Bible Glide

Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Ephesians 2 shows how God rescues people from spiritual death, brings them near through Christ, and forms them into one family. It explains salvation as a gift of grace, not a result of human effort, and then shows how Christ creates peace and a shared life for all who trust Him.

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What happens in Ephesians 2?

This chapter moves from the human condition of sin and helplessness to the new life God gives in Christ. Paul says believers were once dead in trespasses, but God made them alive, raised them with Christ, and saved them by grace through faith. He then turns to unity, reminding Gentile believers that they were once outsiders but have now been brought near through Christ's blood. Jesus has broken down the wall of division, creating one new people and giving both groups access to the Father. The chapter ends with the picture of God's household being built on Christ the cornerstone.

Ephesians opens by praising God's work in salvation and Christ's rule over all things. Chapter 2 explains what that saving work means for both individuals and the church. It follows Paul's prayer in chapter 1 and prepares for his teaching on the church's unity and purpose in the chapters that follow.

Themes to notice

  • GraceGod saves people by His mercy and gift, not by human effort or boasting.
  • New LifeThose who were dead in sin are made alive with Christ and given a new way of living.
  • Unity in ChristJesus reconciles people to God and to one another, forming one household and one temple.

Questions for Ephesians 2

  • What does this chapter teach about the difference between human effort and salvation by grace?
  • How does Paul describe the change from being far from God to being brought near in Christ?
  • What does it mean for believers to be built together on Christ as the cornerstone?

Read the full text of Ephesians 2 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Ephesians 2

Alive with Christ

1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,2in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.4But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,7in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,9not by works, so that no one can boast.10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

One in Christ

11Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.14For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility15by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace16and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility.17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.18For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Christ Our Cornerstone

19Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.21In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.22And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit.

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