And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:1-10 NKJV

2:1 A more literal translation of this verse is, “And you being dead…” We see from all of the following statements that this phrase (though spoken accusationally in the present tense), has a previous/past connotation to it. Yet Paul states it plainly, “And you being dead in your trespasses and sins…”

This is no longer our condition, but it is the present condition of every human up until the moment of confessing Christ, and it was our condition. We need to grasp two things here:

First, being alive in Christ is the anchor and definition of our identity. We were dead. Now we are alive. We are possessed by Christ. The life which now abides within us belongs to Him. We are not our own.

2:2-3 Second, the only other condition of humanity possible on this planet is death. If you are not in Christ you are enslaved to death. As the curse of sin has subjected the pattern/course of this world into rot and decay, so is the way of the unredeemed. As the curse of sin has condemned every unredeemed human soul into the course/pattern of the prince of the power of the air, so is the way of the unredeemed. They are sons of disobedience, just as we all once were.

I repeat, “just as we all once were.” We need to remember the mire from which we were lifted so that we have mercy and compassion in the same manner and measure as Jesus. This is not a small point. As a Pharisee, Paul understood the cancer of self righteousness and I am sure he was well aware it could ruin the church in the same way it ruined the order of the Pharisees.

Who is the prince of the power of the air? This is Satan, our adversary and the accuser of Jesus’ brethren. In this passage, Paul also addresses him as the “ruler of the authority of the air”. This is a fairly literal translation which more accurately means: “Satan has first rights and freedom of dominion” over those who are dead in sin.

For us however, Satan no longer holds dominion and influence as he does over those dead in sin. Nevertheless, he accuses us before the throne of God, prowling and seeking for an opportunity to lie, kill, and deceive. Satan will continue to do this until the day he is thrown out of heaven. His accusation and hate is presently being directed towards us, however the one bearing the brunt of accusation is the same Jesus who stands as the advocate for our justification. The one who accuses us is not greater than the One delivering us from accusation.

As followers of Christ, we live under a banner of “accusation nullified”. We are not children of wrath, though this was once our reality. Our reborn condition is one defined by perpetual deliverance from wrath and accusation!

2:4 “But God…” This is possibly one of the most underappreciated and simple statements in the Bible. He is the God who intervenes when we have no hope. He Himself is our hope!

God abounds in mercy. In an epistle highlighting differing aspects and identities regarding the Trinity, Paul brings the triune nature of God back into one in the revelation of God’s mercy. In all He is and does, the nature of God is governed by His own mercy, which comes from the greatness of His love. He is truly the God who delights and abounds in mercy!

2:5-6 The English phrases in verses, “made us alive together”, “raised us up together”, and “made us sit together”, are each one word superlatives in the original Greek. The emphasis of the phrases is “togetherness/unity/synergy”. 

It is easy for us to see the plain meaning of this when we read, “made us alive together.” Most would understand that God has made us each alive with Christ by His grace. To be more responsible with the text, we also must understand that the grace by which we are made alive, makes us alive together in unity with others who are made alive. This means that a fruit of salvation is the ability to walk in spiritual unity and oneness with others who have inherited the same salvation. This is a massive point which is often understated when we preach and teach on what it means to be a “new creation in Christ”.

The following two phrases, “raised us up together”, and “made us sit together”, utilize the same language and grammar as the first statement. Most Bible teachers seem to naturally understand the figure of speech written in the first statement. We are not literally sitting together physically with Christ together with every Christian who has ever lived. The verse speaks to the manner of unity in Christ to which we are to pursue. Yet, I know many believers today who take the idea of being raised and seated with Christ in heaven as being more literal than it really is.

The message here is this: We are born as a new creation into oneness in Christ.

Specifically, looking at “made us sit together”, we see the intention of God to continually press us into a fellowship of unity in Him. Our identity, authority in Christ, and our ability to walk in obedience to His will hinges upon it. Refusing to walk in unity with other believers is a sign of immaturity in our understanding of adoption into Christ. 

Our status and our spiritual authority is so great in the mind of God that it is almost as though we are already sitting with Him in a position of ruling and reigning, even though the fullness of this plan will not come into complete fruition until the return of Jesus. This status and authority is realized through unity, therefore when we can conclude that disunity within the Church actually resists and stunts our spiritual growth as well as our authority.

Looking more at verse six, I want to examine the figurative aspect of the text and compare it to what is literal. We are not literally in heaven with Jesus at this present time, and we’ve already examined what that means. So what can be believed in the literal sense? Jesus is literally in heaven, committed to ministerial intercession until the day the Father places every one of His enemies under His feet. God has in one sense already placed everything under the feet of Christ, in that all of human history is headed towards the everlasting rule of Jesus.

However, within the context of time, not all of His enemies have even been born yet. Some of His enemies still need to be put beneath His feet, and they will be before it is all over. This allows us to see the end from the beginning, because God will defeat every last enemy according to His predetermined purpose. As people who were once His enemies, we see the kindness of God in effect. He has made a way for us to become His friends instead! Let us choose again this day to receive the free gift of becoming friends of God.

2:7 The coming age will put on full display the rich grace and kindness of God towards us. This is the hope of our salvation, which will be revealed on the day of His return. Here the teaching of God’s grace is extended to reveal His kindness towards the Church for everlasting ages.

2:8 This rich grace is solely the work and gift of God. The word gift that is used here can actually denote a measure of sacrifice. God’s grace was itself a sacrifice made on our behalf by God alone.

2:9 For this reason we ourselves, our making alive, raising up, and sitting together in Christ is itself the gift of grace, and a down payment for the age to come. Can anyone boast as though we ourselves brought dead and dying mankind out of the grave and into unity with one another and God? This is the work of Christ and Christ alone!

2:10 We are the fabric of Christ, formed by Christ alone for good works prepared before the creation of the earth in accordance with the calling that the Father has placed upon His Son. He predestined, created, redeemed, resurrected, and will usher in a new age marked by the union of heaven and earth. All the works/labor associated with these things have already been prepared for us and we, quite simply, get to have fellowship with Jesus while we walk in them.