Ephesians Chapter 2 Series

Ephesians Chapter 2

Eph.2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (KJV)

2:1 And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins, (Amplified Version)

A. “And you hath he quickened”.—And you also. St. Paul here begins the particular application to the Ephesians, which is the main subject of this chapter, broken off in Ephesians 2:3-10, and resumed in Ephesians 2:11. The words “hath He quickened” (or, properly, did He quicken) are supplied here from Ephesians 2:5—rightly, as expressing the true sense and tending to greater clearness, but perhaps not necessarily. (Elliott)

B. “And you hath he quickened” - The words "hath he quickened," or "made to live," are supplied, but not improperly, by our translators. The object of the apostle is to show the great power which God had evinced toward the people Ephesians 1:19; and to show that this was put forth in connection with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and his exaltation to the right hand of God in heaven; The words "hath he quickened" mean, hath he made alive, or made to live; (Barnes’ Notes)

C. Death = Separation (Chuck Missler)

a. Physical death = separation of the soul from the body James 2:26

b. Spiritual death = alienated from the life of God, eternal separation

c. The “Second Death” Rev 2:11; 20:6, 14

d. The sinner is dead, not just sick but dead; He needs resuscitation

D. “Trespasses and sins”.—These two words, more often used separately, are here brought together, to form a climax. The word rendered “trespass” signifies a “swerving aside and falling”; the word rendered “sins” is generally used by St. Paul in the singular to denote “sin” in the abstract, and signifies an entire “missing of the mark” of life. Hence, even in the plural, it denotes universal and positive principles of evil doing, while “trespass” rather points to failure in visible and special acts of those not necessarily out of the right way. (Elliott)

E. Sins kills innocence. No one is precisely the same after he has sinned. The psychologists tell us that we never forget anything. It may be in our conscious memory, but everything we ever did or saw or heard is buried in our subconscious memories. The result is that sin leaves a permanent effect on a man. (William Barclay)

F. Sin is the death of the soul. A man dead in trespasses and sins has no desire for spiritual pleasures. When we look upon a corpse, it gives an awful feeling. A never-dying spirit is now fled, and has left nothing but the ruins of a man. But if we viewed things aright, we should be far more affected by the thought of a dead soul, a lost, fallen spirit. A state of sin is a state of conformity to this world. Wicked men are slaves to Satan. Satan is the author of that proud, carnal disposition which there is in ungodly men; he rules in the hearts of men. (Matt Henry)

Eph. 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

2:2 in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God].

A. “Wherein aforetime ye walked according to the course of this world”. The idea of a dead creature walking is not altogether incongruous. It implies that a kind of life remained sufficient for walking; but not the true, full, normal life; rather the life of a galvanized corpse, or of one walking in sleep. The figurative use of walking for living, or carrying on our life, is frequent in this Epistle (Eph_4:1; Eph_5:2, etc.). "The course of this world," elsewhere" the world," denotes the present system of things, as conducted by those who have regard only to things seen and temporal, and no regard to God or to the future life. Where there is spiritual death there is insensibility to these things. (Pulpit Comm)

B. “According to the prince of the power of the air”. It is obvious that this is equivalent to "the god of this world" (2Co_4:4), but the explanation of the term is difficult. Allusion is made to a corporate body, "the power [or, ’government’] (e????s?´a) of the air," and to one who is "prince" of this government. There is no difficulty in identifying the evil one and his host, of whom Milton gives such graphic pictures. But why should they be specially connected with the air? The notion, entertained by some of the Fathers and others, that storms and disturbances of the atmosphere are caused by them, is preposterous; it is unscriptural (Psa_148:8) and quite unscientific. The term seems to denote that evil spirits, who have some power of influencing us by their temptations, have their abode in the atmosphere, or at least haunt it, being invisible like it, yet exercising a real influence on human souls, and drawing them in worldly directions, and contrary to the will of God. (PC)