# Ephesians 02 📖: Saved by Grace, Made One [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Ephesians Overview]] | [[Ephesians 01]] | [[Ephesians 03]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### New Life Individually **Principle**: We have passed from death to life. [[#Verse 01.]] And although you were dead in your offenses and sins,  [[#Verse 02.]] in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the domain of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, [[# Verse 02]] in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the domain of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, [[#Verse 03.]] among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest… [[#Verse 04.]] But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us,  [[#Verse 05.]] even though we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!—  [[#Verse 06.]] and he raised us up together with him and seated us together with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,  [[#Verse 07.]] to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  [[#Verse 08.]] For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;  [[#Verse 09.]] it is not from works, so that no one can boast.  [[#Verse 10.]] For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them. [[#Verse 11.]] ==For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them.== ### New Life Corporately **Principle**: We have unity through Christ. [[#Verse 12.]] that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [[#Verse 13.]] But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [[#Verse 14.]] For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, [[#Verse 15.]] when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, [[#Verse 16.]] and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. [[#Verse 016]] and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed.  [[#Verse 17.]] And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near,  [[#Verse 18.]] so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [[#Verse 19.]] So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,  [[#Verse 20.]] because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.  [[#Verse 21.]] In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,  [[#Verse 22.]] in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. [[#Verse 22.]] in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. "Workmanship" (*poiema*, 2:10) is the source of the English word "poem." 2. The temple in Jerusalem had a barrier keeping Gentiles out of the inner courts, with warning inscriptions threatening death. Archaeologists have found two of these inscriptions. 3. Paul was later accused of bringing Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, into the temple (Acts 21:28-29). 4. "The ruler of the kingdom of the air" (2:2) reflects the ancient view that the air was a realm of spiritual powers. 5. "Far away" and "near" (2:13, 17) echo the promise of peace in Isaiah 57:19. 6. The cornerstone image (2:20) comes from Isaiah 28:16 and Psalm 118:22. 7. "Foreigners" (2:19) translates *paroikoi*, resident aliens who lived in a place without full citizen rights. 8. Paul describes the church as a holy temple (2:21) to readers who lived near one of the most famous temples of the ancient world. 9. Being "seated with Him in the heavenly realms" (2:6) is in the past tense, describing a present reality for believers. 10. Gentiles were once "without God in the world" (2:12). The Greek word is *atheoi*, the root of "atheist." ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is our peace who broke down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile (2:14). By grace through faith He brings us from death to life, as God made us alive together with Him (Colossians 2:13). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Paul describes us as dead in our transgressions and sins (2:1-3). Why is it important to understand how hopeless we were without Christ? 2. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works, yet we are created for good works (2:8-10). How do grace and good works fit together? 3. Christ made Jew and Gentile into one new people (2:14-16). Where is God calling you to build bridges with others? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: We were dead in our transgressions and sins. - 📖 verses 4-5: God, rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ. - 📖 verses 8-9: By grace you are saved through faith, and it is not from yourselves or from works. - 📖 verse 10: We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. - 📖 verses 14, 19-20: Christ is our peace, and we are fellow citizens in God's household built on Christ the cornerstone. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Colossians 02#Verse 13.|Colossians 2:13]] - Dead in trespasses, made alive with Christ. - 🔗 [[Titus 03#Verse 05.|Titus 3:5]] - Saved not by works of righteousness but by His mercy. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 57#Verse 19.|Isaiah 57:19]] - Peace to the far and the near. - 🔗 [[Galatians 03#Verse 28.|Galatians 3:28]] - All are one in Christ Jesus. - 🔗 [[Psalm 118#Verse 22.|Psalm 118:22]] - The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone. - 🔗 [[1 Peter 02#Verse 05.|1 Peter 2:5]] - Living stones built into a spiritual house. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Ephesians 02 - SOAP|God’s Refrigerator Art]] ## 📂 Internal Notes