Ephesians 2

Order of Service

• Prayer Requests
• Opening Prayer
• Sunday School Lesson — Ephesians 2:1-10
• Closing Prayer

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Sermon Title: The Way We Were and the Way We Are

Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10

I. The Way We Were — Dead in Sin (Ephesians 2:1-3)

A. Paul shifts perspective from chapter one — chapter one surveyed God's plan of salvation from God's vantage point; chapter two views individual salvation from the human vantage point

B. The universal condition: dead in trespasses and sins

1. "Dead" is not figurative here — mankind is genuinely unresponsive to God, unable to choose him without divine intervention
2. Paul addresses "you" (Ephesian Gentiles), "we" (Paul and fellow Jews), and "the rest of mankind" — this condition is universal
3. Trespass = crossing a known boundary; sin = missing the mark — together they cover all sins of omission and commission
4. John Stott's description: non-Christians are blind to Christ's glory, deaf to the Holy Spirit, with no love for or awareness of God — as unresponsive as a corpse

C. Three enslaving forces binding sinful mankind

1. The world — a society organized without reference to God; even good things (hobbies, work, passions) can come between us and God; compare Romans 12:2
2. The devil — "the prince of the power of the air"; commands principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12); though a created being limited to one place, his authority is pervasive through an impersonal spirit or mood active in unbelievers; the verb energeo ("at work") is the same used in Ephesians 1:20 for the power that raised Christ from the dead
3. The flesh — not only bodily desires but also the mind; intellectual sins such as pride, ambition, and envy; see Philippians 3:3-6 for Paul's own example of pride of ancestry, race, religion, and righteousness

D. By nature, children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3)

1. God's wrath is not like human anger — the Greek orgē indicates a building, intensifying opposition to evil; it is personal, predictable, and consistent
2. Just as grace is personal to God, so is his wrath — both are his response to the human condition
3. George Whitefield's vivid illustration: mankind in sin is like Lazarus in the tomb — bound, decaying, unable to raise himself; only the same Jesus who called "Lazarus, come forth" can quicken the dead sinner

E. Theological background on the bondage of the will

1. Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards all agreed that without God's grace no sinner can embrace salvation
2. Edwards' distinctive view: the will is always free to choose what the mind judges best, but a corrupt nature always judges against God — the problem is man's moral nature, not the will itself

II. But God — The Divine Intervention (Ephesians 2:4-6)

A. "But God" — two words that contain the gospel; the turning point of the entire passage

B. God's motivation: rich in mercy, great love (Ephesians 2:4)

C. Three saving acts described by Paul using the Greek prefix syn ("together with"), joining believers to three historical events in Christ's own experience

1. Made alive — sharing in Christ's resurrection
2. Raised up — sharing in Christ's ascension
3. Seated — sharing in Christ's session at the right hand of the Father
4. These correspond to the confession of the Apostles' Creed: "the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven; and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father"

D. Seated in the heavenly places — believers are placed in the unseen realm of spiritual reality where Christ reigns supreme (Ephesians 1:20, Ephesians 3:10, Ephesians 6:12); Stott notes this symbolizes the life of victory and honor that is ours in union with Christ

E. Union with Christ is the heart of New Testament Christianity — it is not merely attending church or adhering to moral standards, but being in Christ, having shared in his resurrection, ascension, and session

III. Saved by Grace — The Foundation of New Life (Ephesians 2:7-10)

A. "By grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:5, Ephesians 2:8) — the verb is in the present participle form, emphasizing that the abiding consequences of salvation are permanent and complete

B. Salvation is entirely God's gift — not of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:9)

C. Purpose of salvation: the coming ages will display the immeasurable riches of God's grace and kindness in Christ (Ephesians 2:7)

D. The believer's new walk: created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2:10)

1. Contrasts with the dead walk of sin described in verse 1
2. The Christian life is a purposeful walk God ordained in advance
3. Hymns referenced — Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken (v. 4: "storms may howl and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me"), How Firm a Foundation, and What a Friend We Have in Jesus — all testify to living victoriously through difficulty because of our position in Christ