Ephesians 2:1-3

Context

Ephesians is traditionally regarded as a letter written by Paul to the believers in the region of Ephesus, though some scholars suggest that it may have been written by a disciple of Paul. Ephesians 2:1-10 is a unit describing how believers have been brought from death to life. Verses 1-3 describe their condition before faith. Verses 4-5 then state that God, out of His mercy and love, made them alive together with Christ, and verses 8-9 move to the conclusion that they have been saved by grace through faith. The "you" of verse 2 refers to believers of Gentile background. As for the "we" of verse 3, some hold that it refers to believers of Jewish background, while others hold that it refers to all believers, including the author.

Interpretation

• Reformed reading: The Reformed tradition, including Presbyterians, reads "dead" to mean that people have no ability to turn to God on their own. The phrase "by nature the children of wrath" is cited as evidence that all people bear original sin (the effects of and guilt for humanity's first sin). It is a key text supporting the Calvinist doctrine of total depravity (the teaching that the whole of human nature has been corrupted by sin).
• Wesleyan reading: The Methodist and Holiness traditions likewise hold that human beings are by nature under sin. They explain, however, that people are able to respond to the gospel because of the prevenient grace that God first extends to all people.
• Reading emphasizing spiritual powers: Many denominations broadly agree in identifying "the prince of the power of the air" as Satan. In Pentecostal and charismatic churches, the expression is also used as a basis for describing spiritual warfare against evil spirits.
• Biblical-scholarship reading: Some scholars understand "the air" in light of an ancient worldview that regarded the space between heaven and earth as the realm of spiritual beings. They also read "the course of this world" as a force that moves society as a whole, extending beyond individual sin.

Debates and Issues

• The capacity of the dead to respond: This passage is frequently raised in the debate over predestination and free will. The Reformed side holds that because the dead cannot respond on their own, God first makes them alive. Those in the Arminian tradition counter that "death" is merely a metaphor for separation from God and does not imply a complete inability to respond.
• The meaning of "by nature": Scholars are divided over whether the phrase should be understood as "from birth" or as "in actual fact."
• Translation: In the Greek original, the sentence begun in verse 1 is not completed until verse 5, with the verb "made alive" (KJV "quickened"). The Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Hangeul) moves this verb forward into verse 1 for ease of reading. Other translations follow the order of the original and leave verses 1-3 as a description of condition only.

In the Korean Church

The passage is often cited together with Ephesians 2:8-9 to explain humanity's sinful condition in evangelism and in new-member classes. The expression "the prince of the power of the air" is commonly used in settings such as praying aloud together (tongseong gido) to refer to evil spiritual forces.

Related Passages

• Ephesians 2:10
• Colossians 2:13
• Romans 3:10-12
• Romans 5:18-19
• John 5:24-25