Chapter Ephesians 2:1-10. Regeneration of the Ephesians, an Instance of Gratuitous Salvation 1. _And you_hath he quickened] The construction is broken, and the gap is filled by the inserted verb, inferred from Ephesians 2:5 below, where however "_we_" has taken the place of "you." Better, perhaps,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherein … ye walked_ The transgressions were the road, or region, of the moral "walk," i.e. the successive acts and practices of life. Contrast below, Ephesians 2:10, the region of the regenerate "walk." The Gr. verb is aorist. The whole past experience, however long, is gathered up in memory into... [ Continue Reading ]
_also we all_ Better WE ALSO ALL, the "also" emphasizing the "we." "_We all:_" all present Christians, whether Jews or heathens by origin. St Paul often insists on this _one level of fallen nature_, wholly unaffected by external privilege. Cp. Romans 3:9; Romans 3:23; Galatians 3:22. It is met by th... [ Continue Reading ]
_But God_ The Divine counter-fact now comes in, brighter for the awful contrast. _who is rich in mercy_ See note on "riches," Ephesians 1:18. The _ultimate motive_of the work of regeneration is here given, and it is simply the Divine Mercy. No claim or obligation is in the question, nor right inher... [ Continue Reading ]
_dead in sins_ Better, IN RESPECT OF OUR TRESPASSES. See on Ephesians 2:1 the construction is the same. _hath quickened_ DID QUICKEN, i.e., bring from death to life; ideally, when our Lord and Head rose to life; actually, when we, by faith, were united to Him. _together with Christ_ As vitally and... [ Continue Reading ]
_and hath raised_us _up together_, &c. Better, DID RAISE, &c. The radical idea of _new life_is here put into more detail, as a resurrection and ascension; the special form of the Lord's Revival. "_Together:_" the Gr. grammar allows this to refer to either (1) union with _the Church_, or (2) union wi... [ Continue Reading ]
_the ages to come_ All future periods of development in His Kingdom. The phrase must not be restricted to the future history of the Church on earth; it is akin rather to the frequent formula for the eternal future, "unto the ages of the ages," and cp. esp. Jude 1:25, "both now and unto _all the ages... [ Continue Reading ]
_For by grace_, &c. The connexion of thought (" _for_") is with the leading truth of Ephesians 2:4-7; the _gratuitous_"loving-kindness of the Lord" in the salvation of the Church. This, we have just read, will be the great future lesson of that salvation to the intelligent Universe; and this accordi... [ Continue Reading ]
_lest any_man _should boast_ Lit., ANY ONE; there is no emphasis on "man." For the thought, cp. Romans 3:27, (and see Ephesians 4:2); 1 Corinthians 1:29; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Galatians 6:14; Philippians 3:3; in all which passages the Gr. word is the same. The Apostle is everywhere jealous for the sove... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_, &c. The connexion is, "works are not the antecedent, but the consequent, of your acceptance in Christ; _for_the true statement of the case is, that you were re-made, re-born, _in order to_work the will of God." _his_ Strongly emphatic. "It is He that made us, and not we ourselves" (Psalms 10... [ Continue Reading ]
Regeneration of the Ephesians, an instance of the equal welcome of Gentiles to the Covenant Church, the true Temple 11. _Wherefore remember_ Here first the Apostle deals with the special fact of the previous Gentilism of his converts. Hitherto he has spoken of their regeneration, and incorporation... [ Continue Reading ]
_at that time_ Strictly, AT THAT OCCASION. The Gr. word habitually marks _limited_periods; though this must not always be pressed. Here possibly there is a suggestion of the _transient_period of exclusion, opposed to the long eternity of acceptance. _without Christ_ APART FROM CHRIST; out of connex... [ Continue Reading ]
_but now_ under the changed conditions of actual and accepted Redemption. _in Christ Jesus_ In living union with the true Messiah. Just before, Ephesians 2:12, we have "without _Christ_" merely; here, "in Christ _Jesus_." The Messiah of Prophecy is now known as also the _Jesus_of the Gospel. _some... [ Continue Reading ]
_he is our peace_ "_He:_" the glorious living Person gives its essence to the sacrificial Work. " _Our peace:_" i.e., as the connexion indicates, the "peace" between the Tribes of the New Israel, the Gentile and Jewish believers; such peace that now, within the covenant, "there is neither Jew nor G... [ Continue Reading ]
_having abolished_, &c. Lit., THE ENMITY, IN HIS FLESH, THE LAW OF THE COMMANDMENTS IN DECREES, ANNULLING. In this difficult verse our best guide is the Ep. to the Romans, esp. Romans 7:1-6; Romans 8:2-3, passages very possibly in mind when this was written. See also the closely parallel passage, Co... [ Continue Reading ]
_reconcile both unto God_ The Gr. verb here rendered "reconcile" occurs elsewhere (in exactly the same form) only Colossians 1:20-21; but a form nearly identical occurs _e. g._Romans 5:10; 1 Corinthians 7:11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20. The idea of the verb is on the whole that of the propitiation of an... [ Continue Reading ]
_and came_ from the work of the Cross, from the Grave. "Peace" was His first word in Resurrection-life to His gathered Church (John 20:19); and that Church was then, and not till then, sent to the world, "far off" as well as "nigh," to be an "ambassador on behalf of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:20), rep... [ Continue Reading ]
_for_ It is possible to render "_that_," and so to make this the substance of the message of "peace." The difference is not important. But it is grammatically better to retain A. V. (and R. V.). _both_ Masculine plural, as Ephesians 2:16, where see note. Both the great _groups_, in all their _indiv... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now therefore ye_ He now turns direct to the Gentile believers, and rejoicingly recounts to them the actual grandeur of their privileges in grace. _no more_ as you once were. See on Ephesians 2:12 above. The finished work of Christ, realized by accepting faith, has entirely broken for them the old... [ Continue Reading ]
_and are built_ Better, HAVING BEEN BUILT; once built (aorist), by your Redeemer. The metaphor here boldly changes, from the inmates of city and house, to the structure. Possibly the element "_house_" in "household" suggested this. For similar imagery, cp. 1 Corinthians 3:9-10; 1 Peter 2:4-8; Judges... [ Continue Reading ]
_in whom_ In close and vital connexion with Whom. See last note. _all the building_ R. V., "_each several building;_" as if the great Temple were viewed for the moment in its multiplicity of porches, courts, and towers; each connected with the great bond of the substructure, in and on which the whol... [ Continue Reading ]
_you also_ He reminds them of the joyful fact that they are special examples of the general truth that "the Gentiles are fellow-heirs." _are builded_ A present tense in the Greek; ARE BUILDING, BEING BUILDED. It is a process; carried on in new accessions of regenerate souls, and new and deeper "fra... [ Continue Reading ]