Ephesians 2

Made Alive in Christ by Grace

¹ You were dead in your trespasses and sins, ² in which you formerly walked when you followed the ways of this present world. You were following the ruler of the domain of the air, the spirit now at work in the people who disobey.

³ Formerly, we all lived among them in the passions of our sinful flesh, as we carried out the desires of the sinful flesh and its thoughts. Like all the others, we were by nature objects of God’s wrath.

⁴ But God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! ⁶ He also raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. ⁷ He did this so that, in the coming ages, he might demonstrate the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them.

United in Christ

¹¹ Therefore, remember that at one time, you Gentiles in the flesh—the ones who are called “uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised” (which is performed physically by human hands)— ¹² remember that at that time you were separated from Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise. You were without hope and without God in the world.

¹³ But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace. He made the two groups one by destroying the wall of hostility that divided them ¹⁵ when he abolished the law of commandments and regulations in his flesh. He did this to create in himself one new person out of the two, in this way making peace. ¹⁶ And he did this to reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by putting the hostility to death on it. ^{[1] 17} He also came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. ^[2]

¹⁹ So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household. ²⁰ You have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the Cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.