We are coming to the end of the month, but are not even close to the end of our study in Ephesians. I decided, that I will spend the next 2 days, sharing my notes that I took while reading Ephesians this month. This way i will have shared what I have and it will give you the opportunity to share what came to your heart as you read, in your own time. Without further delay here are my notes for chapter 2:
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; which in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
*for the Word of God is quick and powerful ( lively and active)*
Ephesians 2:1-2
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; which in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
Quick: life
Quicken: to enliven, to bring to life
God has brought us to life. He has enlivened us. so we are no longer dead IN sin, but rather dead To sin. sin no longer enlivens, or excites us. On the contrary the things that once excited us, now burden us, or sadden us. In some cases, the things that once excited us, anger us.
V.3: Before Christ, our way of living fulfilled the desires of our flesh. The key word is in the past- not now! IN THE PAST we walked according to the course of the world. Now we are chosen and peculiar. The world thinks we are strange when we do not live according to the course of the world, but rather the course of the Word.
The spirit that now works in the children of disobedience according to verse 2 , is the spirit of rebellion, the same spirit from which sin originated when Satan, then Lucifer, decided to overthrow the throne of God. This is the same spirit the followers of the world are working in; for they deem themselves to be god, rather than their creator.
V.4-6 BUT GOD who is rich in mercy, even when we were dead in sins, quickened us together with Christ!
So you mean that when Jesus was resurrected I was also? Even while I was dead in my ignorance? In my rebellion? In my sin? BUT GOD!
V.8: By GRACE (God's undeserved favor) we are saved (made safe) through faith (confidence or believing in something as true)
-Faith is not of ourselves but a gift from God
-Grace is not of ourselves but a gift from God
V.9 We are saved, Not of works ( of the law)- no more blood of bull and goats; no more dying for sins because of the inability to afford the price of the sacrifice
-613 laws( who could keep them all?!)
-there are several Greek words for the word "works" or "deeds" depending on the usage; one Greek word for deeds, possibly the one used here in this verse, is PRASSO: to perform repeatedly or habitually. This is an example of the works of the law, by which we are no longer saved, for the ritualistic acts of the law was fulfilled when Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for ALL sin.
V.10: The only one who can boasts of good works is God ( as Jesus said, Why do you call me good, for there is none good, but God). And God, who is good, created us in Christ Jesus, NOT OF GOOD WORKS, but UNTO GOOD WORKS., which God ordered or authorized his children to walk in.
- How are we created in Christ? Well I think this can be read, Re-created. When we are born again, or re-born, not from the waters of our mother's womb, but from the waters of our watery grave ( baptism), we become new creatures. If any man be IN CHRIST, he is a new creation, Old things are passed away, and behold, All things become new.
- This re-creation aids us to walk in what God ordained us to from the beginning- good works. So we are not saved by our own good, we are saved from evil works unto good works.
Remember we are no longer excited by sin, we are now dead to sin, for God has brought us to life, in Jesus Christ. And if sin enlivens us, then as Paul said, practice dying daily to the flesh, and being renewed in the Spirit day by day.
Now go- quickly!
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