Ephesians 2
2
From Death to Life
1In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. 2Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers#2:2 ruler of the evil powers See “Satan” in the Word List. that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. 3In the past all of us lived like that, trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. Like everyone else in the world, we deserved to suffer God’s anger just because of the way we were.
4But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. 5We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.) 6Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly places. 7God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace.
8I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. 10God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.
One in Christ
11You were not born as Jews. You are the people the Jews call “uncircumcised.#2:11 uncircumcised People not having the mark of circumcision like the Jews have.” Those Jews who call you “uncircumcised” call themselves “circumcised.” (Their circumcision is only something they themselves do to their bodies.) 12Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel, and you did not know about the agreements#2:12 agreements The agreements with special promises that God gave at various times to people in the Old Testament. See “agreement” in the Word List. with the promises that God made to his people. You had no hope, and you did not know God. 13Yes, at one time you were far away from God, but now in Christ Jesus, you are brought near to him. You are brought near to God through the blood sacrifice of Christ.
14Christ is the reason we are now at peace. He made us Jews and you who are not Jews one people. We were separated by a wall of hate that stood between us, but Christ broke down that wall. By giving his own body, 15Christ ended the law with its many commands and rules. His purpose was to make the two groups become one in him. By doing this he would make peace. 16Through the cross Christ ended the hate between the two groups. And after they became one body, he wanted to bring them both back to God. He did this with his death on the cross. 17Christ came and brought the message of peace to you non-Jews who were far away from God. And he brought that message of peace to those who were near to God. 18Yes, through Christ we all have the right to come to the Father in one Spirit.
19So now you non-Jewish people are not visitors or strangers, but you are citizens together with God’s holy people. You belong to God’s family. 20You believers are like a building that God owns. That building was built on the foundation that the apostles and prophets prepared. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone#2:20 most important stone Literally, “cornerstone.” The first and most important stone in a building. in that building. 21The whole building is joined together in Christ, and he makes it grow and become a holy temple#2:21 temple God’s house—the place where God’s people worship him. Here, it means that believers are the spiritual temple where God lives. in the Lord. 22And in Christ you are being built together with his other people. You are being made into a place where God lives through the Spirit.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Ephesians 2
2
Made Alive in Christ
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh#2:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit. and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ
11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
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