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EPHESIANS CHAPTER 2 See previous page KJV WEB Eph 2,1-22 (29j) Gift of God >> God is on our side >> God identifies with us >> He is our advocate Eph 2,1-10 (193g) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> God grants repentance (207j) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The generosity of God’s salvation >> Salvation is the gift of God Eph 2,1-7 (38f) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> God judged the world, the flesh and the devil (243l) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> There shall be no end to His increase >> God's kingdom is Infinite >> We will reign with Christ forever – Most of us interpret our lives in ways that always seek advantage, while God thinks of us in terms of how He plans to use us in the ages to come to glorify Himself. The glory of man and the glory of God could not be more opposite each other. The difference is that the glory of man is temporal and having no future, while the glory of God is eternal, and it brings glory to Himself. In turn He glorifies us, but if we do not set our heart to glorify Him, we will have nothing in the end. What is God’s purpose for mankind; why did He make us and then leave us here seemingly alone among all this turmoil, difficulty, pain and suffering? There is one good reason for our life in the flesh: the purpose of this life is to humble us. This life is to prove that we will not use His power for our own vainglory but use it to glorify Him only. We don’t know much about our future in the ages to come; we know very little about what God has prepared for us, but we do know that just as we are His representatives in this life, so we will be His representatives in the life to come. We know that Jesus is seated at the right-hand of the Father, and we will represent Him in that state to His creation throughout the universe, which means that we too will be glorified. We also know that God is both infinite and eternal; He doesn’t do anything apart from these two attributes, which mostly define Him. Nevertheless, the nine fruits of the Spirit are infinitely more important than His attribute of being infinite, and this will remain true forever. The fact that God values His character above His title (Creator) is the reason for His grace. That is, if He cared about His external qualities more than His internal qualities, we could not be saved. Eph 2,1-5 (26a) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death >> Dead to God through sin – Sinners are spiritually dead to God; they cannot hear the Holy Spirit speaking to them; they are separated from His grace and mercy and from His promise of eternal life. Like Hollywood movies, people are dead in sin, and they walk in unbelief like zombies, for the darkness has blinded their eyes, and like vampires, any amount of light makes them react hysterically. In contrast, those who are alive in Christ love God and hate sin. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Eph 2,1-3 (16b) Sin >> Man’s nature is instinctively evil >> Man is an enemy of God -- These verses go with verse 12. The world does not know God. The true condition of the world as seen through the eyes of Scripture is that man is at enmity with his Creator, for there is a spirit that is contrary to God working in the world to guarantee man’s rejection of God apart from divine intervention. Paul depicts the whole world as dead in sin, plotting on course with society and with the general consensus instead of following Christ. (22g) Sin >> Lust (craving pleasure) >> Fleshly mind (57d) Paradox >> Opposites >> Friend of the world is an enemy of God (160e) Works of the devil >> Led by the devil into sin – The deception that is in the world though lust (2Pet 1-4) has a hold on mankind, making faith in Jesus seem like a fairytale. Only the Holy Spirit can cut through the darkness of man’s heart to shine the truth on his soul. Man is content in his own world, though there is suffering caused by sin, men murdering one another, discord, unhappiness and unfulfilled desire. In all these things man is still content to retain his secular worldview, locked into it, and we cannot think or feel our way out of it. God is the only one who can deliver us from our humanistic belief systems, reinforced by demonic powers of wickedness in high places, revealing the motives and spirits behind the great deception and delivering us from false reasonings and our human tendencies to believe them. (164f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> He is the prince of the power of the air – There are forces in the world today on TV, broadcasting the same message to millions of people at the same time. They appear to mean no harm, but do we think for one minute that Satan has not harnessed this communication system? He is the Prince of the Power of the Air, the master of mass communication, and the television set has fallen into his lap as his ultimate weapon, and he has been using if from day one. We turn on the TV set and see all the beautiful, happy, smiling people, telling us how we should live, and it all sounds like they have our best interest at heart, but don’t count on it. God placed His Holy Spirit in us, who is leading us away from worldly perspectives and toward the thoughts of God, which are diametrically opposed in concept to the world. The antichrist may not have appeared yet, so He does not physically rule the world but spiritually, subtly teaching man how to think and what to believe, which ultimately determines the course of this world. There are many kings and presidents, but according to the Bible, Satan is the ruler of the world, and this verse suggests that Satan’s ability to govern the world is dependent on the disobedience/unbelief of humanity. Man’s unbelief acts like a dark cloud that continually hangs over the world to create the mood (atmosphere) of evil, and Satan orchestrates the entire process. None of this would be possible if man’s nature were not instinctively evil, giving man an affinity for satanic control. It is programmed into his flesh from the fall of Adam to be more attracted to evil than to God. Man’s nature is demonic; so it would seem that we have an unfixable problem, and by ourselves it is just that, but God has solved our problem in Christ. See also: Adam; 166j (166j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >> The carnal mind agrees with the devil – Jm 3-15 echoes these sentiments about the world and its wisdom, saying that it is “earthly, natural, demonic;” and like James, Paul associated the world with the devil. That which is earthly and secular is demonic. Man has the body of an animal, but when he tries to follow the rules of nature, he finds that nature has rejected him in the same way that God kicked Adam from the Garden, and now we must build civilizations that are distinct from nature, and with that God prophesied that our kingdoms would destroy us, and so it seems that man has nowhere to go, except to God. By ourselves we naturally think the thoughts of demons. This too corresponds with secularism, because Satan wants us to believe there is nothing else to life than what our five senses can detect. Satan wants man to believe there is no such thing as a spirit in the world; he doesn’t want people believing in the existence of God or even in his own existence, since he too is a spirit. Secularism denies any and all forms of spiritualism. Although there is much evidence to support God’s existence, for the creation itself is proof of that, still secularism persists and interprets all things through the lens of nature. When whole societies accept these things as viable, it makes the lie of secularism very convincing to the unbeliever. See also: Adam; 180i / God kicked man from the Garden of Eden Rev 9,13-15; 220d (180i) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Rebelling against God’s narrow way >> Rebelling against the will of God – Rebellion began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve when Satan fooled them into eating fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; they entered into the same transgression as Lucifer. The circumstances and details of Satan’s rebellion and man’s rebellion are different, but they are both rebellion. Even if we try to be good, we were born into the family of Satan by default and were by nature children of wrath. There is no way out of it except through faith in the shed blood of Christ that God used to purchase the Church from Satan, which is the only acceptable covenant between God and man. Our acceptance of His blood covenant proves that we want peace with God, and we want to be His children and do His will, and we want to be pleasing to Him. He saved us from our sins as we dedicated our lives to the process of sanctification, setting us apart from our sins and from the world that we inherited, but if we reject his blood sacrifice, it just proves that we are still in rebellion. See also: Adam; Eph 2-6,7; 214f (183g) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Spirit of the broad road >> Spirit of the world – Those who are dead in their transgressions and sins are following what Jesus called the broad road that leads to destruction. Through his jealous rage Satan's malevolent spirit is leading mankind off a cliff, and his many cohorts are working with him to make sure that man's futile groping will never lead to God, and those who walk the broad road to destruction need do nothing to be candidates of God’s wrath, for the road itself represents the very essence of unbelief. (184b) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >> Hiding behind your own imagination >> Hiding behind a false authority (185e) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of lawlessness >> The mystery of sin (202b) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running to your sinful nature >> Run from God by running to the world (240h) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >> Natural disadvantage of the world -- These verses go with verses 11&12 Eph 2-1 (25j) Dead In Sin (Key verse) Eph 2-3 (19h) Sin >> Having the mental disease of the world >> Worldly influence on the mind (230g) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking of God’s judgment KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Eph 2,4-10 (33l) Gift of God >> Believers are special to God >> He has given us all things (116i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Working God’s kindness – The difference between "grace" and mercy, though the Bible often uses them interchangeably, is that "mercy" speaks of God’s unmerited favor, while grace refers to his unmerited power. God saves us by His mercy to eternal life, and He saves us by His grace for the purpose of this life. God was rich in mercy to send His Son for us, and His grace has saved us by the power of God who raised Him from the dead. When we believe in Jesus, God by His mercy deposits the Holy Spirit in us, and His Spirit empowers us by His grace to do His will. We never see grace and mercy working apart, in that grace is always for the purpose of mercy, and mercy is always for the purpose of grace. The only reason God had mercy on us was that we were born in sin through no fault of our own, making us victims. We didn’t ask to be born in sin, but now that we are here we have a choice; we can either reject Christ and side with the world, the flesh and the devil, or we can live in contrast to our sinful nature and by a new source of power, by His grace. (238a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> Born again >> Born of the Spirit by the will of God >> Born again by the will of the Father Eph 2,4-9 (31e) Gift of God >> Grace >> Salvation >> God’s mercy overrules man’s sin – Paul is talking about the work of the cross and our faith in Him when he speaks of the unfathomable love that God has for mankind, evidenced by sending His Son to be hanged on a cross while we were yet sinners. He did it knowing many of us would betray our sinful nature and cleave to the purpose and calling of God after such a demonstration of love came for our benefit. Eph 2,4-7 (34b) Gift of God >> God’s generosity >> Believer owns everything >> Trinity belongs to us >> Father belongs to us (124a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Acts of love >> Love takes from the rich and gives to the poor >> Love takes sacrifice – There is something intrinsically wrong with claiming to know why God loves us, as though we could give Him a reason to love us; but the fact is, God loved us while we were yet sinners (Rom 5-8). He doesn’t love us because of us but in spite of us for His own sake. God loves us based on a vision, and that vision is that we should walk on the trail that He has prepared for us (v10). In the life to come He also has a vision of us accomplishing great and wonderful things. He plans to endow us with grace for the purpose of showing mercy to His creation, just as He has shown mercy to us. Some people think God loves us because of some quality we possess. There are few things lovable about us in relation to each other, much less in relation to God. Some might say it is not a loving God to love us only if we change, yet consider all the changes we have already undergone: first as a fetus, then as an infant, then a toddler, an adolescent, and finally an adult. Consider the changes we have undergone as an adult; every decade we become a different person, so we have changed many times, and God is asking us to change once more this time for Him, so we can fit the shoes of the person that He has envisioned of us. (224b) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> Describing the kingdom after he makes all things new >> Description of the ascension (226e) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of the Kingdom of Heaven >> Reserved in heaven >> Our life is reserved in heaven – The blessings will never end in the demonstration of God's love for those who exercise their faith in Him. A life of faith is a life fulfilled. Man was made for God. If a person does not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, he is incapable of being satisfied, because his heart is empty. If he doesn’t have God, he don’t have eternal life, and without hope beyond the grave, the fact that life will someday end nags at the back of every person’s mind who doesn't believe in Jesus, but for those who belong to Him that question has been answered. Their happiness is fulfilled with the satisfaction that life will never end, bringing joy and fulfillment to the soul. (249h) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >> True perception of wealth >> The infinite and eternal wealth of God >> Being rich in Jesus – This is our hope: to enjoy eternal life with our Creator who loves us and gave His life for us in order that He might redeem a people for His own possession, who are zealous for good works. It will take eternity to finally come to the full realization of God’s love for us, just for God to fully reveal Himself to us. (254b) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is the life of the Spirit >> We live because He is life >> We live because we are in Jesus Eph 2-4,5 (38g) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Resurrection of freedom KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Eph 2-6,7 (67e) Authority >> Jesus at the right hand of the father >> We are with Him – God has selected us from the world to be His worshippers and raised us to sit with Christ on His throne and given us all power and authority over heaven and earth. In that sense, we will seem like little gods to those whom God creates after us. Therefore, the reason we are here in this life is to learn that we are not gods. There was a day when we were not saved and on our way to hell (Eph 2,1-10). We will always remember our lives in the flesh squirming in our own filth, in weakness, in foolishness, “disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another” (Tit 3-3). Then God saved us. Now we are in Christ as He is in the Father, and we are with Him. The level of authority that He has given us is something that will take eternity to fully grasp. See also: New heavens and a new earth (We will be like gods to those we govern); Heb 1-14; 15b (70ja) Authority >> Believer’s authority >> We have been given authority over all creation >> We are the children of God >> We have a place on His throne (104i) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart shall see God >> Shall see Jesus >> Being in the presence of Jesus (127d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Kindness >> God is kind (214f) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> Dispensation of God’s revelations >> Dispensation of Christ – The joys of heaven are inexpressible in the things we will come to know and enjoy throughout the ages. Yes, there are ages in eternity. An age implies the end of one era and the beginning of another. There were ends and beginnings throughout past eternity, and it will continue throughout eternity future. Since God created man there have been three 2000-year ages: from Adam to Noah, from Abraham to Christ and the age of grace that is about to close and open a new age of Millennium, which is the Thousand-year reign of Christ. If these ages occurred among sinners and godless men who try to thwart everything God does, how much more will ages continue throughout eternity among the saints in a perfect universe? See also: Adam; Eph 2-6,7; 224l (224l) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The holy of holies >> The throne room of heaven – God will not withhold anything from us, giving place to us even on His throne. There is no greater honor than that. In the beginning He said, “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1-26), so it is only fitting that He would raise us up and seat us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2-6), because that is what it means to be made in His likeness, yet note that God never offered His throne to Adam. This suggests that God is still making man in His image, and if He isn't finished yet, it indicates that He will never finish making man in His image. God’s throne represents righteousness and judgment, which are two of His main attributes; we received them when we first believed in Jesus in that God has judged us righteous through His blood. When we think of the beginning in Genesis chapters 1-3, the account of creation, how it speaks of God creating man, by the end of chapter three it seems that God had finished, but that is not the case. God knew about sin, but Adam didn’t, so again this was Adam not yet fully made in His image. He was made in the image of God in some ways, but when Adam took that fruit, he drew potentially closer to God's image, because now he understood sin, which was something man needed to understand in order to be like God, and when Jesus died for us, He became a little more like man, experiencing our sin, feeling its effect and suffering under its power, being separated from His Father, yet innocent like God. Through Christ God and man have converged, man becoming more like God, and God becoming more like man. See also: Adam; Eph 2,1-3; 164f / God intended Adam to eat the forbidden fruit (He is still making man); Phi 2,5-11; 37d (237i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The ascension >> Believers’ spiritual ascension – It says that God was willing to deliver us from our sins and give us life from God as a gift of His grace and raised us with Him. Our position with Christ is with Him seated on His Father's throne. Just as the sons of the devil serve him in his presence, so the sons and daughters of God serve Christ in His presence, and since Christ dwells in heaven, so we serve Him in heaven in the spirit, though our body remains on the earth. Just as we are spiritually with Him now, so one day God will raise us bodily and place us in His heavenly kingdom, and we will physically worship Him in His presence. Since the Holy Spirit is the very essence of heaven, it hardly matters that our bodies are dressed in sinful flesh, full of weaknesses, toil and suffering. The veil of our flesh is keeping us from a greater understanding of Him, and so God's call to every Christian is to push away the veil to see better into the spiritual realm, and we do that by dying to self. He is in us and we are in Him; this describes spiritual ascension. Although we may not have literally ascended to heaven, heaven has descended to us, and so what's the difference? The net result is the same––we are in His presence. The Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him that Paul prayed in chapter one depicts this ascension, and he gives us the details of it continuing in this chapter through verse 10 with the crescendo occurring in this verse, “[He] raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” Paul speaks in past tense, saying that it has already happened, meaning we are already there. That is our position with Christ, and the realization of it is the spiritual ascension. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Eph 2-7 (4g) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> He who is faithful in little is also faithful in much – This verse goes with verse 10. Eph 2,8-10 (77k) Thy kingdom come >> Being Humble Before God >> Having an attitude of humility (84g) Thy kingdom come >> Words of your mouth >> Boasting in men is not needed (92a) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> The good works that God has prepared for us – Who am I? Only God can answer that. If we know our identity apart from Christ, we don't know as we ought to know (1Cor 8-2). We should not think about ourselves from our broken-down, humanistic worldviews, nor should we do anything to justify ourselves before God, nor should we climb a tree to get a better view. We are like tiny ants on a giant globe, who can't see above lawn grass. Only the Holy Spirit can deliver us from such littleness of soul, giving us something of Himself that is divine, which can help us rise above our humanity. This gift of grace that He offers leads to an understanding that can only come from Him, giving us perspective and direction that leads to a personalized trail of good works that puts meaning in our lives and answers what we were meant to do. (205kb) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> Faith versus works >> Faith versus the law >> Saved by grace through faith – When we ask what we must do to be saved, there is a conspicuous blank spot in the gospel, since there is nothing we can do to be saved but is purely by faith. Each person has a unique calling, but there is no law to guide us into a common will, and this calling becomes the out-showing of our faith, and it is all very nebulous to the fleshly mind that wants something concrete and practical to earn his salvation. All the religions of the world have tangible activities to measure their loyalty, but Christianity is unique in that there is nothing we can do to be saved except believe in Jesus. It is an offense to many for God to demand faith from us, for the world cannot generate a saving faith in Jesus without His help. Many want to believe in Jesus but can't, because genuine Christian faith comes from God as a gift. This really grinds against unbelievers, because it requires them to ask God for help to believe in Jesus, and it requires them to fashion their lives around Him, which is the opposite of their real aspirations—using their religion to stiff-arm God. Death is waiting for each of us at the end of this life, and those who consider this life to be the only one they will ever have will discover otherwise, but those who believe in Jesus, the door will open for them to continue their lives on the other side, where life really begins. This is why it is important to fulfill our calling, which will help us realize our true identity as His sons and daughters. Eph 2-8,9 See also: The Gospel of James versus the gospel of Paul (41f) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Righteousness of faith >> Saved by grace through faith – The message that Paul pounded into his epistles was the fact that seeking God through the law was futile. Even in the days of the old covenant seeking favor with God through the law was futile. The law was not given to attain favor with God but as a measuring stick to distinguish between good and evil. Our favor with God is based on the fact that Abraham believed God, and his faith was counted as righteousness. Abraham demonstrated his faith by obeying what God said to him, and Paul’s point was that faith itself embodied the righteousness of God, not the fact that he obeyed. James taught just the opposite, that his obedience completed his faith, proving that it was real, like the signet ring completes the message by the wax sealing the envelope, saying that if we can’t prove our faith, then it doesn’t really exist. Obviously, both Paul and James were right. See also: Faith versus works; Eph 5,3-6; 86f KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Eph 2-10 (4g) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> He who is faithful in little is also faithful in much -- This verse goes along with verse 7. There is a general calling and a specific calling from God. Our general calling is to produce the fruit of the Spirit, which is the same for everyone (Gal 5-22,23), and our specific calling is to develop the hearing ear, to listen for the Holy Spirit and let Him lead us down the path of His choosing, but we don’t see too many people doing this. If the word of God is being fulfilled in people today, it is manufactured by the flesh, because they don’t want to die to self. They want to live this life in the flesh and be just as worldly as the world. That is not the gospel of Christ; we are called to forsake this world and live godly in this present age (Tit 2-11,12). God has prearranged an agenda of good works for us to complete along life’s narrow way. One completed good work will lead to the next, like a flashlight progressively illumines a path just far enough ahead to see the next step. To the extent that we walk on God’s trail of good works is the extent that we understand the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness, and therefore the more He will entrust us with His treasures both here and in eternity. (42j) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformed >> Conform to the walk of Christ – The good works that we perform according to the plan and purpose of God is analogous to the good works that God has prepared for us in heaven, and the importance of what we do will continually increase throughout eternity. In heaven the job He gives will be based on what we do for Him here. It is not the greatness of the works that we do but the fact that we were faithful. Our pastor doesn’t know what we should be doing; our best friend doesn’t know; our mother doesn’t know. Often we don’t even know God's purpose for our lives, but it is our job to discover it, and He will reveal it as we continually seek Him over a course of many years. (44i) Judgment >> Transformed >> Fulfill your ministry >> Calling from God >> Complete it – This verse obviously pertains to our walk with God, alluding to the fact that it is not something we do based on our own volition, but something we do as a matter of obedience to fulfill God’s intended purpose that He had prepared from all eternity. These are works that God wants us to do, not works that we want to do for Him. The difference between these two is astronomical. There are those who avail themselves to God but don’t know His purpose, and what does the Church have them doing but folding chairs, cleaning toilets, vacuuming the rug, contributing to pot-blesses, etc., but what does God want us doing? We are all called to be servants, and so we should do those things, but at the same time we should get on our knees and discover God’s plan before we take another step, for nothing produces fruit like the good works that God has prepared for us. (88d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> The function of works in faith >> Faith doesn’t move God until it is manifested in the natural realm – The Church today believes very strongly in the grace of God, and we think we could never go wrong with that. The word of God, though simple, gets complicated when we try to avoid the truth. People in the Church are trying to save their lives against the advice of Christ (Jn 12-25); they want to live in this world that Jesus said belongs to the devil, but we can’t do that and carry an anointing at the same time. They proclaim with all confidence that salvation is by grace alone, quoting Eph 2-8,9. This is the gospel truth, but it is only half the truth. The other half is that God wants us to walk in divine works, not works of the law and not works of the flesh, but works that God has prepared for us. God wants us walking in the fruit of the Spirit, not in legalism. The true path is divine and involves listening to the Holy Spirit and doing what He says, but we cannot hear Him if we allow our flesh to reign. Therefore God has called us to die to self and discover the path of divine works that God will perform through us that will produce more fruit than anything else. This is the work of God (Jn 6-29). (91m) Trail Of Good Works (Key Verse) (115l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through Good Works >> Works that God prepared for you – If any verse served as a focal point of the Bible, Eph 2,8-10 would certainly be in the running, along with Mat 6-10. Much of what the Church believes about the grace of God is false, and the vast majority of their grace doctrines came from the writings of Paul. Peter said this about Paul’s writings: “Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2Pet 3-15,16). Quite possibly, if we say anything negative about their “grace” doctrines, many churches would immediately excommunicate us. Actually, to say our "grace" doctrines are screwed-up is not really accurate. Instead, it is more accurate to say they are missing altogether. Everything is fine when God imparts His grace into us; we receive the indwelling Holy Spirit and are born-again, which is the seal of our salvation, so far so good, but this is where Church doctrine abruptly ends. When we attempt to implement God's grace, the Church has no doctrines for that, and so it doesn’t know how to understand it. God is calling us to do something with the grace He has given us. Eph 2-8,9 is the Church’s all time favorite passage, but they stop short of understanding that God wants us to work with Him to effect His grace in our daily walk. Here are two verses relating to that fact: 2Cor 6-1, “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain,” and 2Tim 2-1, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” God has given us His grace not just to save us for eternal life, but also to "will and to work for His good pleasure" (Phi 2-13). This trail is ordained by God and is therefore divine. God has certain good works that He has for us to do. We use His strength to do this, and the first step is knowing His will. These things should be happening in every Christian; however, almost no one believes these teachings are even biblical. People get saved and then sit down for the rest of their lives and wait for heaven, and while they are waiting they are walking in the flesh, being unfruitful. Many help in their local church and try to be good Christians, but they never seek God for their mission in life; it is located on the trail that Jesus coined, the narrow way. (127n) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Devote your life to doing good (128j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Living a fruitful life >> Living a continuous life of fruitfulness (155kb) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of salvation >> You will know them by their fruits >> You will know them by their good deeds >> Good works prepared before the foundation of the world (219j) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> God’s calling is our destiny (236e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Invest your strength into the kingdom >> Invest your labors KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Eph 2,11-22 (36l) Gift of God >> Adopted >> We are adopted by the Spirit – The gentile nations have inherited God’s promise to Abraham, who left his heritage at the call of God and went in search for a city, whose architect and builder is God (Heb 11,8-10). The gentiles inherited the law that God later instituted through Moses. It turns out that Israel’s Messiah was not their own, though He belonged to them first and foremost, yet Christ was also the world’s Messiah. Although this barrier has been abolished, it doesn’t mean that God draws no distinction between Jew and gentile, for Israel's identity is retained in the flesh, though spiritually they are no different from gentiles in that both need Jesus to be saved. The fact is, God called Israel to be his evangelist to the world, but they were disobedient. Israel considered what God had given them to belong only to them, but God’s hope was that Israel would testify to the nations about the greatness of God that they might seek Him through Israel. (211a) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Gentiles included >> Fellow heirs with Israel (Spiritual Jew) >> We are one in Christ – The gentiles had no hope and were without God in the world before Christ; still the gentiles in Old Testament times could seek God and find Him, if they would only grope for Him, but they could not relate to Him according to knowledge. There were two groups: Israel and all the other nations (the gentiles). It says that God has brought the two groups together, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall between them, so that no longer are there Jew and Gentile, but they are now one in Christ. That, however, does not mean the Jew is no longer Jewish; rather, God will continue honoring His covenant with Israel that He made to the fathers. He has not forgotten them, for the Jew still has some unfinished business to do. God intends to call Israel back into service to lead a revival that will bring in billions of souls to the kingdom of God in the last days. It says, "He has abolished the dividing wall between Jew and gentile by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace." Therefore, to the degree that the gentile nations are at peace with Israel is a sign that the nations are obeying God and believe in the gospel, but to the degree that hostility exists against Israel is a sign of ignorance and disobedience, having rejected God’s purpose for themselves to be saved through the sacrifice of God’s Son, and for that they will pay the ultimate price of their souls, Jew or gentile. See also: Spiritual Jew; Eph 2,11-16; 32a / Great Endtime Revival (Jews will manage the gospel at the end of the age); Phi 2,1-4; 77n Eph 2,11-16 (32a) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Grace >> God’s grace seeks man – The Old Testament gentile believer could become a member of Israel, but he could not be a descendent of Abraham; Paul was saying that this has changed now. Since Christ has shed His blood, and has invited the gentiles to the promises of Israel by faith in Jesus Christ, we who formerly were distant have been brought near, meaning that there is something literal that has transpired in the gentiles to give them Jewish origin. What we have in common with the believing Jew is the indwelling Holy Spirit. Paul says that being a spiritual Jew is infinitely more important than being an unbelieving Jew. In Romans he said that if Jews don’t believe in Jesus for the remission of their sins, they are unbelievers and have broken covenant with Abraham the believer, but the believing gentile has faith in common with Abraham, and in that sense he is more a member of God’s chosen race than the unbelieving Jew. See also: Spiritual Jew; Eph 2,11-22; 211a Eph 2-11,12 (217j) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> I never knew you >> Because you are not of His sheep (240h) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >> Natural disadvantage of the world -- These verses go with verses 1-3 Eph 2-11 (190h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >> Circumcision is a sign of obedience >> Circumcision is a sign of believing – In Old Testament times a gentile could join Israel if he believed in their God and received circumcision as a sign of faith, and honored the Law of Moses and disavowed all other gods, but he did not have access to temple worship. When the annual sacrifice was offered through the Levitical priesthood, the application was extended to the gentile believer, but he could not obtain rights to the temple or personally ask for mercy through the priest, who offered sacrifice of a dove and performed the ceremony of sin’s remission. Eph 2,12-16 (38a) Judgment >> Blood of Jesus >> God judged the devil through the blood of His son (119l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Curse of God is broken >> Curse of the law is broken Eph 2-12 (16b) Sin >> Man’s nature is instinctively evil >> Man is an enemy of God -- This verse goes with verses 1-3 (165d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is at enmity with God >> The world has no hope – Paul reminded the Ephesians that before Christ they were without hope of eternal life and our sins forgiven, because the promises were made to Israel and not to the gentiles. The Law was given for everyone to obey, including the nations, but the promises were made to Israel, and then Jesus came and fulfilled the promises, which applied to the nations, so that now the gospel belongs to everyone, and in that sense we could say that the promises always were for everyone. The promise was that God would send a Savior through the lineage of King David to redeem the whole world from sin, so now the nations around the world have hope through the gospel, but the Church has turned redemption into religion, which is not that different from what Israel did to the old covenant. The Pharisees, Scribes and chief priests of Jesus’ day, who persecuted the gospel wherever Paul went, mixed the promises with the Law, and said that if we obey the Law the promises will come true, but that is false. In fact, the only promise attached to the Law was that if we break it, there would be consequences, but it never gave any promises beyond this life for obeying it. Long before Jesus arrived in Israel and began His ministry, the Jews had turned the promises into law, so that both were defiled, and they didn’t understand either one of them. They were meant to stay apart, like church and state. They were not made to mix but to believe and obey respectively. Religion turns people against the promises and the Law so that the people neither believe nor obey the Lord, and for this reason Israel didn’t recognize their Messiah when He came but crucified Him, which fulfilled the promise. The people were happy for a while, but the gentiles turned the promise into religion, and now the hope given to the world through the cross has become empty promises to unbelievers in the face of the crucified Christ who created them. The world has returned to the same situation before Jesus came, actually worse, because they have rejected God’s solution for sin, and now they are back to being without hope again. Since Jesus isn’t present in the flesh, they will martyr His people instead. In the last days it has been prophesied, invoking the second coming of Jesus Christ to save His people who believe in Him and to judge the world for its unbelief. God will be glorified and his people vindicated through the promise of a new world, led by Israel’s Messiah, initiating a thousand years of peace and the first Millennium of His eternal reign. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Eph 2,13-16 (136e) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Jesus’ fleshly body >> The flesh of Jesus’ sacrifice Eph 2-13 (81k) Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >> For the Church >> Giving thanks Eph 2,14-22 (131jc) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Many members but one body >> Many bricks but one temple Eph 2,14-19 (126f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> Terms of peace (135m) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Similarity in the body >> The things we have in common >> Common salvation Eph 2,14-16 (26d) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is separation from God’s life – These two groups to whom Paul is referring, Jews and gentiles, God made one in Christ and broke down the dividing wall between them, thus establishing peace with God. He literally created the Jew through Abraham merely by speaking to him, and he left his homeland and went to a place that he did not know, and his descendents became the Jews. Their first purpose was to be God’s hammer and destroy the wicked in the land of promise, and then to inhabit their land and show the world how to live in peace with God, but they sided with the world instead and rejected God’s purpose and calling. He wanted the Jews to remain His chosen people, and God has given them of His Spirit and were born-again, offering this gift to the Jew first, and then to the gentiles after the Jews rejected it. He intended to raise up His Jewish nation to proclaim the gospel to the gentiles as leaders in things pertaining to God, but the Jew is yet to realize these things. (46aa) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Subjecting your flesh >> Violent take it by force >> Taking the sinful nature by force (52b) Judgment >> Judging Church with world >> Law judges sin >> Law is hostile against us (59a) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Enmity between Jew and gentile (anti-Semitism) / Enmity between man and God (the law) – Paul speaks about Christ abolishing in His flesh the enmity between God and man and between Jew and gentile. If God has rectified these things, then why does anti-Semitism persist in the world? There is yet another meaning to the word enmity, referring to the law of commandments, which addresses sin. Using the nails of Jesus’ cross, God has forever pinned His promise of forgiveness on the one hanging from those nails for everyone who would believe in Him for eternal life, nailing sin to the cross by association with the law. All these things died with Christ. The power of sin died with the law, as He brought forth a new way of serving God through the Spirit, who speaks in our heart, giving us a new desire to serve Him that we didn't have following the law. The Holy Spirit speaks the words of the law, affording us the will to obey Him. There was enmity between Jew and gentile and enmity between man and God, but there is no longer excuse for our anti-Semitism and no excuse for our rebellion against God, because we have become His children. Eph 2-15 (238e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> New creation >> The new creation is our spiritual identity Eph 2-17 (71a) Authority >> Believer’s authority >> We have authority from God to evangelize the world >> We have an anointing to preach the gospel – The New Testament is just as much a book of prophecy as the Old Testament, in that whatever the Old Testament said Paul fulfilled when he went preaching Jesus to the people, and now everything Paul has written that we read and incorporate into our lives is prophetic to us, so we too fulfill prophecy. Every word of God originates from a spirit of prophecy, which makes us all prophets who follow the Lord. For example, we can go and tell people about Jesus, and to them we are prophets. That doesn’t mean they will listen to us anymore than they listened to the prophets of old, but persecuted them and martyred them. So if any persecution comes to us, we should understand that they are doing it to a prophet. Some might say we are not prophets because we don’t have the word of the Lord, but to obey the prophets is to be like them (Mat 10-25). (142c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> Prophesy about evangelism – This verse is in reference to (Isaiah 57-19), similar to the verse in Rom 10-15, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things” (taken from Isaiah 52-7). Paul was applying this to the gentiles of the Ephesians, and the context is that they have been included in the commonwealth of Israel, and he is reminding them of the days that he came to Ephesus and preached the gospel to them, and they listened and were saved. He was telling them that the ministry of an evangelist was a fulfillment of prophecy. Did the Old Testament writer of this passage know he was writing prophecy? Yes, Isaiah was a prophet and knew God was speaking to Him as he wrote. All prophecy has its fulfillment, but what do we know about the fulfillment of prophecy in our own time? We usually think about endtime prophecy, but there are prophecies other than endtime prophecy that are fulfilled in our own time whenever we obey Scripture. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Eph 2,18-22 (136g) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Jesus’ spiritual body – The building that is growing into a holy temple in the Lord is the Church, the Lord’s temple, and He will occupy it. His temple is growing, because nothing that belongs to Him is stagnant. He inhabits the individual being built as He dwells in the Church as a whole, so God is “through all and in all” (Eph 4-6). For God to dwell in the temple is to dwell in our unity, which is what makes us one. Mat 18-20 says, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Part of the unity of the body of Christ is that they all agree. We could say that being in agreement is the mortar between the blocks. (137a) Building The Temple (Key verse) (140b) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> Worshipping God in His temple (140g) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Christ builds the temple from the bricks of the Church – There is a lot of construction work mentioned in this passage; there is the building of the apostles and prophets, and there is the building of the Church. There is also the "building" of the individual as both a noun and a verb. The word of God is building His temple in the Spirit and building human souls both individually and collectively, and they are held together by the mortar of anointing (the fulfillment of their ministry). Eph 2-18,19 (208h) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Relationship with God by the Spirit Eph 2-18 (114k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Working God’s grace through Christ >> Jesus is the way to the Father – The fact that Jesus provided access for us to the Father was an example of Him working the grace of God in His own life. Hence, to seek the Father through Christ is an example of working the grace of God into our own life. Jesus is the way to the Father, but knowing that doesn’t end our search for God. We don’t have eternal life just because we believe Jesus went to the cross; we have eternal life because we have received of His Spirit. Jesus can point down the road that leads to the Father, but until we walk down that road we will not obtain the blessing. That is, if we don’t seek the blessing, having access to it is useless. Some say that the Old Testament law is no longer in effect,’ yet the new covenant expects us to seek Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, just like the law says. This suggests that the grace of God was given in hope that we would fulfill not only the law but even more the specific purpose that God has prepared for us. (132c) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> Spirit of God in the spirit of man >> Spirit gives access to the Father through Christ – When it says "both", it means Jews and gentiles, and when it says "access", it means we both have the opportunity to find the Father if we seek Him with all our heart. Many people in the Church today think they have access to the Kingdom of Heaven just because they believe a set of doctrines, but this word “access” doesn’t say that. If we’ve been granted access to a certain country, but don’t ever go there, what use is that? We have been given access for the purpose of obtaining eternal life in a country with buildings and walls that are invisible to the naked eye, yet exist all around us, as Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is in your midst” (Lk 17-21). (255f) Trinity >> Father, Son and Holy Spirit >> The process of imparting the substance of God >> Father discloses the word by the Spirit – This is the most precise verse in the Bible regarding the trinity, alluding to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a handful of words. Through Christ we have access in one Spirit to the Father. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Eph 2,19-22 (72h) Authority >> Hierarchy of authority >> More Authority the More Responsibility >> Closer we get to Jesus the more authority we have (129f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> love perfects unity >> Love is the mortar between the bricks (137c) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation of the Church >> Jesus is the cornerstone – Jesus never wrote a word of the Bible, yet He is the embodiment of God’s word. Our salvation is based squarely on the Scriptures, which is how we know the truth about God. However, the Bible can only tell us the facts; the truth resides in the Spirit. When we believe the Bible, God is able to convert the facts of Scripture into spiritual truth, which is an attribute of God. He is the sole owner of Truth, and He shares it with us, and as a result, Christ is the cornerstone of the Church, of His temple. The cornerstone is like the Achilles’ heel of a building; when constructed properly, it becomes the strength of the building. If any brick were extracted from a wall, it would weaken the structure though it would remain standing, but if the cornerstone were removed, eventually the building would collapse. Based on the way buildings are constructed, there is a settling that occurs, settling onto the cornerstone, but with the cornerstone removed, the settle would unsettle the entire building. Stress cracks would form, and once the building began to lean, the structure could no longer support its weight, and its days would be numbered. See also: Church is most responsible for Jesus' death; Jn 6,47-58; 254e (137m) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Maturing with our brothers >> Employing your gifts to mature the body (Spiritual fellowship) – Unity is a spiritual substance that is best described as love, and love is produced by faith, and faith is something so ethereal we cannot manufacture it or even define it. We either have it or we don’t; it comes from God, and we are commanded to protect it above all else, and it has many enemies. There are forces that want to kill our faith; the better we protect it, the better it shines in our heart and the better it produces love, and the more potential for unity in the body of Christ. This is the ministry of the people, and the pastor needs to give the ministry back to the people to whom it belongs, and if he doesn’t the Church will never fulfill the great commission to reach a lost world with the gospel. The Church today is like the American government, they say that government belongs to the people, but since this edict was pronounced in the US constitution people in government have effectively taken the power from the people and made it their own and the people subservient to them. The same has happened in our churches; the ministry has been effectively taken from the people, and now the pastor is the only person with a ministry. The constitution mandated separation between Church and state, and now we know why, because when they converge, it is a sign of corruption, and the two begin to resemble each other. (140c) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> House where you live with Jesus – The Scriptures have been very meticulously written for our benefit. Paul depicts the saints as a building fitted together and growing into a holy temple in the Lord. This is what God wants happening in our heart, constructing a temple as it were, fitting the people together like bricks of a building. This temple is a living, breathing person, who is not us or Him, but a new creation, both us and Him inextricably woven together. Jesus Christ is materializing on our lips, on the ends of our fingers and on the tips of our toes. As God stitches His word in our heart, so He stitches His people together to become one in Christ. As the truth grows in our heart, so does unity between us. Once the building is complete, made entirely of people in unity, God enters the Church and dwells in their unity as He dwell in each person. As the Church was built by the construction workers, so God wants us to meticulously work at fitting our lives together, not just socializing, but participating in true spiritual fellowship to the degree that these things are happening in us according to the truth. (229d) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom grows by itself >> God causes the growth >> Kingdom grows according to the will of God – There is more to unity than agreeing with the truth, for there are religious denominations and political factions that are in agreement, but they have no power to change the world the way the Church did in the first century. Imagine how the Church could change the world if the entire body of Christ on a global scale were united. The real power of unity is in the Spirit. The temple can only be built through the advent of unity, since the analogy refers to many bricks arranged into one temple, a body of believers organized to produce a single outcome, and that outcome is the temple itself. God dwells among a people who are fitted together as a single entity in the Church. When we are fitted together in the last days, Jesus will inhabit us in a very powerful way. In that day God will be able to accomplish salvation on a grand scale that the Church throughout the age of grace could not achieve, greater than the forces of this world that work against it. Satan will be ravaging the earth at the time of the end, establishing his one-world government and economy and globally martyring the saints. Still the Church at that time will accomplish more in spite of the opposition than during times of relative peace, perhaps resulting from the adversity, meaning the opposition was required! God will have His Two Witnesses defending Jerusalem and the 144,000 conducting a Great Endtime Revival among the gentiles that will bring about unity in the saints that will topple Satan’s global empire. The power of Satan will be destroyed through the agency of human flesh once again. Jesus did it in His own flesh on the cross 2,000 years ago, and in the last days He will do it again through the flesh of the Church, "which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Eph 1-23). See also: Great Endtime Revival (Harvest at the end of the age); Phi 1-19,20; 234c (230k) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Solving the mystery of godliness >> The love of Christ is the mystery of godliness – We have gone from being estranged from God, while living in a world that has forsaken Him, to becoming fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household. God hasn’t saved us just a little but entirely. The love that God has for us is immeasurable. He doesn’t just love us a lot; that would sound like it has an end. God’s love is infinite; it is His primary attribute, so much that it defines him (1Jn 4-16). Some look for God’s love and can’t find it, while others look for the end of His love and can’t find it. It’s all in how and where we look. If we look for Him in other Christians, the best we will find is their righteousness which is tainted with sin, whereas God’s righteousness is locked in a vault in their heart, where no one but God and that person has access to it. If we look directly to God for His righteousness, we will find Him if we search for Him with all our heart (Deut 4-29). God has kept nothing from us; He has even given us authority to partake of His own divinity as He imparts His Spirit. When Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into every believer, He fused Himself into our souls, so that we have become one with Him. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Eph 2-19,20 (141g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ resurrection Eph 2-19 (237j) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> Citizens of heaven – Paul is pointing out a principle of faith, that it is more important to believe in Jesus than it is to be German, Norwegian, Iranian or African. It is more important to believe in Jesus than it is to bear our own last name. It is more important to be a member of God's family than to be a member of our earthly family, for they will perish, but the family of God will remain forever. We will recognize our earthly family members in heaven, but in time those relationships will fade into the background of our heavenly family. Faith in Jesus gives us eternal life, so that everything we do in His name becomes eternal, such as the suffering we have endured in His name, along with some of the achievements we have accomplished along the narrow way. In heaven we will not forget the service we rendered to the Lord in this life. Eph 2,20-22 (91h) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> Walking along the narrow way >> Those who walk in their calling are united (136hb) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Body of Christ consists of individual members >> We are being fitted together See next page