Zetemata

Ephesians 2

The chapter in full, then what it says, what the Greek or Hebrew decides, and where readers have disagreed.

Ephesians 2 WEB
  1. 1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,
  2. 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience.
  3. 3 We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
  4. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
  5. 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
  6. 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
  7. 7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus;
  8. 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
  9. 9 not of works, that no one would boast.
  10. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
  11. 11 Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "uncircumcision" by that which is called "circumcision" (in the flesh, made by hands),
  12. 12 that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
  13. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ.
  14. 14 For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of separation,
  15. 15 having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace,
  16. 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility through it.
  17. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near.
  18. 18 For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
  19. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God,
  20. 20 being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone;
  21. 21 in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
  22. 22 in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

What is happening

Ephesians is written by Paul to a church he founded (or a circle of churches around Ephesus), likely from Roman imprisonment. Chapter 1 closes with a prayer that the church would grasp the power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him above all rule and authority. Chapter 2 answers a question that prayer raises: what does that power do to people who are, by their own condition, dead? The chapter falls into two halves. Verses 1–10 describe an individual and universal condition — death, then rescue by grace. Verses 11–22 apply the same movement corporately: two estranged peoples, Jew and Gentile, made one household. The pivot word is "but" — in verse 4 ("But God") and verse 13 ("But now") — the whole chapter turns on an interruption from outside.

The passage, walked through

Verses 1–3 describe the readers' former state in blunt terms: "dead in transgressions and sins" (2:1), walking "according to the course of this world" and "the prince of the power of the air" (2:2), living "in the lusts of our flesh" and "by nature children of wrath" (2:3). Note the shift from "you" (Gentile readers) to "we all" (2:3) — Paul refuses to let Jewish believers, himself included, exempt themselves. Death here is not a metaphor for being spiritually unwell; the Greek νεκρός (nekros) is the ordinary word for a corpse. A corpse doesn't need encouragement, better information, or a nudge. It needs to be raised.

Verses 4–7 are one long sentence in the Greek, and its main verb doesn't arrive until "made us alive" (συνεζωοποίησεν, 2:5) — grammatically, everything from "dead" onward has been suspended, waiting on God to act. "But God, being rich in mercy" (2:4) intervenes on people who were not seeking him, not improving, not partly alive. He "made us alive together with Christ" (2:5), "raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places" (2:6) — the same three verbs (made alive, raised, seated) used of Christ's resurrection in 1:20 are now used of believers, joined to him by the prefix syn- ("with"). The purpose clause in verse 7 is easy to miss: God did this "that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace" — the point of the rescue is displayed generosity, not merely rescued individuals.

Verses 8–9 state the mechanism as plainly as the New Testament ever does: "by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast." Grace (χάρις) is the source; faith is the means, not a meritorious act that earns anything — the text is emphatic that even faith's saving effect is "not of yourselves." "This" in "not of yourselves" is grammatically neuter in the Greek and most naturally refers to the whole preceding act of salvation, not narrowly to faith as an object one might otherwise take credit for possessing.

Verse 10 is the necessary completion, often detached from the rest: "we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them." Grace does not terminate in a status; it produces a workmanship (ποίημα) — the same root behind "poem" — built for a life already laid out.

Verses 11–13 turn corporate. Gentile readers are told to "remember" (2:11) what they were: "separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (2:12) — a five-fold description of exclusion, not merely difference. "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ" (2:13).

Verses 14–18 explain how: "he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of separation" (2:14), abolishing "the law of commandments contained in ordinances" as a dividing wall, "that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace" (2:15), reconciling "them both in one body to God through the cross" (2:16). The cross is described as killing "the hostility" (τὴν ἔχθραν) — not merely hostility between Jew and Gentile, but their common hostility to God, resolved in one act.

Verses 19–22 close with an architectural image: no longer "strangers and foreigners" but "fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God" (2:19), "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone" (2:20), growing "into a holy temple in the Lord" (2:21), "a habitation of God in the Spirit" (2:22). The old temple had walls separating Gentile courts from Jewish ones; this temple has none.

Where readers have disagreed

The chief historic dispute is over verses 8–10 and the relation of grace, faith, and works — the fault line of the Reformation. Catholic and Protestant readers agree the text excludes works as the ground of salvation; they have disagreed over what role, if any, "good works" (2:10) subsequently play in justification itself versus its fruit. A second crux is "children of wrath... by nature" (2:3) — how far this describes an inherited condition versus acquired habit has divided readers on the doctrine of original sin, though the chapter's own emphasis falls less on explaining the mechanism than on the fact of universal need. A third is whether "the law of commandments" (2:15) means the Mosaic law entire or specifically its ceremonial boundary-markers (circumcision, food laws) that separated Jew from Gentile; most commentators favor the latter, since Paul elsewhere treats the law's moral content as still binding.

What it asks of a reader

The chapter offers no room for self-rescue and no room for self-congratulation once rescued — the same move, twice, at individual and communal levels. It asks the reader to take seriously that spiritual death, not moral deficiency, is the real diagnosis, and that grace precedes any qualifying response rather than rewarding one. It also refuses privately administered salvation: whoever is made alive is made a citizen in a specific household, not an isolated survivor. As Timothy Keller puts it, describing exactly this pattern, "We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope."

The verses this turns on

Ephesians 2:1 WEB
You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν,

  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • ὑμᾶς σύ personal pronoun G4771
  • ὄντας εἰμί verb · present active participle, accusative plural masculine G1510
  • νεκροὺς νεκρός adjective · accusative plural masculine G3498
  • τοῖς ὁ article · dative plural neuter G3588
  • παραπτώμασιν παράπτωμα noun · dative plural neuter G3900
  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • ταῖς ὁ article · dative plural feminine G3588
  • ἁμαρτίαις ἁμαρτία noun · dative plural feminine G266
  • ὑμῶν, σύ personal pronoun G4771

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Colossians 2:13 You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
  2. Ephesians 2:5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
  3. Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
  4. Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
  5. Ephesians 4:18 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts.
Ephesians 2:2 WEB
in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

ἐν αἷς ποτε περιεπατήσατε κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, κατὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος, τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας·

  • ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • αἷς ὅς relative pronoun · dative plural feminine G3739
  • ποτε ποτέ adverb G4218
  • περιεπατήσατε περιπατέω verb · aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural G4043
  • κατὰ κατά preposition G2596
  • τὸν ὁ article · accusative singular masculine G3588
  • αἰῶνα αἰών noun · accusative singular masculine G165
  • τοῦ ὁ article · genitive singular masculine G3588
  • κόσμου κόσμος noun · genitive singular masculine G2889
  • τούτου, οὗτος demonstrative pronoun · genitive singular masculine G3778
  • κατὰ κατά preposition G2596
  • τὸν ὁ article · accusative singular masculine G3588

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Ephesians 6:12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
  2. 1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
  3. Ephesians 2:3 We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
  4. John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out.
  5. Colossians 3:6 For these things' sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.
Ephesians 2:3 WEB
We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημέν ποτε ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, ποιοῦντες τὰ θελήματα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν, καὶ ἤμεθα τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί·

  • ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • οἷς ὅς relative pronoun · dative plural masculine G3739
  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • ἡμεῖς ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
  • πάντες πᾶς adjective · nominative plural masculine G3956
  • ἀνεστράφημέν ἀναστρέφω verb · aorist passive indicative, 1st person plural G390
  • ποτε ποτέ particle G4218
  • ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • ταῖς ὁ article · dative plural feminine G3588
  • ἐπιθυμίαις ἐπιθυμία noun · dative plural feminine G1939
  • τῆς ὁ article · genitive singular feminine G3588
  • σαρκὸς σάρξ noun · genitive singular feminine G4561

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Titus 3:3 For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
  2. Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh.
  3. Ephesians 4:22 that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit,
  4. 1 Peter 1:14 as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance,
  5. Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.
Ephesians 2:4 WEB
But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

ὁ δὲ Θεὸς πλούσιος ὢν ἐν ἐλέει, διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἀγάπην αὐτοῦ ἣν ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς,

  • ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
  • δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
  • Θεὸς θεός noun · nominative singular masculine G2316
  • πλούσιος πλούσιος adjective · nominative singular masculine G4145
  • ὢν εἰμί verb · present active participle, nominative singular masculine G1510
  • ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • ἐλέει, ἔλεος noun · dative singular neuter G1656
  • διὰ διά preposition G1223
  • τὴν ὁ article · accusative singular feminine G3588
  • πολλὴν πολύς adjective · accusative singular feminine G4183
  • ἀγάπην ἀγάπη noun · accusative singular feminine G26
  • αὐτοῦ αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
  2. Ephesians 1:7 In him we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
  3. Psalm 86:15 But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.
  4. Titus 3:4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared,
  5. Romans 5:8 But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Ephesians 2:5 WEB
even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

καὶ ὄντας ἡμᾶς νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν συνεζωοποίησεν τῷ Χριστῷ,— χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι,—

  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • ὄντας εἰμί verb · present active participle, accusative plural masculine G1510
  • ἡμᾶς ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
  • νεκροὺς νεκρός adjective · accusative plural masculine G3498
  • τοῖς ὁ article · dative plural neuter G3588
  • παραπτώμασιν παράπτωμα noun · dative plural neuter G3900
  • συνεζωοποίησεν συζωοποιέω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G4806
  • τῷ ὁ article · dative singular masculine G3588
  • Χριστῷ,— Χριστός noun · dative singular masculine G5547
  • χάριτί χάρις noun · dative singular feminine G5485
  • ἐστε εἰμί verb · present active indicative, 2nd person plural G1510
  • σεσῳσμένοι,— σῴζω verb · perfect passive participle, nominative plural masculine G4982

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Romans 3:24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
  2. Ephesians 2:8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
  3. Romans 5:8 But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
  4. Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life.
  5. Acts 15:11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are."
Ephesians 2:6 WEB
and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

καὶ συνήγειρεν καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ,

  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • συνήγειρεν συνεγείρω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G4891
  • καὶ καί conjunction G2532
  • συνεκάθισεν συγκαθίζω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G4776
  • ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • τοῖς ὁ article · dative plural neuter G3588
  • ἐπουρανίοις ἐπουράνιος adjective · dative plural neuter G2032
  • ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • Χριστῷ Χριστός noun · dative singular masculine G5547
  • Ἰησοῦ, Ἰησοῦς noun · dative singular masculine G2424

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
  2. Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
  3. Romans 6:4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
  4. Colossians 2:12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
  5. John 17:21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
Ephesians 2:10 WEB
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν ποίημα, κτισθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐπὶ ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς, οἷς προητοίμασεν ὁ Θεὸς ἵνα ἐν αὐτοῖς περιπατήσωμεν.

  • αὐτοῦ αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846
  • γάρ γάρ conjunction G1063
  • ἐσμεν εἰμί verb · present active indicative, 1st person plural G1510
  • ποίημα, ποίημα noun · nominative singular neuter G4161
  • κτισθέντες κτίζω verb · aorist passive participle, nominative plural masculine G2936
  • ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • Χριστῷ Χριστός noun · dative singular masculine G5547
  • Ἰησοῦ Ἰησοῦς noun · dative singular masculine G2424
  • ἐπὶ ἐπί preposition G1909
  • ἔργοις ἔργον noun · dative plural neuter G2041
  • ἀγαθοῖς, ἀγαθός adjective · dative plural neuter G18
  • οἷς ὅς relative pronoun · dative plural neuter G3739

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
  2. Colossians 1:10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God,
  3. Hebrews 13:21 make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
  4. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
  5. 2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.
Ephesians 2:11 WEB
Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "uncircumcision" by that which is called "circumcision" (in the flesh, made by hands),
discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904

Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ποτὲ ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου,

  • Διὸ διό conjunction G1352
  • μνημονεύετε μνημονεύω verb · present active imperative, 2nd person plural G3421
  • ὅτι ὅτι conjunction G3754
  • ποτὲ ποτέ particle G4218
  • ὑμεῖς σύ personal pronoun G4771
  • τὰ ὁ article · nominative plural neuter G3588
  • ἔθνη ἔθνος noun · nominative plural neuter G1484
  • ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
  • σαρκί, σάρξ noun · dative singular feminine G4561
  • οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
  • λεγόμενοι λέγω verb · present middle or passive participle, nominative plural masculine G3004
  • ἀκροβυστία ἀκροβυστία noun · nominative singular feminine G203

Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.

See also 5
  1. Colossians 2:11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,
  2. Colossians 2:13 You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
  3. Colossians 3:11 where there can't be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
  4. Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;
  5. Galatians 6:12 As many as desire to make a good impression in the flesh compel you to be circumcised, just so they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

From the interpretive tradition

We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.
Timothy Keller The Meaning of Marriage pastor · reformed
The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God.
Irenaeus Against Heresies, IV.20.7 father · patristic public domain

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