Ephesians 2
2
God Saved Us because of His Great Love for Us
1You were once dead because of your failures and sins. 2You followed the ways of this present world and its spiritual ruler. This ruler continues to work in people who refuse to obey God. 3All of us once lived among these people, and followed the desires of our corrupt nature. We did what our corrupt desires and thoughts wanted us to do. So, because of our nature, we deserved God’s anger just like everyone else.
4But God is rich in mercy because of his great love for us. 5We were dead because of our failures, but he made us alive together with Christ. (It is God’s kindness #2:5 Or “grace.” that saved you.) 6God has brought us back to life together with Christ Jesus and has given us a position in heaven with him. 7He did this through Christ Jesus out of his generosity to us in order to show his extremely rich kindness in the world to come. 8God saved you through faith as an act of kindness. You had nothing to do with it. Being saved is a gift from God. 9It’s not the result of anything you’ve done, so no one can brag about it. 10God has made us what we are. He has created us in Christ Jesus to live lives filled with good works that he has prepared for us to do.
God Has United Jewish and Non-Jewish People
11Remember that once you were not Jewish physically. Those who called themselves “the circumcised” because of what they had done to their bodies called you “the uncircumcised.” 12Also, at that time you were without Christ. You were excluded from citizenship in Israel, and the pledges #2:12 Or “covenants.” ⌞God made in his⌟ promise were foreign to you. You had no hope and were in the world without God.
13But now through Christ Jesus you, who were once far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14So he is our peace. In his body he has made Jewish and non-Jewish people one by breaking down the wall of hostility that kept them apart. 15He brought an end to the commandments and demands found in Moses’ Teachings so that he could take Jewish and non-Jewish people and create one new humanity in himself. So he made peace. 16He also brought them back to God in one body by his cross, on which he killed the hostility. 17He came with the Good News of peace for you who were far away and for those who were near. 18So Jewish and non-Jewish people can go to the Father in one Spirit.
19That is why you are no longer foreigners and outsiders but citizens together with God’s people and members of God’s family. 20You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. 21In him all the parts of the building fit together and grow into a holy temple in the Lord. 22Through him you, also, are being built in the Spirit together with others into a place where God lives.
Currently Selected:
Ephesians 2: GW
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.