Ephesians 2:1-3 meaning

Ephesians 2:1-3 teaches that apart from Christ, mankind is spiritually dead in sin, enslaved to worldly and fleshly desires, and under God's righteous wrath.

Ephesians 1 is largely about who Jesus is and what He has done for us, and by extension who we now are as believers who have received the Gift of Eternal Life. Ephesians 2:1-3 considers who we as believers were before we believed in Jesus to receive that Gift.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins (v 1)…

The conjunction And both connects and contrasts what Paul says in Ephesians 2:1 with the things he was saying about Jesus’s exalted status and authority over all things in the previous verses (Ephesians 1:22-23).

Specifically, the conjunction And connects and contrasts who Jesus is—the triumphant, resurrected, exalted Christ, who is crowned with all authority to you—Paul's audience of believers, and who they were before they received the Gift of Eternal Life.

Paul, by setting up this dramatic contrast, is demonstrating how much incredible good Jesus already has lavished upon them and is currently doing for them. Recognizing this incredible good helps boost believers' confidence in the hope of Jesus's promise in store for them in eternity (Ephesians 1:8b-14). The contrast between who believers are presently in Christ, and who they formerly were before Christ is consequential and stark.

Paul states that before you believers came to Jesus, you were dead in your trespasses and sins (v 1).

Death, or to be dead, describes a separation or severance. James provides a helpful illustration for understanding what the Bible means by death in his analogy of faith without works. He writes:

"For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." (James 2:26)

In James's example, death occurs when the spirit is separated from the body. The body still exists, but because it has been severed from the spirit that animates it, it is dead. Death, therefore, is not the end of existence. It is the separation of something from what God designed it to be joined to. When a person's spirit is connected to and animates their physical body, we say that person is alive.

Spiritual death, which is what Paul is describing in Ephesians 2:1, follows this same pattern. Just as physical death is the separation of the spirit from the body, spiritual death is the separation of the human spirit from God, who is the source of life. Spiritual life, by contrast, is restored connection with God through faith in Jesus Christ, who reconnects us to the life we were created to enjoy.

The word Paul uses to describe believers' spiritual reality before Jesus is dead.

Dead is the opposite of alive. Dead describes the state of being separated from everything good and life-giving for humans to flourish as God intended them to flourish.

In Ephesians 2:1, the Greek term that is translated as dead is a form of νεκρός (G3498—pronounuced "nek-ros"). "Nekros" literally describes a dead corpse. Someone who is nekros is deceased and no longer living. A nekros is destitute of life, without life, and is inanimate.

Paul uses nekros to describe the state that his Ephesian readers (believers) were in before they believed in Jesus to receive the Gift of Eternal life. When Paul tells his Ephesian readers you were dead, he does not mean that they were physical corpses. Rather he was describing their spiritual status as dead.

Before people receive the Gift of Eternal Life, they are spiritual corpses. They are spiritually dead. Their spirits are separated from God. They are not in God's family, and are estranged from the potential of fellowship with God because they are separated from God's righteousness due to sin. This rift is healed through the shed blood of Jesus, who paid the price for sin that all who believe might be restored, reconnected. To be connected is life, the opposite of death, which is separation.

The Three Parts of Human Beings: Body-Spirit-Soul

To more clearly understand what it means to be spiritually dead, it would be helpful to briefly look at Genesis 2:7, the verse that graphically describes God's creation of human beings, and consider what it teaches that a human being truly is:

"Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."
(Genesis 2:7)

Genesis 2:7 teaches that a human is a "a living being" with two natures—a physical and spiritual nature.

Soul

Genesis 2:7c describes what a human being essentially is: "and man became a living being."

The Hebrew word that is translated as living being in Genesis 2:7 is pronounced: "nephesh." The Greek equivalent of this Hebrew term is pronounced: "psuché." Both terms describe "the inner life"or "soul" of a person. The nephesh/psuché is the essential self, core being of who a person is. When all is stripped away, every person is their own, unique nephesh/psuché—thus "man became a living being [nephesh/psuché]" (Genesis 2:7c).

And when Genesis 2:7 declares that humans are living beings, it is saying that every human is a soul. As the Bible describes human beings in their essential form, it follows this teaching from Genesis 2:7 and consistently describes human beings as a soul—nephesh/psuché.

Without going into further detail, the Bible goes on to describe what human souls consist of:

• A Mind that is the dashboard of our consciousness, thought, and deliberation.
• A Heart that is the center and driver of our wants and desires.
• A Will that is the seat of our choices.

As mentioned above, Genesis 2:7 indicates that every human being has a physical and a spiritual nature.

Body

Genesis 2:7a describes the creation of our physical nature: "Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground."

Human beings have a physical body that consists of matter. Our physical bodies are "formed…from the dust of the ground" (Genesis 2:7). When our physical bodies die, they return to dust (Genesis 3:19, Ecclesiastes 12:7).

Because our physical bodies consist of matter and are a part of the physical universe, they operate according to and are subject to the laws of material universe. Thus, humans have a physical nature.

While our physical bodies are healthy and alive, being connected and animated by our spirits, they allow us to interact with and physically influence the material world we inhabit. When our physical bodies become dead, being separated from our spirit, we can no longer physically interact with the material world or those who still physically live in it. This is because our spirits no longer animate our bodies.

Spirit

Genesis 2:7b describes the creation of our spiritual nature: "[the LORD God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life."

The expression: "breath of life" uses "neshama," the Hebrew word for "spirit."

The Greek equivalent of neshama is pronounced: "pneuma."

"God is Spirit" (John 4:24), and a major component of humans being made in God's image is the fact that we have a neshama/pneuma/spirit that was personally breathed into humanity by God Himself.

Human spirits (like human souls) are immaterial. We cannot physically see, sense, or measure them. Scientific mechanisms that observe the material world are therefore unable gauge or quantify them.

And just as our living physical bodies allow us to physically interact with and influence the material world, so do our spirits make us capable of interacting with and influencing the spiritual world—which consists of angelic and demonic beings who live in the "heavenly places" (Ephesians 2:6, 3:10, 6:12). Since God is enthroned in the heavens, being united with Him in spirit allows us to connect in a heavenly manner (Ephesians 2:6, Psalm 123:1, Isaiah 66:1).

Because we have a spirit and are spiritual beings we can partner with God and collaborate with Him as persons. God created us in His image for this very purpose (Genesis 1:26-28).

Spiritual Death

Tragically, because of our trespasses and sins, we naturally are born as spiritually dead and can no longer connect with God to relate with or partner with Him to fulfill our purpose. This is our natural state before being born anew, being rebirthed through faith in Christ (John 3:3).

Death simply describes separation. A car battery dies because its electrical circuits become disconnected. A phone dies when separated from a power supply. An athletic crowd's excitement dies when separated from the enthusiasm born of hope for a victory. A company dies when it runs out of cash—it is separated from financial viability.

When our physical bodies die, our spirit/soul is separated from our body so that they no longer animate them (James 2:26). After a person experiences physical death, they are separated from us and this physical world. It is observable for even a recently deceased person that their body is present, but they (i.e. the dead person's spirit/soul) are no longer there.

Spiritual death is like this too. When a person is spiritually dead, their spirit is separated from God and His good purposes for their lives. To be spiritually dead means to be in a condition where your spirit is cut off and separated from God. This is the natural state of humanity after the fall. This is the state that is reversed when people believe on Jesus and are born again (John 3:3, 14-15).

Spiritually dead people are unable to "know God"—they are disconnected. To "know God" is Jesus's definition of eternal life (John 17:3). Life is connection. Spiritually dead people are disconnected from God. They are, accordingly, unable to fulfill the good things God created and designed them to become and/or accomplish with Him. This was the condition of you—the Ephesian believers—before they believed. And it is our condition before we believed.

Before we are born again and receive the Gift of Eternal Life through Jesus and are "made alive" by God (Ephesians 2:4), we are nekros—dead—spiritual corpses that are unable to live in harmony with God because of our sin.

Paul uses the word dead to capture the sense of despair and hopelessness of being lost, and the utter defeat of self, so that the separation from life and goodness appears to be complete and final. Dead contrasts the life, growth, opportunity, and hope believers now have and can enjoy because of Jesus.

The death which Paul is referring to here in Ephesians 2:1 goes back to the Creator's warning to Adam in the Garden of Eden.

The LORD God commanded Adam not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:16-17a). God warned Adam: "for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17b). Adam and Eve's bodies did not physically die on the day when they disobeyed the LORD and ate from that tree (though their bodies did eventually perish—Genesis 5:5), but they did experience a more profound kind of death. They spiritually died.

(They also would experience many other kinds of deaths as well, including being exiled from the Garden, separated from immortality because their access to the Tree of Life was eliminated.)

When Adam and Eve spiritually died, their spirit was no longer in fellowship with God's Spirit. They were severed from Him. This severance—their spiritual death—became apparent when Adam and Eve tried to hide their nakedness with fig leaves, hid from God's presence, and blamed God for their sin (Genesis 3:7-12). Their spiritual death was described when God explained the suffering, pain, and futile toil they would experience apart from Him (Genesis 3:16-19).

And their spiritual death was finalized when they were banished from the fellowship of God's presence in the Garden (Genesis 3:22-24). Their banishment from His fellowship meant that they would exist in a state of futility. The world was cursed, being separated from God's blessing. Then because they were cut off from Him and His perfect design, they were consequently unable to fulfill their purpose to collaborate with God in exercising dominion over creation (Genesis 1:28).

Because of their disobedience, Adam and Eve were also separated from the "glory and honor" of being "crowned" with authority/dominion over the earth (Psalm 8:5-6, Hebrews 2:7, 2:9). Jesus, as a human, has healed this separation through the "suffering of death" (Hebrews 2:9). Paul will remind the Ephesians of their current, connected reality in contrast to their former, disconnected reality. They are to walk in life, not death.

Humanity's first parents' spiritual death doomed them and the entire human race to a life of futility, frustration, and toil apart from God. Paul told the Roman church, "Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). The death that "spread" (Romans 5:12) was not merely funerals. It was the disconnection from God that every human now inherits at birth. It was all creation, who groans under the toil of separation from its design (Romans 8:22). We are all born severed from the One we were designed to be joined with. This is why Paul tells the Ephesian church that you were dead in your trespasses and sins (v 1) before they believed in Jesus.

Spiritual death/separation from the Fall and the resulting corruption of God's design is the root cause of other forms of death/separation including:

• Death of relationships;
• Discord within communities;
• Separation from reality and what is true;
• Double-mindedness and a division within one’s own soul;
• Physical Death.

Spiritual Death—Trespasses and Sins

Paul tells believers of Ephesus that before they were made alive in Christ, that they were dead in their trespasses and sins. This means it was their trespasses and sins that killed them (made them dead) and were keeping them dead, separated from God's family. Their trespasses and sins were separating them from God’s fellowship and living within their design.

In Greek, the expression that is translated dead in your trespasses and sins literally means "by reason of" or "because of" your trespasses and sins. In other words, our trespasses and sins caused us to be spiritually dead.

The Greek word that is translated as trespasses is a plural form of the word παράπτωμα (G3900—pronounced: "pa-rap-tō-ma"). It literally means "to fall beside." In the context of Ephesians 2, paraptōma describes "lapses or deviations from truth and uprightness" of God's perfect standard.

The Greek word that is translated as sins is a plural form of the word ἁμαρτία (G266—pronounced "ha-mar-ti-a"). Hamartia literally means "to miss the target." In the context of Ephesians 2, it describes "missing the target" of God's design and will for our lives.

Trespasses and sins are anything that we do that disobeys God's commands. It is anything we do that breaches God's design for us and our relationships with others and with the creation in which we dwell.

God's commands are given to protect us and lead us toward what is good. God's commandments keep us from death and lead us further into life. Obedience and disobedience are choices. God, in His wisdom and love, lets us decide which path we will take, but He always invites us to choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19).

We are responsible for our choices. We are accountable for our trespasses and sins against our Creator. Satan deceptively frames God's good commands as restrictions, intended to limit us and hold us back (Genesis 3:5). But that is because Satan is a liar and his desire is to lead us to death.

Trespasses and sins can be things we do that we should not do. They can be things that we do not do that we should do. They can be attitudes or perspectives that we harbor that go against God's will. They can be thoughts or feelings that we indulge that we ought to dismiss. The consequences of trespasses and sins is death (Romans 6:23).

For a believer, a consequence of death in sin is to be separated from fellowship with God, others, our potential, our gifts, and the rewards association with obedience in Christ. The fruit of obedience is life in Him (Romans 6:22). That life includes the connection of fellowship with Him and others, connection with our potential, our gifts, and with the rewards associated with the obedience of Christ.

Unbelievers remain in the natural state into which they were born—separated from God's righteousness and estranged from His family—until and unless they believe. An unbeliever who is spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins cannot make themselves spiritually alive again—only the blood of Jesus can do that.

Those who are spiritually dead cannot heal themselves by removing their trespasses and sins. There is not anything a spiritually dead person can do to alter or improve their status as a dead person other than to believe in Jesus, looking upon Him in hope of deliverance from the poisonous venom of sin (John 3:14-15).

In his statement And you were dead in your trespasses and sins (v 1), Paul is talking to believers about their spiritual state before they believed in Jesus and became alive in Him. He is talking about them when they were unbelievers. But even though sin and spiritual death no longer define believers because they are eternally made alive in Jesus, sin still brings the death of separation into their lives. (The wages or consequences of sin is still death—Romans 6:23).

This is because when believers choose to sin, they are choosing to walk apart from the Spirit. This means they are choosing to live disconnected from God, which is death because it disconnects them from His fellowship. We know that nothing can separate any believer from the love of Christ or cause them to lose the Gift of Eternal Life (Romans 8:31-39).

Paul urges believers to "consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). Paul's point will be that believers were healed of this separation, so it is practicing the folly of self-destruction to return to the state of separation (death) from which we were delivered. Paul exhorts believers to walk in the Spirit, connected to God, His overflowing life, and their design which produces the life-giving fruit of the Spirit, rather than to walk in the flesh, disconnected from His fellowship and empowering guidance, and their design, which produces self-destructive behaviors (Galatians 5:16-23).

Satan and the Sons of Disobedience

The next verse is a continuation of the thought Paul began in verse 1 (And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,) as he elaborates upon the state of spiritual death that the Ephesian church existed in before coming to Jesus:

in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience (v 2).

Paul is painting a picture of the former broken, separated position from which the Ephesian believers were rescued. It is this corrupted position that the world is inducing them to return to, and Paul is constructing an argument of the foolishness of returning to a state of slavery and death when we have been delivered to freedom and life.

The prepositional phrase in which refers to the trespasses and sins that the Ephesian church was dead in before Jesus gave them His life.

Paul writes that the Ephesian believers formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (v 2).

The word formerly indicates that the condition and live choices the Ephesian believers practiced prior to believing on Jesus. They walked according to the course of this world, which is the domain of the prince of the power of the air (v 2). Before they came to Christ, they were still spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins (v 1). Their practice was to walk according to both the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air (v 2).

To walk, in this context, means "to act," "think," "live," and/or "behave" in a certain way. To walk according to the course of this world means to act, think, live, and behave according to the cultural norms and expectations of this world instead of according to God's design for our lives. God's design was first described in the Law of Moses and later explained in Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

It is from this darkness the Ephesian believers were delivered. They have the daily opportunity to walk in the light. But this is a daily choice. And each day requires remembering that the consequence of sin is death, and to then choose to walk in the light. Paul will later exhort the Ephesians to "be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16).

Paul is painting a clear contrast between two paths: one leads to life, one leads to destruction. The path of destruction is the way of the world. To walk in sin is to walk in God's wrath—wrath from which believers have been delivered. To choose wrath when we have been delivered from wrath is foolish. As Paul asserts in Romans 1:18, 24, 26, 28, when we choose sin, God's wrath is to turn us over to the natural consequences of sin. Sin separates us from freedom, as we slip into addiction to lust. And sin separates us from reality, as it leads to a "depraved mind" (Romans 1:28).

Paul does not say "the world." He says: "this world." He inserts the demonstrative pronoun, translated as this to indicate that he is talking about this current world in its fallen and not-yet redeemed condition. When God finished creating the world, He saw that it was "very good" (Genesis 1:31). When Jesus institutes the new heaven and the new earth, the world will again fully and completely reflect God's good design. But in the meantime, because of Adam's sin, this world operates underneath the curse of God (Genesis 3:17-18) and the influence of Satan.

The expression this world distinguishes the present brokenness of this world from the goodness of God's original design for the world and the goodness of the world to come.

Since Adam and Eve's disobedience, this world has been and still is under the influence of Satan, who is described here as the prince of the power of the air (v 2). Jesus referred to Satan as "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).

God originally granted Adam dominion and authority over the cosmos (the world) (Genesis 1:28-31, Psalm 8:4-6, Hebrews 2:5-8), but Adam abdicated his cosmic authority to Satan when he followed him in disobedience to God. The author of Hebrews, after asserting that God placed all of creation under Adam, the father of all humans, laments our present reality, "But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him [Adam]" (Hebrews 2:8).

All things are not under Adam and the human family he sired, as they were designed to be. Instead, the prince of the power of the air (v 2) reigns. To follow in the ways of the world is to follow in the way of God's adversary (Psalm 8:2). And Satan's design is to deceive and to destroy (John 8:44).

Satan usurped the divine authority God granted Adam, the father of humanity, and this is why he is called the prince. Satan is a usurper prince. His design is to reign in the power of tyranny, where the strong exploit the weak (Matthew 20:25). This is in direct contrast to God's design of servant leadership, where the strong serve in love (Matthew 20:26-27).

Satan's evil reign of terror will come to an end during the thousand-year reign of Christ (Revelation 20:1-3). Sometime after this, Satan will be forever banished into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:7-10).

Paul calls Satan the prince of the power of the air (v 2) to describe how Satan's power is not constrained by geopolitical boundaries. Earthly princes have geographic limits. Satan's seat of government has no physical locus like Caesar had in Rome. Satan's power is of the air.

Of the air also indicates that Satan's power is primarily spiritual in nature. Satan is a spiritual being. Therefore, it makes sense that his influence would be primarily spiritual. Satan rebelliously uses his spiritual influence to deceive people into disobedience and pushes them further into death.

The expression of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience (v 2) further describes Satan and his spiritual influence.

The spirit is an evil spirit; it describes Satan as a demonic spirit or being.

The reason Paul says that this evil spirit is now working is because Satan currently has power and influence over the world due to Adam's fall. This was not God's design, but it is the current reality, due to man’s choice. Before the fall and in the future, Satan will no longer have influence over creation, but in the meantime, he does.

Peter describes Satan as "your adversary…[who] prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Satan is now actively working to bring about evil. He is presently taking advantage of the fact that he has influence over creation to cause more destruction. We can gain insight as to why Satan hates humanity and desires their submission or destruction because his original goal was to ascend over all (Isaiah 14:12-14).

Paul says that Satan is working in the sons of disobedience (v 2).

The sons of disobedience describes all those who follow Satan (wittingly and unwittingly) into disobedience against God. In this context, sons of disobedience is primarily used to describe unbelievers who have not received the Gift of Eternal Life. Paul opened this section by describing the former state of the Ephesians prior to believing.

Paul is contrasting this with their current position in Christ in order to urge them not to choose to walk back into the darkness from which they were delivered. Satan is working in them to deceive them and to use them to cause death and destruction in themselves and in this world. But Satan only has this power if they allow it. Paul seeks their benefit by warning them of Satan's wiles and encouraging them to walk in the light. As we will see in Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul will liken this struggle with Satan and his forces as being a spiritual battle, requiring spiritual armor and weaponry.

In a particularly contentious moment (John 8:39-47), Jesus chastised some the Pharisees for following Satan, analogizing him as their "father," because of their wickedness and unbelief (John 8:44).

The term sons suggests that they will inherit what their "father" (Satan) has. Even though Satan has power now, he will inevitably have God’s wrath, condemnation, and eternal banishment into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). His sons, those who follow him, will likewise inherit divine wrath, condemnation, and eternal banishment into the lake of fire (Matthew 25:46, Revelation 20:15).

Believers who follow Satan's ways by following the world will nevertheless spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. God will never reject those who are in Him (2 Timothy 2:13). But believers can suffer great loss both in this life as well as in the judgement to come by choosing to walk in sin (1 Corinthians 3:15). Fortunately, forgiveness and restoration of fellowship is available for believers who confess their sin, as we see in 1 John 1:9.

Sons of disobedience is used to contrast how Paul described the Ephesian believers earlier when he said how God in His love had predestined them for "adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself" (Ephesians 1:5). The term sons of the disobedience may also be a contrasting analogue to "sons of the kingdom" who are believers in Jesus (Matthew 13:38). Jesus contrasted "sons of the kingdom" there with "sons of the evil one."

Interestingly, earlier, in Matthew 8, Jesus spoke to His Jewish followers of "sons of the kingdom" who would not be rewarded as highly as Gentiles who demonstrated great faith. He spoke of "sons of the kingdom" as being "cast into outer darkness" as contrasted with Gentiles from "east and west" who would dine at the table of honor with the patriarchs in the kingdom's honor banquet. The "outer darkness" would indicate someone who didn't even get invited to the honor banquet. God rewards faith, and faith is walking in His light, believing that His ways are for our best.

Paul is not relishing in the fact that the sons of disobedience will justly receive the divine wrath for their disobedience. He laments it. Paul deeply desired for everyone to receive their good and lasting reward in Christ (Colossians 1:28). Paul recognizes his past and emphatically declares that except for the grace and mercy of Jesus, he too would be destined for wrath (Ephesians 2:4-7).

Paul and the Ephesian Believers were Formerly Among the Sons of Disobedience

Paul says that before the Ephesians came to Jesus, when they were dead in their trespasses and sins (v 1), they formerly walked according to influence of Satan and were even among (v 3) the sons of disobedience.

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest (v 3).

In the context of (v 3), the pronoun them refers to the sons of disobedience. And the pronoun we specifically refers to Paul and the Ephesian church. In a general sense, we refers to all believers in Jesus.

Paul explicitly states that he and the Ephesians were once (but no longer) among the sons of disobedience. Paul and the Ephesian believers were among the sons of disobedience before they believed in Jesus to receive the Gift of Eternal Life.

When Paul and the Ephesians were among the sons of disobedience, Paul says that we too formerly lived just as the sons of disobedience now live. Paul uses the word formerly to express that he and the Ephesian believers no longer are considered sons of disobedience—that is no longer their identity. Paul uses similar language in Ephesians 5:8 when he says: "you were formerly of darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light." Because their new and eternal identity is "children of Light" (Ephesians 5:8), they therefore should not live as sons of disobedience or be partakers with them (Ephesians 5:6-7). Why live in darkness if you have been delivered to the light?

Paul then describes how he and the Ephesians formerly lived when they were dead in their trespasses and sins (v 1) and formerly walked according to the course of this world (v 2) and were among the sons of disobedience. Paul says that they lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind (v 3).

Lusts means intense desires or wants. Galatians 5:17 says God's Spirit lusts against the flesh; the Spirit has an intense desire for us to follow in God's ways and not the destructive ways of the flesh. Whether an intense desire results in good or evil depends on where we set our affections. It depends on whether we are taking thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)

The expression lusts of the flesh in scripture describes the evil and disobedient desires that we crave in our natural state (James 1:14). These lusts are described as of the flesh, because our evil desires are often related to our physical desires for pleasure, comfort, or gain. Although believers are born again with a new nature, the "old man" remains—our sinful nature is still in us—and must be set aside in order to walk in the newness of life through walking in the Spirit (Romans 7:18, Galatians 5:16-17).

These lusts of the flesh are so-called because these lusts are shortsighted and only bring temporary pleasure that does not last. Lusts of the flesh are consumed with the immediate, and sensory. They are concerned with what our bodies can naturally see or anticipate. The lusts of the flesh's pleasures and gains (if acquired) may benefit us for this lifetime at the longest, but usually the benefit is momentary gratification—then dissatisfaction, regret, and natural consequences. Whether momentary or for this lifetime, all the gain from pursuing the lusts of the flesh will surely go away forever. All fleshly gains will burn and fade when our flesh fades and wears out (Isaiah 40:6-7). And as the Apostle John writes:

"The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever."
(1 John 2:17)

Every human has lusts for things that are less than God's best for them. As James asserts, it is not circumstances that cause temptation, it is our inner lusts that tempt us (James 1:113-14).

It is not sinful to experience desires from lusts of the flesh. Rather it is sinful to act upon those lusts (James 1:14). Our flesh retains our old nature, which is fallen. It is sinful to act out and indulge our fleshly lusts (James 1:15). It is sinful when we live in them.

The sons of disobedience live in their lusts of the flesh because it is in their nature and they do not have a new nature in which they can walk (2 Corinthians 5:17). Those who only have their fleshly nature act according to the course of this world and according to the spiritual influence of the prince of the power of the air (v 2). The sons of disobedience are responsible for their choices, but they do not have the wisdom of Christ or the power and strength of the Holy Spirit to help them overcome their lusts when they are tempted.

In Ephesians 2:2-3, Paul is making a general statement about unbelievers and their sinful nature and behavior. But in Romans 2:14-16, Paul acknowledges that those who are apart from the Law still do some things consistent with the Law because they are made in God's image. Paul's point is not that sons of disobedience are unable to do anything good. His point is that their pattern of behavior inevitably falls to the lusts of their flesh. An application here is that without the indwelling power of the Spirit, humans cannot fully overcome the power of their fleshly desires.

In Romans 8:13, Paul expresses that the way for believers to overcome the flesh is to put it to death—to separate from it. Similarly, in Galatians 5:16-17 Paul indicates that walking in the Spirit is the way to overcome the flesh. The goal is not to reform the flesh, it is to separate from it (put it to death) and connect with the Spirit (walk in life). The flesh is not something that can be reformed. It must be disconnected from in order to eliminate its destructive impact.

Paul describes the fleshly perspective of unbelievers to the Corinthians when he talks about the "natural man" (1 Corinthians 2:14),

"But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised."
(1 Corinthians 2:14)

Believers have the wisdom and example of Christ and the guiding power of the Holy Spirit to overcome every temptation of lust (1 Corinthians 2:12-13, 10:13). Again, being a believer and having the Gift of Eternal Life does not remove our fleshly lusts or what is called our "sin nature," but being a believer does give us a new nature—a godly nature—to walk in. When we separate from/put to death the flesh and walk in/connect to the Spirit we can overcome sin.

Later in Ephesians, Paul will exhort believers "in reference to your former manner of life [to] lay aside the old self [flesh nature], which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit" (Ephesians 4:22). And he exhorts believers to: "be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self [Christ's nature], which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth" (Ephesians 4:23-24). This is language of disconnecting from/putting to death the flesh and connecting to/having life in the Spirit.

As Paul tells the Galatians, the choice for believers is "Whose lusts will we obey?—the flesh's lusts or the Spirit's lusts" (Galatians 5:16-17). Which nature will we choose to walk in—the flesh or the Spirit?

Believers have a choice as to which nature they will operate and live in—their flesh nature and its lusts or the spirit-led nature and its lusts. Unbelievers do not have this choice—they live in the nature of their flesh and are inevitably subject to its lusts.

Before Paul and the Ephesian church came to Christ, they lived in the lusts of their flesh. The same is true for everyone who is an unbeliever. Their existence is held captive to indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind (v 3).

Indulging desires means "obeying," "gratifying," "giving into," or "feeding" those desires.

Paul appears to distinguish desires of the flesh from desires of the mind.

Desires of the flesh may mean lusts that physically please and gratify the senses of the body—sexual desires, gluttony, physical laziness, luxurious comforts. The desires of the flesh are likely related to "the lust of the flesh" described by the Apostle John (1 John 2:16). The behaviors associated with indulging the flesh are listed in Galatians 5:19-21.

Desires of the mind may mean lusts that have to do with social status—ambition, gaining power, influence, or control over others. The desires of the mind may be what the Apostle John is describing when he talks about "the lust of the eyes" and/or "the boastful pride of life" (1 John 2:16).

To learn more about what John means by "the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life," see The Bible Says Commentary for I John 2:15-17.

The Nature of the Sons of Disobedience

Paul explains why he and the Ephesians formerly walked according to the course of the world and formerly lived in the lusts of their flesh (vv 2-3). He says the reason they did so was because we were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest (v 3). The point again that Paul is making is that this former existence as children of wrath is not something believers ought to choose to return to. We could. But it just is not smart. We have another, vastly superior option now that we have the Spirit.

In the concluding expression even as the rest, the rest refers to the rest of the sons of disobedience—all the other unbelievers. This likely refers to those in Ephesus who had not been redeemed by Christ. "Why would you want to live like them, when you have been delivered from their corrupted way of life?"

Before Paul and the Ephesian church were born (again) into God’s family through faith in Jesus, they were among the sons of disobedience. And formerly, when they were among the sons of disobedience they were "just like" or even as all the rest of the sons of disobedience in the following respects:

• Dead in their trespasses and sins (v 1);

• They walked according to the course of this world, which currently operates according to the evil influence of Satan (v 2);

• They lived in the lusts of the flesh, indulged their sinful desires (v 3a);

• By nature were children of wrath (v 3b)

That is, they were hopelessly spiritually severed from God, and they lived according to the folly of this world and the evil influence of Satan, and they were enslaved and addicted to their sinful desires. Paul says they formerly did all these things by nature. They now have the inner spiritual power to set all that aside.

The nature of unbelievers is children of wrath. The unbelieving sons of disobedience and Children of wrath, by their nature, walk in darkness (Ephesians 5:6-8). These believers now have the Spirit, and therefore have the capacity to walk in the light. They need to recognize this and make the right choice in order to avoid the negative consequences that come from sin.

Believers are given a new nature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) and are no longer of wrath and darkness. The nature of believers is "children of Light" (Ephesians 5:8). And as believers choose to live in their new nature, believers "walk as children of Light" (Ephesians 5:8), producing "the fruit of the Light [which] consists in all goodness and righteousness, and truth" (Ephesians 5:9).

The term children of wrath describes someone who is born of wrath, produces wrath, and is destined for wrath. Their nature is wrath. Believers still have the capacity to walk in this former way of life—but in doing so they will experience its negative impacts. Paul seeks to help them understand the vast importance of this fundamental choice we have of whom to serve, whether to walk in their flesh or with God in the Spirit.

Wrath is simply God's judgment of sin. As Paul says: "The wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 5:6b). He makes a similar statement in Romans 1:18, that God's wrath comes upon all unrighteousness. A primary way God judges sin is by allowing sinners to experience the natural consequences of their sin. The "turning over" of people to these natural consequences is God's wrath.

This is seen in Paul's explanation of how the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness (Romans 1:18) and how:

• He gave them over in the lusts of their heart to impurity (Romans 1:24);
• He gave them over to their degrading passions (Romans 1:26);
• And He gave them over to a depraved mind (Romans 1:18-32).

This progression is observable. In modern times we might call this progression: desire, addiction, loss of mental health. Because of Adam's sin and God's judgement, all people begin as children of wrath who are born under God's condemnation of sin—which is spiritual death, being separated from God's family (Romans 5:12, 18a).

Jesus said: "He who does not believe [in the Son] has been judged already" (John 3:18) and "he who does no obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36).

As former sons of disobedience who lived in the lusts of our flesh (v 3), we all produced present wrath (negative consequences) for ourselves as we indulged our sinful desires. As believers, the Ephesians now have the Spirit's power to avoid this. But they need to view sin properly, as a path that leads to wrath, destruction, judgment, and loss. One of the three things we control is our perspective; how we look at things. Our mental models. Paul seeks here to have the Ephesian believers understand and view sin properly. It is a path that leads to destruction.

Children of wrath are enslaved to their sin and addictions. Sin promises freedom and satisfaction, but its fruit is wrath: addiction, corruption, brokenness, and death. This present wrath falls upon us as sin deforms our desires, darkens our thinking, and enslaves us to the very passions we thought would serve us. Our proper mental model of sin is to view it as something exceedingly dangerous and deadly.

Sin leads also to the decay of relationships, hardening of our conscience, loss of peace, the spread of shame, and destructive habits that increasingly master us. In this way, God's wrath is often experienced as being given over to the bitter harvest of our own choices, where the lusts we indulged become the chains that bind us.

Children of wrath are unbelievers who are destined for God's wrath at the day of judgment. Why would believers want to follow in their footsteps? Believers will never be rejected (2 Timothy 2:13). But they can suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:15).

Apart from Christ, people remain under the just condemnation of God because of sin (John 3:18). They are not merely experiencing the present consequences of their rebellion, they are also moving toward a final accounting before God, when every evil deed, corrupt desire, and unbelieving rejection of Him will be judged.

Apart from God, we are dead in our trespasses and sins and are children of wrath. Then, through faith, we become children of God, born anew into His family, with a new nature (John 3:3, 14-15, 2 Corinthians 5:17). But we have an old nature we can still walk in. We need to renew our minds and realize that the sinful desires that appeal to us in our flesh lead to destruction, wrath, and loss; both in this life as well as the next. A changed perspective of sin helps us realize the need to separate from/put to death the flesh and walk in the Spirit.

This is why the Gospel is such good news for everyone who was or is dead in their trespasses and sins. God does not leave sinners under wrath. God, through Jesus Christ offers mercy, forgiveness, and eternal life through Jesus Christ to all who believe in Him. All who believe in Jesus are born into God's eternal family and become "children of God" (John 1:12) instead of children of wrath. As "children of Light" (Ephesians 5:8) we are able to walk in the Light as He is in the Light and joyfully live life to the fullest with Him as God intended for us (John 10:10, 1 John 1:3-4, 1:7). 

The good news of the Gospel is the subject of the next section of Ephesians 2 and The Bible Says commentary (Ephesians 2:4-7).