Ephesians 2-3
Grace, Faith
and Works

This is the first of the five Halleluiah Psalms which each begin and end with “Halleluiah.” God and His purposes endure forever; people don't, so we should put our trust in the eternal God who helps His people rather than pin our hopes to worm food. Verse 5 is the last of the 26 “Beatitudes” (blessed/happy) in the Psalms. The one who trusts in God is the one who is blessed. While on the subject of trust and belief, believe it or not, Hebrew grammar can help you understand and praise God better. All the verbs describing God in verses 5-9a are active participles, indicating a characteristic or state of being rather than a specific action. Only the last two verbs in 9b-10 are “imperfects” indicating continuous action that is usually future or ongoing. We focus our praise on the character of God which is reflected in the actions and help for which we give Him thanks. The list of God's characteristics echo those of the Messiah's job description (Isaiah 61:1-3). God loves the righteous, and righteously executes justice.

Paul's argument is to show that both Jews and Gentiles are guilty before God and thus have a basis for unity, neither being superior to the other. This is similar to his reasoning in Romans 1-2. Those whom God has made alive were once dead. The root idea of being dead is a lack of dominion. See 2Cor 5, under Digging Deeper, for matters of life and death. The question is “what does Paul mean by dead?”. For those who understand and pay attention to context there are a number of rewarding insights. The opposite of “dead” in the following context is “made alive...raised...sit with Christ in heavenly realms” (which, according to 1:20 is the position of glory and dominion). In the previous context of the last half of chapter 1, this parallels to what God did for Jesus; which is the means of fulfilling the plan in the beginning of the chapter and book, to have people share in Christ's rule and glory (sum up everything under His headship). However, instead of being holy and blameless before Him to share in that glory (as Adam and Eve had before they sinned and were deprived of it) the Ephesians were without glory/dominion because of their sins (as Adam and Eve were after they sinned). Note that people are “dead” by means of their trespasses and sins (not original sin, although that would be true too, but Paul is emphasizing the multiple offenses that have deprived them of glory/dominion/life, which behavior he will seek to correct in the rest of the letter). “Trespasses and sins” are in the instrumental dative case indicating the reason (cf Paul's use of the causal dative in Rom 4:20) or means by which they were dead. It's not sphere, since verse 2 gives the sphere nuance. The only other use of “made alive” which is the verb in verse five that Paul is leading up to (and which “corrects” our deadness) is

Colossians 2:13 “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” 

In this verse, instead of a Dative of Means/Cause Paul uses the preposition en plus the dative (“where the simple dative of instrument might have been used” -Thayers). Sorry if this is getting too technical, but it's imperative to understand that the “deadness” is not due to some “inherent depravity” but the willful rebellion against God. (If you think uncircumcision is inherent, check out Rom 2:25, it's the result of law-breaking). So, this is not about “total depravity” despite its use by those whose theology clouds their understanding of the argument and grammar (see Calvinism For Dummies on Truthbase.net). Paul is writing to believers about the basis for unity necessary to display the glory of God.

His (Gentile) readers once walked according to the “age” of this world, which is under the control of Satan, who is the spirit that works in the Jews (you have to be a son first to be a disobedient one). Paul and others once lived among the Jews carrying out the desires or lusts of the flesh and mind (note that these are two separate things, many resoundingly condemn the former while indulging deeply in the latter: pride, arrogance, self-centeredness, jealousy, envy, malice, etc.). As a result of these things, they were naturally children of (destined for) wrath as were the Gentiles (the rest) because of their trespasses and sins. Although “in Adam all die” (1Cor 15:22) is totally true, Paul is not here teaching about original sin, but the sins that folks had specifically committed (otherwise there would be no need for verses 2-3). For those with calcified craniums who insist that “nature” must mean original sin, in Romans 2:14 Paul uses the same word to say the Gentiles by nature do the things contained in the law, and in Galatians 2:15 contrasts the Jews by nature, with the Gentile sinners. The moral of the observation is that the usage of a word needs to be determined by the author's argument in context, not some author of a theology book. So both Jews and Gentiles alike have no dominion and are headed for wrath.

Even though we were enemies of God, He demonstrated mercy and love in saving us. “Made alive together” is one word in Greek, indicating the Jews and Greeks together are made alive, and this is in relation or union with Christ. Compare 2:14-16 to see that Paul is talking about the two groups being together in one body, and then in the body reconciled to God. The “in Him” in verse 6 is/are incorrectly added by translators in some versions (it's not in the Greek text), because they miss the whole unity argument.
Paul and Jesus used “made alive” to refer to the work of the Holy Spirit in giving: physical life (Rm 4:17), spiritual life (Jn 6:63), and the glorified life (Rom 8:11). It's used most frequently in the last sense (Gal 3:21; 1Tim 6:12-13) but the Col 2:13 reference (the only other usage with the “sun” prefix =together) clearly links with forgiveness (justification aspect of salvation).
Not only are we made alive, but also raised, and seated. These are not the same thing as being “made alive” (justified or regenerated). Just like God demonstrated His power in Christ's life in specific stages, so too does He deploy His power in the lives of believers. Paul uses the aorist tense to give a snapshot of the action, which usually refers to things in the past, but all grammarians will agree, that the time of the action must be determined by the context. There are some who say we are already raised and seated in heaven with Christ, which leads to a rather irrelevant “positional” application, not In sync with reality nor Paul's theology.
“Raised together” is only used in two other passages with a distinct sanctification flavor (the second aspect/use of the word salvation (See introduction to Matthew for all three).

Col 2:12 having been buried together with Him in baptism, in which also you were raised together through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Col 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

Baptism was the first step of discipleship, in which a believer pledged death to the old life and vowed to walk in newness of life. See the comments on Romans 6 for more on sanctification.

Romans 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection; 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin may be done away with, that we should no longer serve sin.

“Seated together” is a reference to the glorification aspect of salvation, being in the position of ready to rule (as Christ is 1:20). The raising and seating are the prerequisites to God pouring out His glory upon the faithful, which fulfills God's purpose in Eph 1:11-14 and reverses the death of 2:1 with life, as elaborated upon in 2:7 (dominion/glory of the Kingdom -See 2Cor 5 Digging Deeper).

Luke 22:30 so that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Acts 20:32 So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.

This is the first of the 7PASSAGES in the Discipleship Studies. It provides the basis for sharing both the good news with others, and the assurance of salvation. It also refutes a couple bad theologies. I'll just scratch the surface here, so go to the 7PASSAGES and own the passage so you can pass it on to others. You can also find instructions for learning how to do an exegetical outline which enables you to trace an author's argument through the text.
Note the structural layout in the text up above. The main verbal proposition is that “we are having been saved” a periphrastic construction of a present tense indicative (“are”) and perfect tense participle (“having been saved”) used to emphasize the ongoing nature of an event which happened in the past with continuing results into the present. We have been justified (forgiven), but the sanctification (holiness) and glorification are ongoing (the last is yet future based upon how we're funding our heavenly retirement account). The means by which all this happens is God's grace, which is not a static “unmerited favor” but has past, present and future aspects as well. The past is unmerited (justification/forgiveness), the present power is ongoing enablement dependent upon daily dependence (sanctification), and the future (glorification) is merited by our service. See the Survey on Grace if you've never studied how the Bible uses “grace.” (Otherwise you're just parroting someone else's error.) The channel through which we receive God's grace is faith. See the Survey of Faith if you've never studied how the Bible uses the term. Everyone has faith, it's all a matter of what one places that faith in. You have faith (an expectation of an unseen future) that the chair you're sitting in won't collapse, or that the sun will rise, or the world won't end tomorrow.
If you've ever heard someone say that faith is a gift, you know that the person is a false teacher who is either ignorant or evil, or both (yes, I know this is strong wording, but I want you to pay attention to this and maybe even study the Scriptures to refute or verify it). The “that” in verse 8d (the “it” in verse 8e is legitimately supplied) or thing which is a gift, is in the neuter gender. Greek has masculine, feminine, or neuter gender built in to the ending of the nouns (pronouns, and articles).
Here's the entry for Thayer's Lexicon in the OnlineBible Strong's #5124 “touto too’-to
neuter singular nominative or accusative case of 3778; ; pron” So “that,” the thing which is a gift, has to stand for or modify a neuter person, place or thing. Grace is feminine; salvation is feminine; and faith is feminine; so “that” (the gift) can't refer to any of them (to do so “that” would have to be feminine). Faith can't be the gift; it's grammatically impossible (as well as theologically impossible if you've understand what the Bible says on the topic). So what's the gift? Here's a hint: Neuter nouns usually refer to ideas or concepts. What's the idea or concept in the context? I'm going to go with “this whole saved by grace through faith” concept. Good choice! God graciously saves those who exercise faith in His provision.
Being saved, especially in the past justification sense, is not a result of works. You can't work off the death penalty by good behavior. You either die for your sins, or accept God's provision of Jesus as your substitute. That is what you put your faith in. Works are what God created us to do after we're saved and made alive and raised and energized by Him. Works done with His strength (daily dependence upon His power/grace) are what glorifies Him, and gets us glory as well. Since He's providing the job, tools, and energy to do it, and richly compensates us for doing what His Spirit prompts and enables us to do, there is no basis for boasting. Such boasting would disrupt or destroy the very unity God is seeking to create. So the second heresy is that we can work our way to heaven. Clearly God's word says it is a gift. To say otherwise is to be ignorant or evil, or both. If you want to know more about these good works God has planned for you to walk in, Paul might talk about them in the rest of the letter (keep your eyes out for “walk”). You can also read or listen to the Survey of Good Works on Truthbase.net. Here's the definition from that outline:

Definition: Good works are purposeful Christlike actions, prompted and enabled by the HS of grace, which eternally benefit others (through having real needs met), God (by making Him look good in the eyes of others) and ourselves (through growth and reward).

Paul describes the condition of the Gentiles before Christ. Note that the emphasis is on a lack of participation in the glory and dominion of the covenant promises. This is another validation of the meaning of dead as a lack of dominion. Commonwealth is a word used of the rights of a free citizen in the government of a city. In union with Christ, Gentiles are now participants in the promises of the Messiah, a point Paul will elaborate upon in the next chapter. Out of the two, Jews and Gentiles, God has made one new man, and then together the two groups/one man are/is reconciled to God. Jesus made the two into one by abolishing or annulling enmity, caused by the law, which separated the two groups. He did it by living the law perfectly while still interacting with Gentiles, or rendering the law inoperative through His death (a little more in line with Col 2:14 and Gal 3:20). Thus Christ created one new entity, the church, composed of former Jews and former Gentiles. Through the apostles and authenticating work of the Holy Spirit, that peace is announced (which resulted in a lot of hostility from the Jews).

Note that the emphasis in the chapter is not on the salvation of individuals, but the corporate aspect of salvation. It's not so much on the fact that we now have access through the Spirit to the Father on the basis of Christ's death (nice Trinitarianism), but that we have that access together. The bulk of the chapter lays the foundation for the unified building together of Jews and Gentiles into a new dwelling place of God. The church is built on the authenticated revelatory work of the apostles and prophets, which laid the foundation (not to be repeated). The task at hand is for the Body to grow into a holy temple (which chapter 4 details). The NT church should serve the same function as did the OT temple: a place for God's glory to be manifested to the world so they have a point of contact for a relationship with Him. As God works in the lives of NT believers, they should be declaring psalms of His praise just as in the OT Book of Psalms, as God dwells and works in their midst.

• fellow heirs;
• fellow members of the Body;
• fellow partakers of the promise in the Messiah, proclaimed in the good news (about the kingdom).

The plan to join and bless Jews and Gentiles together with the unsearchable riches of the Messiah in the Messianic Age so that all could see His glory was God's plan in creating all things (including the world). This means that God's purpose in creation is not soteriological (saving people from their sins) but doxological (displaying His glory). To say the Bible is about God saving sinners is short-sighted bordering upon stupidity (or at least ignorance of the Bible). The bookends of the first and last three chapters of the Bible aren't about saving sinners, nor is most of what is in-between, but rather it's about blessing those who are faithful.

Verse 10 gives a purpose statement for creation: to display the manifold wisdom of God, through the church to angelic/demonic powers (as 1:21 intimates, and 6:12 identifies who these critters are). The wisdom of God was also the subject of the praise of God in Romans 11:33, in which, parallel to our book, Paul praises God for how He saves and blesses Jews and Gentiles. So what's the point? Why would God want to show off His wisdom to a bunch of angels? Satan's objection to God blessing Job (in the oldest book of the Bible) gives a clue. If you don't like my take on it, feel free to come up with your own, but this will help you understand how and why Satan works (and you don't want to be ignorant of his schemes). Satan was the highest created being, and very impressive. He was so impressive, he thought he could take on, and defeat, God. A third of the angels (who are a heck of a lot smarter than the average, or above average bear) agreed, and bet on Satan. What no one could see was the infinite nature of God, and when they rebelled, God flicked them out of heaven to earth. That's all history, the next piece is inference, based upon past, present, and future pieces. Satan perhaps objected to the justice of God, saying that it was unrealistic to expect obedience from a creature that had free will. God responded by making a sub-par being, lower than the angels, with free will, and said that they would obey Him, and He would give them the glory that Satan grasped at, and missed. That's a possible explanation for Satan's temptation of Adam and Eve, testing of Job, blinding people to the glory of the gospel (which is endemic today). It's why he offers short-cuts to God's will, which are really one way detours to disaster. It's why he takes captive false teachers to do his will by preventing people from doing God's will so He can reward them. It's why he disrupts relationships in Bodies of believers, so they won't be unified as a temple to display God's glory. There are two dozen of Satan's actions that are explained by this scenario. This also explains why there is such an emphasis on faithfulness and loyalty to God in both testaments. I don't have an exegetical outline to back up all this but have had to commit the unpardonable sin of theology to put the pieces together. If you find something better to explain the facts, please let me know, and I will gladly repent :) We might just be pawns in the cosmic chess match between God and Satan, but we are rightly rewarded pawns.
Back in the realm of humans, in proper relation to the Lord Jesus, we have moral courage and confident access to God based upon our faith in Christ. Therefore the Ephesians should not be discouraged at the difficulties he faces, since they are for their glory (they pay obedient attention to Paul's revelation, they get glory).