In Chapter 1, we saw the gifts the Ephesian believers had received from God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Why did God give them these gifts? All of these riches come by God’s grace and for God’s glory. Did you notice that after each of the main sections in Ephesians 1:3–14, Paul has added the purpose behind these gifts? Why has God the Father chosen us, adopted us, and accepted us? "…to the praise of the glory of His grace" (Eph. 1:6). Why has the Son redeemed us, forgiven us, revealed God’s will to us, and given Himself as our inheritance? "…that we should be to the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:12). Why has God the Spirit sealed us and become the guarantee of our future in heaven? "…unto the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:14).

Doesn’t it sound a little "self-centered", egocentric, of God to do all this so He will look good? Are humans just "pawns" used by God to vindicate Him? That would be exploitation (to use unfairly for one’s own purposes) and the Bible makes it clear that there are certain things that God cannot do: He cannot lie; He cannot go back on His promises; and He cannot force people to love Him. 1John 4:8 says, "…God is love." The Greek word is agaŒpeµ and describes who God is, not what He is like. When referring to God’s love, agaŒpeµ is God’s intentional direction of goodwill toward man. It involves God doing what He knows is best for man and not necessarily what man desires. God is saying, "I will do the most altruistic, the most redeeming, the most creative thing possible for you in every circumstance." It is impossible for God to act out-of-character. He cannot exploit man! Everything He does is for our eternal benefit and for the purpose of conforming us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29) and by doing so, He is glorified before the inhabitants of the cosmos and shown worthy to be God.

Several commentators feel that the break between Chapter 1 and 2 is unfortunate, feeling that the first ten verses of Chapter 2 are a logical continuation of the thought which began in verse 15 of Chapter 1 where Paul shows the power of God in resurrecting Jesus and giving Him to the church. In the first ten verses of Chapter 2, Paul continues by showing that the power of God that resurrected Jesus and placed Him as Ruler of the Universe, is the same power that delivers humans from death to life eternal.

In the first three verses of Chapter 2, Paul reminds the Ephesians of where they were when God came to them in Christ and outlines how sin has worked against humans ever since Adam and Eve made that fatal choice to believe Satan rather than God.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 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. 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. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God’s anger just like everyone else. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

In verses 1-3, Paul describes sin’s work against the Ephesians and against all humans: they are dead; they are disobedient; they are depraved; and they are doomed.

What does it mean to be dead? The Greek word used here is nekroŒs that can mean several different things...dead, corpse, slain, even unburied. I think that the essense of dead means to be separated...people who are physically dead have their spirits separated from their bodies (James 2:26)...people who are spiritually dead are separated from God. Dead means the absence of life...God is the only Source of life. To be dead is to be separated from Life. I found it especially interesting that dead can also mean unburied. People who are separated from God are just not buried yet!

The word trespasses is the Greek paraŒptoµma and means to fall by the wayside. The word sins is the Greek hamartéŒas and means to miss the mark. Every translation I read, seems to indicate multiple transgressions and sins (because of your many sins…NLT) as the reason for being dead. Are lost people dead because of their sins? Or are they dead because of Adam’s sin? The reason lost people are dead is because they were born that way…of the seed of Adam, but the reason they stay dead is because they refuse to receive life through Jesus Christ. An old Irishman was asked to describe a cemetery, "It’s where dead people live," he replied. That’s a pretty good description of the world as well…it’s where dead people live.

The unbeliever is not sick, he’s dead…he does not need to be healed, he needs to be given life…to be brought back from the dead…resurrected. All lost people are dead, the only difference is the state of decay. The skid row derelict who has not received Christ, is in a worse state of decay than the unsaved society socialite, but they are both equally dead…one corpse cannot be more dead than another. Just because someone is walking around, doesn’t mean they’re not dead…Paul told Timothy as he described an ungodly widow, "… but she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives." (1 Timothy 5:6)

Paul is here describing the lifestyle of the Ephesians before they were saved…they walked like the rest of the world…they were disobedient. God told Adam and Eve that the day they ate of the forbidden fruit (disobeyed God), they would die. Satan said they wouldn’t…they believed Satan and disbelieved God. As the immediate result of their disobedience, God withdrew Himself from inside Adam and Eve and they were instantly dead spiritually…the physical death took longer, in fact, Adam lived over 900 years before he died physically. What do you suppose Adam saw and thought during that time? One of his sons became the first murderer and one of his sons became the first murder victim…we don’t have the details, but it must have been a sad existence as compared to their life in Eden.

Since the original sin, there have been three forces that encourage man in his disobedience: the world, the devil, and the flesh. In this context, the word world (koŒsmos) does not refer to the physical planet called earth, but to the system that tries to conform humans to a lifestyle, values and attitudes that are independent of God. It is the satanically organized system that hates and opposes all that is godly. "…the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience" is a description of Satan and while he can’t be personally involved in the lives of every human because he is a created being that cannot be in more than one place at a time, Satan certainly has in place a "system" of demonic forces that dominates the lives of unbelievers and continues to try to influence the lives of believers. But perhaps the most misunderstood and often ignored force for disobedience is the flesh. What is the flesh? Is it our bodies? Yes, I believe it is this temporary dwelling Paul calls a "tent" that houses our sinful spirit before we are saved and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ that comes to live inside us after we are saved. But I believe the flesh is more than our bodies…it’s every coping mechanism humans have developed to "get along" apart from God.

Most encouragement to sin comes from inside us where our appetites, mental habits and selfish thought patterns, all of which have been contaminated by the "fallen-ness" we were born with, clamor to be satisfied. Indwelling sin, as Paul describes in Romans 7, causes even believers to do things that violate God’s plan for them to live in complete dependence upon Him. Is it possible that "the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience" is a description of the flesh instead of Satan?

Do the terms "flesh" and "sinful nature" refer to the same thing? There is a broad range of ideas on this subject…many mainline Christian writers and speakers equate the "flesh" and "sinful nature"…in fact the heading in my Bible (NASB95) at Romans 7:14 says, "The Conflict of Two Natures". Many great men of God believe that when a person is "born again" they have two natures living inside them (M.R. DeHaun’s white dog/black dog illustration). This may be a matter of semantics, but I’m more comfortable with equating "old self" and "sinful nature"…the part of me that was crucified with Christ and no longer lives. My flesh was not crucified with Christ and is still alive and well…much to my frustration! To equate "sinful nature" with "flesh" seems to me to be setting up an impossible scenario of the "house divided against itself" that Jesus described…I just cannot accept the idea that God would put us in a "no-win" situation.

Paul is here describing the depravity of humans before they are saved and includes everybody, both Jew and Gentile. To be depraved does not mean that you can do only evil and can do nothing good, it means that you are incapable of doing anything that would merit God’s saving you. Jesus acknowledged that even lost people can do good things to each other and to their children ("If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same." (Luke 6:33) "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11:13))

Not only are unbelievers under the control of Satan’s world system, they are enslaved by their flesh and their minds. It is important to remember that the flesh and mind are not replaced at conversion…in the believer, the flesh continues to be the flesh, drawing us away from dependence upon God, for as long as we live in this world. The minds of believers are being renewed (And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2) Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16) …that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind…(Ephesians 4:22-23)). The indwelling Spirit is drawing our minds toward dependence upon God in every area of our lives. Yes there is a conflict inside the believer, not between two natures, but between our flesh and the Spirit of Christ.

Here Paul concludes his description of all humans as unbelievers by declaring that they were no different than the rest of the world…they were doomed…by not having a relationship with God as Savior, they have a relationship with His wrath ("He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."(John 3:18)).

God in His mercy has stayed their execution, but His patience will not last forever (But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. (2 Peter 3:8-10)).

Man cannot save himself…but God in His grace and mercy steps in to make salvation possible. "But God…" what a difference those words make!! In the next few verses, we will see another "Force at work" to counteract the effects of sin…