The Unity of Christ’s body the church, How can a loving God allow evil, dead in your sins, the ruler of the air, The god of this age the devil, an act of God or the devil, by nature children of wrath, His great love, saved by faith or grace, what is grace, fellow citizens with God's people

1. Welcome To Ephesus
Ephesians 2

2. Pastor Dave Kooyers
Valley Bible Fellowship
Box 433
Boonville CA 95415
www.ValleyBibleFellowship.org
(707) 895-2325
God bless you as you examine His Word,
Your servant in Christ, 2Cor. 4:5,
Dave

10. Ephesians 2

11. Ephesians:
The Origin, Nature, and
Purpose of the Church
One Body! Christ’s
One Head Of The Church

12. Dividing The Book Of Ephesians
• Our Position
• Chapters 1-3 tell us about our position and
identity in the church, the body of Christ. Who
we are, where we’re seated, and who we’re in?
• Our Practice
• Chapters 4-6 tell us how our position in the body
of Christ should direct our walk

13. • Diana in Roman religion was the goddess of wild
animals and the hunt. She is almost
indistinguishable from the Greek goddess Artemis

14. Ephesians Main Theme
• The Unity of Christ’s body the church
• Eph 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit—
just as you were called to one hope when you
were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is
over all and through all and in all.

15. Let’s Read Eph. 2:1-22
• Eph. 2 = The 2 become 1 flesh
• Jew and Gentile become 1 in Christ
• Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave
nor free, male nor female, for you are all one
in Christ Jesus.
• “flesh” is used 5X’s in the NASU, KJV, NKJV in
Eph. 2, it’s a very fleshy chapter

16. Eph 2:1, Dead In Your Sins?
• Eph 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins,
• What does “dead in your…sins” mean?
• Many teach that spiritual death is equivalent to
being like a physically dead corpse, unresponsive,
and unable to hear God, exercise faith, or believe
the gospel.
(John 11:43 "Lazarus, come out!“)
• However the Bible says unbelievers “always resist
the Holy Spirit!” (Ac 7:51). Corpses don’t resist
anything. How do men “dead to sin” choose to
sin?

17. Eph 2:1, Dead In Your Sins?
• “as a walking cadaver in a spiritual graveyard”
• whose “ear is deaf to any word from heaven”
• man is no more capable of responding to God’s offer of
salvation than a corpse is of responding to an offer of a
fine meal.
• Regenerate first?
• Theologians refer to this as the ordo salutis, which is
Latin for "the order of salvation.“
• But the prophet Daniel in chapter 2:28 says to an
unbeliever “but there is a God in heaven who reveals
mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what
will happen in days to come.”

18. Eph 2:1, Dead In Your Sins?
• Mt 19:16 Now a man came up to Jesus and
asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to
get eternal life?"
• This unbeliever is seeking God. God spoke to
him without regenerating him first.
• Mt 19:22 When the young man heard
this, he went away sad, because he had great
wealth.
• He was not a “walking corpse”, his priorities
were wrong.

19. Eph 2:1, Dead In Your Sins?
• What does “dead in your transgressions and
sins” mean? Let’s look at the 1st mention;
• Ge 2:17...when you eat of it you will surely
die."
• Gen 2:7 “the Lord God formed the man from
the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and the man
became a living being.”

20. Eph 2:1, Dead In Your Sins?
• First we need to understand life;
• Ge 2:7 “the Lord God formed the man from
the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath [singular] of life [plural in
the Hebrew] , and the man became a living
being.”
• David Hocking pointed this out, that Adam
was given “lives”, physical and spiritual

21. Physical And Spiritual Life
Solves A Few Issues
• Ge 2:17…when you eat of it you will surely
die…
• Ge 5:5…Adam lived 930 years, and then he
died.
• Rv 21:8…This is the second death.

22. Eph 2:1, Dead In Your Sins?
• What does “dead in your….sins” mean?
• 1 Co 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept
the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they
are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand
them, because they are spiritually discerned.
• Ro 8:6-8 The mind of sinful man is death, but the
mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the
sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to
God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the
sinful nature cannot please God.
• Col 2:9-15……..13 When you were dead in your sins
and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God
made you alive with Christ….

23. Eph 2:2, You Used To Live
• Eph 2:2 in which you used to live when you followed
the ways of this world...
• 1 Co 6:9-11 Do you not know that the wicked will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor
adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual
offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards
nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of
God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you
were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of
our God.

24. Eph 2:2, The Ruler Of The Air?
• Eph 2:2…the ruler of the kingdom of the air,
the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient.
• 2 Co 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the
minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God.
• Jn 12:31…the prince of this world…

25. Eph 2:2, The Ruler Of The Air?
• Lk 8:5…As he was scattering the seed, some fell along
the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air
ate it up.
• Lk 8:11-12 "This is the meaning of the parable: The
seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are
the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and
takes away the word from their hearts, so that they
may not believe and be saved.
• Rev 16:17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into
the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from
the throne, saying, "It is done!"

26. Eph 2:2, How Much Power Has Satan?
• Luke 4:5-7 The devil led him up to a high
place and showed him in an instant all the
kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to
him, "I will give you all their authority and
splendor, for it has been given to me, and I
can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you
worship me, it will all be yours.“
• Heb 2:14…him who holds the power of death
— that is, the devil…

27. Eph 2:2, An Act Of God?
• Mt 17:18…Jesus rebuked the demon… [all are NKJV]
• Mk 4:39…He arose and rebuked the wind, and
said to the sea…
• Luke 4:39…He stood over her and rebuked the
fever, and it left her…
• Lk 13:11-16
• If the demon, wind, sea, and the fever were doing
God’s will would He need to rebuke them? Were
they “An Act Of God”?
• What about if it was Satan’s will?

28. Job 1:7, An Act Of God?
• Job 1:7…"From roaming through the earth and going back
and forth in it.“…
• Job 1:10…"Have you not put a hedge around him and his
household and everything he has?...
• Job 1:12…everything he has is in your hands, but on the
man himself do not lay a finger.“…
• Job 1:16…The fire of God fell from the sky… [Elohim, no article]
• Job 1:17…three raiding parties and swept down…
• Job 1:19…suddenly a mighty wind swept in…
• Job 1:22…Job did not sin by charging God with
wrongdoing…
• Job 2:7…Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and
afflicted Job with painful sores…
• Job 2:10…Job did not sin in what he said…

29. How Can A Loving God Allow Evil?
• John 3:19-20 This is the verdict: Light has come
into the world, but men loved darkness instead of
light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone
who does evil hates the light, and will not come
into the light for fear that his deeds will be
exposed.
• God is lovingly, patiently drawing out a bride.
• Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once
were far away have been brought near through
the blood of Christ.

30. How Precious Is One Believer?
• Mt 18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin,
gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for
you to enter life with one eye than to have
two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
• Mt 16:26 What good will it be for a man if he
gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?...

31. Eph 2:3, We Were Objects Of Wrath
• Eph 2:2…the spirit who is now at work in
those who are disobedient.
• John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil,
and you want to carry out your father's desire.
He was a murderer from the beginning, not
holding to the truth, for there is no truth in
him. When he lies, he speaks his native
language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

32. Eph 2:3, We Were Objects Of Wrath
• Col 3:5-7…Put to death, therefore, whatever
belongs to your earthly nature: sexual
immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and
greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these,
the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to
walk in these ways, in the life you once lived..

33. Eph 2:4 But because of his great
love for us, God, who is rich in
mercy,

34. Eph 2:4-7, His Great Love
• Eph 2:4-7 But because of his great love for us, God,
who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even
when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace
you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up [aorist
active] with Christ and seated us with him [only NT
use, aorist active, “cause to sit down with”] in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the
coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of
his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ
Jesus.
• KJV …and made us sit together …

35. Eph 2:5, Dead In Your Transgressions
•
•
•
•
What does “Transgressions” mean?
Well not this;
One particular four-year old prayed,
"And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive
those who put trash in our baskets.“
• ESV CSB NKJ YLT Eph 2:5 …dead in trespasses…

36. Eph 2:8-9, What Is The Gift,
Faith Or Grace?
• Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is
the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one
can boast.
• Faith (only used 1X’s in Eph 2) is not the gift,
salvation/grace is (used 5X’s in Eph 2)
• Faith like everything else is a gift of God;
• Ro 12:3….in accordance with the measure of faith
God has given you.
• But the main point of this chapter is that we were
dead, but by grace (free, unmerited favor) we
received the gift of life

37. In Context, Grace Is The Subject
• Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith…
• Eph 1:6-7…his glorious grace, which he has freely
given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace…
• Eph 2:5…it is by grace you have been saved…
• Eph 2:7…in order that in the coming ages he might
show the incomparable riches of his grace…

38. Merriam-Webster, Dictionary, “Grace”
• a : unmerited divine assistance given humans
for their regeneration or sanctification …c : a
state of sanctification enjoyed through divine
grace
• 2, a : approval, favor…b archaic : mercy,
pardon c : a special favor : privilege ….d :….
clemency e : a temporary exemption : reprieve

39. Eph 2:8-9, Saved By Faith Or Grace?
• When you have faith that a bridge will support
you, or a medicine/doctor will help you, or an
elevator will lower you safely;
• What is more important, the strength of the
object or person, or your faith?
• What saves you, the object or person, or your
faith?

40. Good Memory
Verse
• Eph 2:8-9 For it is
by grace you have
been
saved, through
faith — and this
not from
yourselves, it is
the gift of God— 9
not by works, so
that no one can

41. Eph 2:10, Workmanship
• Eph 2:10 For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
• [GING] ποίημα
ποίημα, ατος τό what is made, creation Ro
1:20; Eph 2:10.* [poem] [pg 163]

42. In The Greek
• I tried to
not give
you to
many
Greek
words;

43. Eph 2:11-12, Excluded Foreigners
• Eph 2:11-12…Gentiles …"uncircumcised…you
were separate from Christ, excluded from
citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the
covenants of the promise, without hope and
without God in the world.
• Have a nice day!
• 3 ways to become a Jew;
• Born, purchased/slave, or marriage
• 4 gentile brides in Christ’s line
• Moses, Joseph, Solomon, Hagar & Keturah

44. Eph 2:13, Brought Near Through Christ
• Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who
once were far away have been brought near
through the blood of Christ.
• Gen 12:3 I will bless those who bless you,
• and whoever curses you I will curse;
• and all peoples on earth
• will be blessed through you."

45. Eph 2:14-18, Destroyed The Barrier
• Eph 2:14-18 For he himself is our peace, who
has made the two one [Jew + gentile=church]
and has destroyed the barrier [not “destroyed
the Jews] , the dividing wall of hostility
[hostility is ended] , 15 by abolishing in his
flesh the law with its commandments [the law
was abolished, not the Jews] and regulations.
His purpose was to create in himself one new
man out of the two [not by destroying Jews] ,
thus making peace,

46. Eph 2:14-18, Destroyed The Barrier
• Eph 2:16-18 and in this one body to reconcile
both of them [to reconcile, not replace one]
to God through the cross, by which he put to
death their hostility [no anti-Semitism] . 17
He came and preached peace to you who
were far away and peace to those who were
near [peace to the Jews] . 18 For through him
we both [Jew & gentile] have access to the
Father by one Spirit.

47. Eph 2:19, Members Of God's Household
• Eph 2:19 Consequently, you are no longer
foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with
God's people and members of God's
household
Peter said in Acts 15:11 “No! We believe it is
through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we
are saved, just as they are."

48. Israel in Romans 9, 10, 11
• Ro 11:1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By
no means!...
• Ro 11:11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to
fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because
of their transgression, salvation has come to the
Gentiles to make Israel envious.
• Ro 11:24…you…wild by nature… were grafted into
a cultivated olive tree [grafted in, not replaced]
• Ro 11:25-26…Israel has experienced a hardening
in part until the full number of the Gentiles has
come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved…

49. Eph 2:19-22, Fellow Citizens With
God's People
• Eph 2:19-22 Consequently, you are no longer
foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's
people and members of God's household, 20 built on
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with
Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him
the whole building is joined together and rises to
become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you
too are being built together to become a dwelling in
which God lives by his Spirit.
• Rev 21:12…On the gates were written the names of the
twelve tribes of Israel.
• Rev 21:14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations,
and on them were the names of the twelve apostles…

50. We Eagerly Await The New Jerusalem
• We are looking up for
Christ
• Not at the 2012
calendar;

51. THE END