Ephesians 2:1-10
Holman Christian Standard Bible
From Death to Life
2 And you were dead(A) in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world,(B) according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens,[a](C) the spirit(D) now working in the disobedient.[b] 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly(E) desires, carrying out the inclinations(F) of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath(G) as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy,(H) because of His great love(I) that He had for us,[c] 5 made us alive(J) with the Messiah even though we were dead(K) in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens,(L) 7 so that in the coming ages(M) He might display the immeasurable riches(N) of His grace through His kindness(O) to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace(P) through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are His creation, created(Q) in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time(R) so that we should walk in them.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ephesians 2:2 Lit ruler of the domain of the air
- Ephesians 2:2 Lit sons of disobedience
- Ephesians 2:4 Lit love with which He loved us
Ephesians 2:1-10
The Message
He Tore Down the Wall
2 1-6 It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.
7-10 Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson