EPHESIANS CHAPTER TWO

OBSERVATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The purpose of the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand in accordance with the framework in which it was written: a framework which is defined by the normative rules of language, context and logic - rules which do not impose undue, unintended meanings to the text , and which largely limit the observer to the content offered by Paul's epistle to the Ephesians and his other writings. In order for any passage from elsewhere to be considered, it must have a relationship with the context at hand, such as a Scriptural quotation or a specific cross reference in the passage at hand by the author. This will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.

Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.

****** EXCERPT FROM EPHESIANS CHAPTER 1 *****

.............OR MOVE TO FIRST VERSE OF CHAPTER TWO

(Eph 1:19-23) Paul Prays For Believers In Their Temporal / Mortal Lives To Receive A Spirit Of Wisdom And Of Revelation In The Knowledge Of God In Conjunction With What Verses 3-14 Have Promised To Bless Them With In Eternity - That Their Understanding May Be Enlightened So That They May Know - That They May Experience In Their Temporal / Mortal Lives As Follows:

(a) Knowing What Is The Sure Hope Of God's Calling, I.E, That Which Is In Accordance With The Calling Of God - His Choosing Believers To Be In Him Before The Foundation Of The World To Be Holy And Blameless In His Sight Having Predestined Them To Adoption As Sons Of God By Jesus Christ To Himself, And

(b) Knowing What Are The Riches Of The Glory Of His Inheritance In The Saints With Understanding / Enlightenment So That They May Be Blessed In Their Temporal / Mortal Lives As Well And Be Looking Forward To Eternity With God, And

(c) Knowing What Is The Exceeding Greatness Of His Power Toward Us Who Believe, [These - The Following - Are] According To The Working Of His Mighty Power Which He Brought About In Christ:

(i) When He Raised Him From The Dead And Seated Him At His Right Hand In The Heavenly Places, Far Above All Rule And Authority And Power And Dominion, And Every Name That Is Named, Not Only In This Age But Also In The One To Come

(ii) That He Put All Things Under His [Christ's] Feet, And Gave Him To Be Head Over All Things To The Church, Which Is His Body, The Fullness Of Him Who Fills All In All

[Compare Eph 1:23 Greek Interlinear]:

****** END OF EXCERPT FROM EPHESIANS CHAPTER 1 *****

I) [Eph 2:1-7]:

A) (Eph 2:1-3) And You Gentiles Being Dead In Trespasses And Sins, In Which Once You Did Walk According To The Age Of This World, According To The Ruler Of The Authority Of The Air - Satan, the Devil, Who Is The Ruler Of The Spirit / Ruler Of The Attitude That Is Now Working In The Sons Of Disobedience; Among Whom We Too - Paul And Fellow Jews - Formerly Lived In The Sinful Lusts Of Our Flesh, Doing The Sinful Desires Of The Flesh And Of The Mind, And Were By Nature Children Of The Wrath Of God, Even As The Rest Of Mankind

1) (Eph 2:1) [Manuscript evidence for Eph 2:1]:

2) (Eph 2:1-3) [Commentary On Eph 2:1-2]:

a) [Compare Eph 6:12]:

B) (Eph 2:4-7) But God, Being Rich In Mercy, Because Of His Great Love With Which He Loved Us, Even While We Were Dead In Our Trespasses, Did He Make Us Alive Together With Christ. By Grace You Are Having Been Saved, And He Raised Us Up With Him, And Seated Us With Him In The Heavenly Places In Christ Jesus, That He Might Show, In The Ages That Are Coming, The Exceeding Riches Of His Grace In Kindness Toward Us In Christ - In The Sense Of By Means Of Christ Jesus

1) (Eph 2:4a) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:4a]:

2) (Eph 2:4b) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:4b]:

3) (Eph 2:5a) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:5a]:

4) (Eph 2:5b) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:5b]:

5) (Eph 2:7) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:7]:

6) (Eph 2:4-7) [Commentary On Eph 2:4-7]:

a) [Compare Eph 1:1-7]:

b) [Compare Eph 1:3]:

c) [Compare Eph 1:19-23: Paul Prays For Believers In Their Temporal / Mortal Lives To Receive A Spirit Of Wisdom And Of Revelation In The Knowledge Of God In Conjunction With What Eph 1:3-14 Have Promised To Bless Them With In Eternity ]

B cont.) (Eph 2:4-7 cont.) But God, Being Rich In Mercy, Because Of His Great Love With Which He Loved Us, Even While We Were Dead In Our Trespasses, Did He Make Us Alive Together With Christ. By Grace You Are Having Been Saved, And He Raised Us Up With Him, And Seated Us With Him In The Heavenly Places In Christ Jesus, That He Might Show, In The Ages That Are Coming, The Exceeding Riches Of His Grace In Kindness Toward Us In Christ - In The Sense Of By Means Of Christ Jesus, (cont.)

II) [Eph 2:8-10)]:

A) (Eph 2:8-9) In Eph 2:8-9, Paul Further Declared The Reason For The Riches Of God's Grace Being Bestowed Upon Those Who Have Believed In Christ Jesus For Redemption / Salvation Unto Forgiveness Of Trespasses And Unto Eternal Life In Heaven

1) (Eph 2:8) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:8]:

2) (Eph 2:8) [Commentary On Eph 2:8]:

a) [Compare Eph 1:1-7]:

b) [Eph 1:13-14]:

c) [Compare Eph 1:18]:

d) [Compare Eph 2:4-7]:

B) (Eph 2:8-9) For It Is Only By The Grace, The Unmerited Favor / The Undeserved Kindness Of God That One Is Saved Unto Eternal Life In The Heavenly Places

C) (Eph 2:8-9) The Greek Words "Este SesOmenoi" Rendered "You Are Having Been Saved" Convey As They Do In Verse 5, The Sense Of A Completed Action In The Past With Ongoing Present Results Forever In Those Who Have Believed In Christ Jesus Being Saved Unto Eternal Life In Heaven

1) [Compare Eph 1:1; 2:6]:

2) [Compare Eph 1:3, 7, 13-14]:

D) (Eph 2:8-9) Salvation Unto Eternal Life Does Not Require Continuous Faith In Christ Jesus In Order For The Individual To Remain Saved

E) (Eph 2:8-9) The Greek Words "Dia Tes PisteOs" Rendered "Through Faith" Stipulate What An Individual Must Do In Order To Be Saved Unto Eternal Life In Heaven: Namely To Express A Moment Of Faith Alone In Christ Jesus Alone - In His Redemption For Ones Sins

1) [Compare Eph 1:1, 3, 7, 13-14; 2:5-6]:

F) (Eph 2:8-9) The Moment Of Faith That A Man Exercises To Be Saved Unto Eternal Life Is Passive. It By Definition Cannot Be Contributory Toward That Salvation

1) English Dictionary Definition Of Faith

b) New Testament Greek Dictionary Definition Of Faith

G) The Greek Phrase "dia tEs pisteOs" In Eph 2:8-9, Rendered "through faith" Does Not Convey "through faithfulness," or "through faithworks," etc., As Some Contend. There Are No Qualifying Words There To Include Any Human Doing Such As Godly Works That Are Based On Faithfulness

1) [Compare Titus 3:5]:

H) (Eph 2:8-9) Salvation Unto Eternal Life Does Not  Depend Upon The Quality Or Continuance Of Faith In Christ Jesus As Some Contend

I) (Eph 2:8-9) The Greek Words "Kai Touto Ouk Ex HumOn" Rendered "And This Not Of Yourselves" Refers To The Neuter Subject Of Having Been Saved As Opposed To Faith Or Grace Which Are Feminine. The Words Declare That Our Salvation Is Not Of Anything You Do

J) (Eph 2:8-9) Objectors To Free Grace Salvation Falsely Maintain That The Phrase Rendered "And This Not Of Yourselves" Means That One Did Not Originate His Salvation, It Comes From God. Thus It Does Not Exclude Contributory Works; Rather They Maintain That It Requires Them

K) (Eph 2:8-9) Salvation Unto Eternal Life Is Declared To Be A Gift From God

1) [Compare Ro 6:23]:

2) [Compare Ro 3:24]:

3) [Compare Titus 3:5]:

4) [Compare Eph 1:13-14]:

L) (Eph 2:8-9) Salvation Unto Eternal Life Is Not As A Result Of Any Works, Godly Or Otherwise

1) The Greek phrase "ouk ex ergOn" rendered "not of works" does not refer to "not of works of the Law," as some contend. There are no qualifying words to restrict what the phrase "not of works" means in this manner, or any manner. The phrase simply refers to the exclusion of any human doing which excludes godly works that are based on faithfulness. Hence faithfulness and the so called concept of "faithworks" are excluded in order to receive eternal life.

a) [Compare Titus 3:5]:

b) [Compare Eph 2:11-16]:

2) Works which believers - individuals who are already saved unto eternal life forever - may perform are defined as that which God prepared in advance for the one who is already saved to do, thus ruling out works in order to be saved. On the other hand, there are no guarantees stipulated in this passage or any place in Scripture as to the degree if any that a saved individual will choose to be faithful

a) [Compare Eph 2:10]:

3) Any work which an unsaved individual contributes toward his salvation cancels God's grace-gift of salvation and that individual remains under condemnation

a) [Compare Ro 11:6]:

M) (Eph 2:8-9) Salvation Unto Eternal Life Is Not Something That One Can Boast About Achieving Based On Something He Has Ever Done To Get It Or Keep It

1) [Compare Ro 3:27-28]:

2) [Compare 1 Cor 1:29-31]:

N) (Eph 2:8-9) Objectors To Salvation By A Moment Of Faith Alone Force The Passage To Convey Continual Works + Continual Faith Expressed By God Himself Through The Individual

1) [Eph 2:8-9 - Inaccurate Rendering: Modified From Original Text To Falsely  Convey Continual Faith + Continual Works And The Uncertainty Of Being Saved Or Not Until After One Physically Dies]:

a) [Compare Eph 1:13-14]:

O) (Eph 2:10) For We Who Have Been Saved Are God's Workmanship Having Been Created In Christ Jesus For Good Works Which God Prepared Beforehand So That We Should Walk In Them

1) [Compare Eph 2:4-7]:

2) [Compare 2 Cor 5:17 ]:

III) [Eph 2:11-13]:

A) (Eph 2:11) Therefore Remember That Formerly You  Gentile Believers In Christ Jesus As Previously Detailed In Eph 1:1-2:10 - Gentiles In The Sense Of Physical Descendancy, Who Are Contemptuously Called "Uncircumcision" By The So-Called "Circumcision" - Referring To Jews In The Sense Limited To Their Physical Circumcision Not Necessarily A Spiritual Circumcision]:

[Excerpt from Romans chapters 2 & 3 on circumcision below - or skip to Eph 2:12 ]

****** EXCERPT FROM ROMANS CHAPTERS 2& 3 ON CIRCUMCISION REPRESENTING GOD'S COVENANTS WITH ABRAM AND HIS DESCENDANTS ******

[Ro 2:25]:

THE CIRCUMCISION IN VIEW IN THIS PASSAGE HISTORICALLY BEGAN AFTER ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD'S PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE AND GOD ACCOUNTED IT TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO ETERNAL LIFE

God Promises That Abram Will Be Father Of A Great Nation Leading To Blessings To Abram And All People Through Abram And His Seed, Who Is Christ

[Compare Gen 12:1-7]:

The Seed Is Christ

[Compare Gal 3:16]:

God Promises Eternal Life To Abram

[Compare Gen 12:3]:

[Compare John 8:56]:

God Repeats His Promise To Abram

[Compare Gen 13:14-15]:

Abram Believes In God's Promise And God Credits It To Abram As Righteousness Unto Eternal Life

[Compare Gen 15:1-6]:

AFTER ABRAHAM BELIEVED IN GOD'S COVENANT FOR ABRAHAM AND HIS SEED OF ETERNAL LIFE AND TEMPORAL BLESSINGS, GOD COMMANDED CIRCUMCISION OF ABRAHAM AND ALL IN HIS HOUSEHOLD TO AFFIRM THIS EVERLASTING COVENANT WHICH SYMBOLLICALLY REPRESENTS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD RECKONED TO ABRAHAM AND ALL WHO BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL AS ABRAHAM DID

[Compare Gen 17:1-14]:

[Compare Ro 2:29]:

ABRAHAM'S CIRCUMCISION WAS INCORPORATED INTO THE MOSAIC LAW AS A RULE OF LIFE FOR JEWS TO RECEIVE TEMPORAL BLESSINGS - ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WHO EXERCISED THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM; AND IT WAS A DEMONSTRATION TO THE WORLD OF AN ISRAELITE WHO WAS TO REPRESENT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD THROUGH FAITH IN GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM, THE GOSPEL, UNTO ETERNAL LIFE

[Compare Lev 12:2-3]:

[Compare Ro 2:29]:

CIRCUMCISION IS CONNECTED WITH OBSERVING THE LAW WHICH THE LAW EMBODIES AND REPRESENTS GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS

CIRCUMCISION HAS CERTAIN TEMPORAL VALUE AS A TESTIMONY TO THE WORLD OF WHAT IT SYMBOLICALLY REPRESENTS WHILE A JEW OBSERVES THE LAW WHICH THE LAW EMBODIES GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. WHILE A JEW IS NOT OBEYING THE LAW HE IS UNRIGHTEOUS AND DURING THAT TIME IT IS AS IF HE HAD NOT BEEN CIRCUMCISED

[Ro 2:26-27]:

DURING THOSE TIMES UNCIRCUMSIZED GENTILES ARE KEEPING THE RIGHTEOUS REQUIREMENTS OF THE LAW, THEY ARE A LAW FOR THEMSELVES AND ARE REGARDED AS BEING CIRCUMCISED IN THE SENSE THAT THEY REPRESENT GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS EMBODIED IN THE LAW

DURING THOSE TIMES UNCIRCUMSIZED GENTILES ARE KEEPING THE RIGHTEOUS REQUIREMENTS OF THE LAW THEY WILL CONDEMN BEFORE GOD THE JEW WHILE HE IS A LAWBREAKER WHO CLAIMS SUPERIORITY HAVING THE WRITTEN CODE AND PHYSICAL CIRCUMCISION BUT ACTING AS IF HE HAS NOT BEEN CIRCUMCISED

[Ro 2:28-29]:

AN OUTWARD, (PHYSICAL), JEW MUST BE A JEW IN ANOTHER SENSE: AN INWARD ONE VIA CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART BY THE SPIRIT - BY FAITH IN THE GOSPEL, NOT BY THE LAW, IN ORDER TO BE DECLARED A JEW IN GOD'S SIGHT. GENTILES AND CHRISTIANS ARE NOT IN VIEW IN THIS VERSE

CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART (MIND) BY THE SPIRIT IS A SPIRITUAL OPERATION, A REMOVAL OF ONES ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SINS AT THE POINT OF A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE - THE GOSPEL - UNTO THE IMPUTATION OF A RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD

SUCH A MAN'S PRAISE OF ANOTHER FOR BEING A GODLY JEW, WHICH IMPLIES HAVING AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD, COMES NOT AS A RESULT OF HUMAN DOING BUT AS A RESULT OF THE WORK OF GOD

[Ro 3:1]:

AFTER EXPOUNDING UPON THE JEWS' UNIQUE POSITION BEFORE GOD HAVING A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD; BEEN GIVEN THE LAW, CIRCUMCISION, ETC; AND IN VIEW OF THEIR PERSISTENT FAILURE TO LIVE UP TO THEIR RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE GOD; PAUL ASKS TO WHAT ADVANTAGE IS THERE BEING A JEW OR WHAT VALUE IS THERE IN CIRCUMCISION?

[Ro 3:2]:

MUCH IN EVERY WAY IS THE ADVANTAGE OF BEING A JEW - THE VALUE OF CIRCUMCISION. FIRST OF ALL THEY HAVE BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH THE VERY WORDS OF GOD AS CONVEYED TO THEM DIRECTLY AND THROUGH OTHERS AS RECORDED IN SCRIPTURE GIVING THEM THE RESPONSIBILTY TO OBEY, REPRESENT GOD AND CONVEY THOSE WORDS TO THE WORLD

THE FIRST ADVANTAGE FOR BEING A JEW, THE FIRST VALUE OF CIRCUMCISION IS BEING ENTRUSTED WITH THE VERY WORDS OF GOD WHICH ARE THUS IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE TO REPRESENT GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AVOID ETERNAL AND TEMPORAL CONDEMNATION THROUGH FAITH AND OBEDIENCE RESPECTIVELY, AND RECEIVE TEMPORAL BLESSINGS THROUGH THAT SAME OBEDIENCE

[Ro 3:3]:

THE QUESTION IS ASKED IN VIEW OF THE JEWS' UNFAITHFULNESS - WOULD THIS NULLIFY GOD'S FAITHFULNESS TO HIS PROMISES IN HIS VERY WORDS WHICH WERE ENTRUSTED TO THE JEWS?

****** END OF EXCERPT FROM ROMANS CHAPTERS 1 & 2 ON CIRCUMCISION REPRESENTING GOD'S COVENANTS WITH ABRAM AND HIS DESCENDANTS ******

B) (Eph 2:11-12) Gentile Believers Are To Remember That They Were, Before They Became Believers, As Individuals And As Part Of A Group Of People, Separate, Apart From Christ, Strangers To The Covenants Of The Promise, Having No Hope And Without God In The World

1) [Compare Eph 3:1-7]:

C) (Eph 2:13) [And Now, You - Gentile Believers - In Christ Jesus, You Being Once Afar Off - Estranged From God - Became Near - To God - By The Blood Of The Christ]:

1) [Compare Isa 57:1-2, 19-21]:

2) [Compare Eph 1:22-23]:

3) [Compare Eph 2:10]:

IV) [Eph 2:14-18]:

A) (Eph 2:14-16) For Christ Himself Is Our Peace - Jewish And Gentile Believers - Having Created Both Groups Into One - Neither Jew Nor Gentile In Character; Having Abolished The Dividing Wall -  The Barrier Of Enmity Between Both Groups In His Flesh; Having Thus Annulled The Law Of Moses So That The Two Groups He Might Create In Himself Into One New Man, Neither Jew Nor Gentile, Creating Peace With One Another - An Eternal Peace With Temporal Potential, And That He Might Reconcile Both Groups, i.e., All Of Mankind Who Choose To Believe In Him For Such Reconciliation Into One Body To God Through The Cross, Having Slain The Enmity In The Sense Of Having Abolished It In Himself

1) (Eph 2:14-15) [Greek Interlinear]:

2) (Eph 2:15) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:15]:

3) (Eph 2:15) [Further Manuscript Evidence for Eph 2:15]:

a) [Compare Gen 12:2-3]:

b) [Compare Gal 3:16-22]:

c) [Compare 2 Cor 5:17 ]:

d) [Compare Col 1:24]:

****** EXCERPTS FROM ROMANS 4 AND GALATIANS 3 ON THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW ******

OR SKIP TO THE REST OF COMMENTARY ON EPH 2:14-15

ABRAHAM IS THE FATHER - THE PRIMARY EXAMPLE - TO THE CIRCUMCISED (JEWS) AND UNCIRCUMCISED (GENTILES - THE REST OF HUMANITY) SO THAT THEY MIGHT CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN WHAT HE BELIEVED - THE GOSPEL - SO THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS MIGHT BE RECKONED TO THEM UNTO ETERNAL LIFE

[Gal  3:17-18]:

[Gal 3:19]:

THE LAW, I.E., THE MOSAIC LAW DEFINED:

THE LAW IS THE STANDARD OF PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH MAN MUST HAVE IN ORDER TO BE WITH GOD FOREVER. THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MAN TO ATTAIN. THE GRACE GIFT TO ALL BELIEVERS OF PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS THEREFORE COMES THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BY FAITH

THE DISPENSATION OF THE MOSAIC LAW PERIOD

THE MOSAIC ECONOMY = DISPENSATION

[Gal 3:21-22]:

[Gal 3:28]:

THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK, SLAVE NOR FREE, MALE NOR FEMALE DISTINCTIONS MADE RELATIVE TO THE BELIEVER'S SPIRITUALITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

[Compare Col 3:11]:

****** END OF EXCERPTS FROM ROMANS 4 AND GALATIANS  3 ON THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW ******

******

****** EXCERPT FROM ROMANS 2 ON THE LAW OF MOSES AND ISRAEL ******

OR SKIP TO NEXT SECTION

JEWS ARE IN VIEW WHO HAVE AND ARE SUPPOSED TO BE INSTRUCTED IN THE LAW, A SUPERIOR INSTRUCTION. THEY HAVE A UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AS HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE TO REPRESENT HIM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO THE WORLD THROUGH THE PRECEPTS OF THE LAW AS GOD'S STANDARD OF CONDUCT

THE LAW IS THE EMBODIMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH IN THE SENSE THAT IT IS THE SOURCE UPON WHICH KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH IS MADE CONCRETE AND PERCEPTIBLE. HENCE THE LAW IS ALSO THE EMBODIMENT OF GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS

THE LAW WAS GIVEN FOR THE JEW TO BE PART OF HIS SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD; TO PROVIDE THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S WILL; TO BE A SUPERIOR WAY OF LIFE; TO OBEY IN ORDER TO BE DECLARED RIGHTEOUS; TO BE A GUIDE FOR THE BLIND AND A LIGHT FOR THOSE IN THE DARK; TO BE AN INSTRUCTOR OF THE FOOLISH AND A TEACHER OF INFANTS

THE JEWS WERE GIVEN THE LAW BY GOD IN ORDER TO REPRESENT GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO THE WORLD. THEY FALSELY CLAIMED TO RELY ON IT, WILFULLY MISCONSTRUED IT AND CONSTANTLY VIOLATED IT CAUSING GOD'S NAME TO BE BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES

GOD'S NAME IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE THE JEWS DISHONOR GOD BY CONSTANTLY BREAKING THE LAW YET HOLD THEMSELVES UP AS SUPERIOR TO THE GENTILES. THEY HAVE A UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AS HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE TO REPRESENT GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO THE WORLD THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW, THEIR UNIQUE POSSESSION. THEY CLAIM THEY RELY ON IT FAITHFULLY

JEWS HAVE A SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY TO REPRESENT GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO THE WORLD, ESPECIALLY THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW WHICH WAS GIVEN TO THEM AS GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE WHICH THEY HAVE LARGELY FAILED TO LIVE UP TO

****** END OF EXCERPT FROM ROMANS 2 ON THE LAW OF MOSES AND ISRAEL ******

4 cont.) (Eph 2:14-15) [Commentary On Eph 2:14-15, cont.]:

e) [Compare Ro 10:4]:

f) [Compare Ro 8:2-3]:

g) [Compare Eph 1:22-23]:

h) [Compare Eph 4:1-3]:

5) (Eph 2:16) [Commentary On Eph 2:16]:

****** EXCERPT FROM ROMANS 5 ON RECONCILIATION ******

OR MOVE TO NEXT SECTION

PRIOR TO BEING JUSTIFIED WE WERE GOD'S ENEMIES, THEN WHEN WE BECAME JUSTIFIED BY FAITH WE WERE RECONCILED, I.E., DECLARED TO HAVE A POSITION OF ETERNAL PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD WHICH IS STIPULATED AS THROUGH THE DEATH OF GOD'S SON

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN (1) BEING RECONCILED WHEREIN THE ACCOUNT OF MAN'S UNRIGHTEOUSNESS HAS BEEN RECONCILED WITH GOD AND HENCE PROVISION HAS BEEN MADE AS A RESULT OF CHRIST'S REDEMPTION FOR THE UNGODLY, I.E., FOR ALL MANKIND AND (2) BEING RECONCILED WHEREIN ONE HAS ACCEPTED AS TRUE, (BELIEVED IN), THAT PROVISION AND IS IN AN ETERNAL POSITION OF BEING NO LONGER AT ENMITY WITH GOD

[Compare Ro 5:1 NAS]:

BEING ETERNALLY RECONCILED TO GOD RESULTS IN BEING SAVED UNTO ETERNAL LIFE BY GOD'S SON'S RESURRECTION LIFE

[Compare Ro 4:23-25]:

WE WHO HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED ARE IN A POSITION OF NEW OPPORTUNTY TO REJOICE IN GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BECAUSE IT IS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST WE HAVE RECEIVED RECONCILIATION = AN ETERNAL POSITION OF PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD

****** END OF EXCERPT FROM ROMANS 5 ON RECONCILIATION ******

B) (Eph 2:17-18) And Having Come, Christ Jesus Preached Peace To Those Who Were Far Away, i.e., Gentiles; And Peace To Jews Who Were Near; Because Through Him We Have The Access - We Both Jew And Gentile Believers - By One Spirit Have Access To The Father

1) [Manuscipt evidence for Eph 2:17]:

2) (Eph 2:17) [Commentary On Eph 2:17]:

a) [Compare Isa 57:1-2, 19-21]:

3) (Eph 2:18) [Commentary On Eph 2:18]:

a) [Eph 1:3-5]:

b) [Eph 2:6]:

c) [Compare Eph 3:12]:

V) [Eph 2:19-22]:

A) (Eph 2:19) Gentile Believers Then Are No Longer Strangers And Aliens, But Are Fellow Citizens With The Saints, And Are Of God's Household

1) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:19]:

2) (Eph 2:19) [Commentary On Eph 2:19]:

a) [Compare Heb 3:1-5]:

B) (Eph 2:20) Gentile Believers Having Been Built On The Foundation Of The Apostles And Prophets, Christ Jesus Himself Being The Corner Stone

1) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:20a]:

2) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:20b]:

3) (Eph 2:20) [Commentary On Eph 2:20]:

a) [Compare Ps 118:22-23]:

b) [Compare Mk 12:10-11]:

c) [Compare Eph 3:1-5]:

d) [Compare Eph 4:11-12]:

C) (Eph 2:21) It Is God's Household Comprised Of Christ Jesus - The The Corner Stone And The Foundation Of The Apostles And Prophets) - In Whom The Whole Building, Being Joined Together Is Growing Into A Holy Temple In The Lord

1) [Manuscript Evidence For Eph 2:21]:

2) (Eph 2:21) [Commentary On Eph 2:21]:

a) [Compare Eph 4:15-16]:

b) [Compare 1 Pet 2:4-5]:

D) (Eph 2:22) In Whom [God's Household - The Whole Building - You Gentile Believers - Are Also Being Built Together For A Dwelling Place Of God In The Spirit

1) [Commentary On Eph 2:22]:

Continue to chapter three