entire area of our spiritual experience which we share with Christ. All that Christ is and has He shares with us. As we walk and talk with Christ, we receive His peace and joy, His sufferings and His power. We have a great God and wonderful Savior!

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.”

1. in the ages to come – This phrase refers to eternity. God has so much for us to see and to know it will take eternity to show it all to us.
2. the exceeding riches of his grace – This is the second such phrase in Ephesians. Paul first used it in Ephesians 1:7, where Paul writes that the forgiveness of our sins is according to the riches of His grace. Paul says here that in the ages to come, God is going to show those riches to us!
   • Note carefully that the riches that God will show us are all the kindness He has shown to us through Christ Jesus. All the riches, the blessing, and the glory we shall receive will be because of what Christ did for us at Calvary.
3. For by grace are ye saved – This phrase, or one that means the same thing is found many times in the New Testament. It is found especially in the writings of the Apostle Paul. It is good to know what grace is.
   Here are some meanings of grace.
   1. Grace is the wonderful love of God that no one can stop, or measure. God pours His love out on us in many different ways and without end or boundary. He does not pour it out on us according to what we deserve but according to His heart of endless love.
   2. Grace is the free, unmerited favor of God that comes to us through Christ Jesus.
      1. FREE – God gives it without the possibility that we can offer anything in exchange. Otherwise, it would simply be a trade or an exchange (Romans 11:6).
      2. UNMERITED – God pours out His grace upon us without any thought of how great our sins were. No one can earn this grace or offer God something as payment for it. To say that we can earn grace means to cancel out grace.
4. through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – Here is an amazing fact. Even the faith we use when we open our hearts to Christ and cry, “Lord I believe!,” is a gift from God. If you are not yet a Christian, do not let this fact stop you or frighten you. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 – “Come unto me all ye who 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, faith is a gift from God, but it does not do away with 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.
5. Not of works, lest any man should boast – This clear statement destroys any possibility that you are able to earn your way to Heaven. Millions of people have the false idea that Heaven can be gained by good deeds. No one will ever walk around heaven and say, “I made it by my own power.” God saves us and keeps us by His grace alone. God does the saving and God does the keeping (1 Peter 1:4-9; Jude
6. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
   1. When you received Christ, something wonderful happened in you. The power and grace of God formed a whole new nature in you. You became a new creation in Christ Jesus.
   2. We must consider ourselves as dead to that old life of sin and “put on the new man (Christ) which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Romans 6:4; Ephesians 4:24)
   3. The proper attitude towards “good works” is that we do not work to save ourselves, but we work because God saved us. Here is the life God has planned for us. God created us in Christ in order that we should walk in good works.

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