Eph. 2:1-3 - Dead in Your Trespasses

Chapter 2 - Outline
1-3: - Former condition - separated
4-7: - Rich in Mercy
8-10: - New condition - saved by grace
11-13: - Gentiles especially separated
14-16: - One from Two
17-18: - He preached peace
19-22: - No longer foreigners
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Eph. 2:1-3 - Your 'Normal' Condition

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

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Vs. 1 - "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins" - Paul is setting the scene:  telling us of our position when not in Christ, versus being in Christ. As he finished the previous chapter, Paul tells of Christ’s position - greater than all and above, seated at the right hand of God. There is none other like Him, now or ever! He is alive in heaven.
On the the other hand, we are dead! Dead in our transgression and sin - not because of our sinning, [We sin because we are sinners.] (See: Rom 5:16-19; Col 2:13; 1 Cor 15:21-22)

“Sins and trespasses” - (i.e., transgressions) were our way of life, before Christ filled us.

Vs. 2 - “ in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” - This is where you are without Christ in your life.

“Formerly walked” - our way of life, attitude, as a non-believer.

“According to the course of this world...” - (See: Rom 13:13; Col 2:8, 3:5-6; Gal 5:19-21; Jam 3:14-16; 1 Pet 2:1, 4:3; 2 Cor 4:4) The natural order of this physical world is corrupted (Jer 17:9) by sin. Until we are made a new creature in Christ, we too walk and act as the natural man.  (See: 2 Cor 5:17)

“According to the prince of the power of the air” - See: John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11, 17:15; 2 Cor 4:5; 1 John 2:13, 4:4, 5:18-19; Matt 5:37, 13:19; 2 Thes 3:3. —- 

Here we see another name for Satan, the “evil one”, “ruler of the world”. He has been defeated in Christ - in effect, Satan is free on bail, awaiting final sentencing. Satan is confined to this universe, which is to be judged by Christ.

“Sons of disobedience” - The evil one has control of some people. These people disobey God. Paul is further defining the source of the evil in this world. The same prince of the air is the spirit who leads people to sin (2 Cor 4:4). Just as we who believe in Jesus are “sons of righteousness” or “saints of the light”, those who follow Satan are sons of disobedience.

Vs. 3 - "Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

“Among them” - The sons of disobedience as defined above.

“We all formerly lived” - See: 1 Cor 6:11; Col 3:7; 1 Pet 4:3; Rom 3:23 - Before Christ Jesus became Lord in our lives, we were unsaved sinners - no matter how good we tried to be.

“Lust of flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and mind” - See: Rom 1:18-32; Ga; 5:16-21; Col 1:21; 2 Pet 2:12-19 - a fairly complete listing of the problems of the world.

“By nature, children of wrath” - See: Eph 5:6; Col 3:6. Not only children of disobedience, but destined to suffer the wrath of God.

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Eph. 1:20-23 - Hope, Riches, Glory, and Power

20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

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seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places

V. 20 - "which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places”

Our hope is in Christ’s resurrection. His riches - our belief and faith and ourselves - His power to us, are all proportional to the work done in Christ. Paul defines this work in the next few phrases:

(1) Raised Christ from the dead;
(2) Seated Him at His right hand. That’s all.

God conquered death through Christ, and offered it to all. This might (conquering of death) is ours in Christ. The hope is ours in proportion to the amount Christ is in control of our lives!

V. 21 - “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

This verse deals with Christ and where He is as a result of being raised from the dead. (See: Rom 8:38, 13:1; Col 1:16, 2:10, 15; 1 Cor 15:24) There may be rulers or kings who exercise absolute authority over their subjects - Jesus Christ is greater than these! There may be those whose authority has been gained or taken from others and is undeniable. Christ is greater than these. There may be those who power is undisputed (all of the above exist in the physical and spiritual worlds). Christ is greater than these! There are dominions and kingdoms in this world, and in the spiritual world we cannot see, and Jesus Christ is greater than these!

“Every name that is named...” - People honor others. There are names which bring awe to our minds and command our respect. Statues; Buildings; Cities named after them; States named after them. No matter how much honor is bestowed upon another, either now or in any future time — Christ is greater than all! There are not enough superlatives to describe Christ.

V. 22 - “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,”

God put everything under Christ’s feet. Really, picture a king on a throne - all of his subjects bow at his feet. This is the image presented here - everything has been put under Christ’s control and authority. (See: 1 Cor 15:27; Matt 28:18; Phil 2:9-11; Rom 14:!1; Col 1:18)

“Gave Him as head over all things to the church” - There is no other leader or authority for the church. (See: Col 1:18, 2:19, 3:11; John 15:4-5) Christ is the first of all those to be raised from the dead to eternal life. (See: Rev 1:8, 17-18, 2:1-2, 8, 12, for Christ position). Since we know his position - then we also know that any endeavor must be blessed, originated by Him, or it will not bring glory to Christ and God. The church, the body of believers, exists for really two reasons: (1) to bring glory to Christ and God, and (2) to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ. Indeed as a person comes to Christ, it brings glory to Him.

V. 23 - “which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

The church is Christ’s body (1 Cor 12:27). One of those interesting analogies - Christ the head, we the body; Christ the bridegroom, we the bride, etc. His body, the church, is the completion of Christ. We in ourselves can not do anything to make Christ better, etc. But in the church, in us, God has brought about, accomplished all that He set out to do in Christ. The reason: we do not do it, but Christ does (John 15:5) Christ begins the work in us, and completes the work in us. In Christ, God gives everyone who believes everything they need for the Christian life.

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End of chapter

Eph 1:15-19 - I Have Heard of Your Faith

15 - For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might

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Your Heart May Be Enlightened

V. 15-16 - “For this reason...” - Really, the 16th verse needs to be inserted so the sentence would read like this: “For this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you, while mentioning you in my prayers, since I have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all the saints.” (See: Col 1:4) Paul prayed about them, and as he learned that they were saved, he thanked God (probably continually).

V. 17 - "may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. - Here we see the purpose of Paul’s prayers: That those Paul was writing to, might be given wisdom and the knowledge of God. Paul was also writing for us, the believers in this day and age. But that is not all, that God may through His Spirit, reveal Himself to us, which will have more of an impact on the reality of our lives. This is a relationship-building process. Our life in Christ usually does not instantly change our human behavior - it is a growing process as we trust Him and learn to listen to His leading through the Holy Spirit. The more we ‘walk’ with Him, the more our lives are conformed to His desire for us. 

The word “knowledge” in this verse is referring to a “true knowledge”, or rather, an intimate knowledge, a personal knowledge gained not by study, nor by reading, etc., but by spending time with Christ and God. God reveals Himself to us as we seek Him. (See: John 8:55; Col 1:10) This is an important concept - we must spend time with Jesus to get to know Him better. That is not an earth shaking revelation. But we need to continually remind ourselves of our complete dependence on the Lord. 

The word “spirit” in “spirit of wisdom” does not necessarily mean that an infusion of a spirit (an angel or the Holy Spirit) be shed upon us. Know that when you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you are given the Holy Spirit.  “Spirit” here can be read a “rational soul” or a “mental disposition”. For example, God has given us a “sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7 (KJV)). Paul is asking that God give us mental disposition toward wisdom, and toward accepting a revelation of Himself to us. You know God can show Himself and His will to us and we don’t pay attention! Again, He reveals Himself to us when we seek His face - not just a general idea of who He is, but Him personally - not remote and academic but a personal interaction.

V. 18 - "Eyes of your heart” - the KJV says “the eyes of your understanding”. I thank that says it pretty well. We memorize, or learn something “by heart”. The GNMM translation says “may your minds be opened to see His light”. This is part of the revelation of God to us.

Now to look at the goal(s) of the enlightenment. There are primarily three: (1) An understanding of the hope; (2) an understanding of the riches; (3) to come to understand His power working for us.

(1) “What is the hope of His calling”? See: 1 Cor 15:12-28; Eph 1:3; Rom 1:16-18; 1 Pet 1:3-4. Our hope is that Christ did indeed conquer death, and that by faith in Him we too may have life eternal.

(2) “The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” - The phrase “riches of the glory” is interesting. How do you put a value on glory? Think of the fame and glory men seek here on earth. Men will do almost anything to gain recognition! The glory of God is so much beyond our understanding. This verse seems to say that Jesus has a glorious and precious inheritance that is in those who believe in Him. Note this does not read like Col 1:12 (which says the saints are receiving an inheritance). This indicates that Christ Himself is receiving an inheritance, and the inheritance is we true believers! The Lord wants us to know how valuable we are to Him. He has given us to His Son, Jesus. (See: John 6:39-40, 10:29; 2 Pet 3:9; 2 Cor 2:14-16)

What possible reason could God have for wanting us to know how valuable we are? Ponder that.

V. 19 - "what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe." - This verse shows the third goal of the enlightenment mentioned in verse 18:

(3) “Understand His power working for us”: When God reveals Himself to us, we begin to understand the magnitude of God’s care for us. [Note: God wants us to know how valuable we are! When does a person begin to consider suicide, etc? When he feels that no one cares, that the world would be better without his presence. When we know someone cares for us, we can care for ourselves.] There is no way that we can completely understand God’s might. Note also to whom this power is directed - those of us who believe in Christ.

“These are in accordance...” - Why in plural? GNMM simply says that “this power in us,” indicating that it is only the greatness of His power. I think the 'these' refers to the three concepts just listed: hope of his calling, the riches of his glory, and the surpassing greatness of his power, and his power is indeed unlimited bcause He is the Lord God. Jesus does this because He can, He wants to shower his love on those who believe in Him.

Conclusion: Our hope, His riches, His power toward us are all the result of God’s working through Christ.

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