Chapter 2

Chapter Two

¹ Chapter Two. And you, being dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit. He said above that God displayed toward us the same power and working which he displayed in Christ also. Concerning him, then, he said that he raised him from the dead, and seated him above all. And now he speaks also concerning us, and says, And you, being dead (a deadness not the bodily one, which began from Adam, but the deadness of the soul, which arises from ourselves, the deadness of sins)—he raised up and quickened. So that by the same power he both raised the Lord from bodily death, and us from the death of the soul, the death of sins; or rather, that which is greater than raising the dead, namely the persuading of souls to change, as has also been said above. The sense, then, of the whole passage is this; but only after a long interval is it brought to its apodosis at the words, He quickened us together with Christ; inasmuch as many things have been inserted between, and a resumption is made at the words, But God, being rich in mercy. Having said, then, that they were dead, and having shown how they were dead—namely by trespasses and sins—he consoles them in a twofold way: both by saying, Wherein in time past you walked—and not now; and by adding that, being held under the authority of the devil, you sinned, and the whole was not yours, but belonged also to your fellow worker, who so strongly exercised authority over you. You sinned, then, walking according to the course of this world—that is, minding the things of the world and the things of the moment, and making evil use of this present age. For the age is not evil, but the misuse of it. For it has been given as a guide, in that, being corruptible and fleeting, it rouses us toward the things incorruptible and unfleeting; but we, bound fast to its corruption and flux, have made it not a guide but a hindrance. By the prince of the power of the air he means the devil, not the Creator, as the accursed Manichaeans hold. “Prince,” then, because men subjected themselves to him, and more serve him than serve God. Yet such a rule of his exists within this present age, and does not pass beyond the air; for he has no place in heaven, but beneath heaven. Therefore Paul also calls him prince of the power of the air—not as lording it over the air so as to administer it, God forbid!—but as making it his haunt. For the devil, being a spirit, dwells in the air as a spirit, and has his power and authority only as far as this, being prince of those who subject themselves to him. But some understand “prince of the air” to mean of the powers of the air. For this reason, they say, he added, Of the spirit—that is, according to the prince and ruler of every airy spirit. For since he once became a prince, he seems not to have fallen from his rule even after the transgression.

² Who now works in the sons of disobedience. He did not say, Who compels, but, Who works; and this is plain from what follows as well. For he works, he says, in the sons of disobedience—that is, in those who do not obey God, but obey him, and are not compelled.

³ Among whom we also all had our conduct in time past in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts. Not in this alone did he console them, by saying that your sinning belonged to the devil, but also by ranking himself and all men together with them; for no one was without sin. And by lusts of the flesh he means those of the carnal mind. And that he does not disparage the flesh is plain. For having said, Doing the desires of the flesh, he added, And of the thoughts; that is, minding nothing spiritual. So that the flesh is not worthy of blame, but the mind, which is dragged down toward the passions of pleasure. Or also thus: that We defiled our thoughts as well, reasoning out evil things; and with the flesh we did them. And you may understand the works of the flesh as fornication and the like; and those of the thoughts as murder and malice, and things similar.

⁴ And we were by nature children of wrath, even as the others. That is, We provoked God and stirred him to anger; and we were nothing else but very wrath itself. Just as the child of a man is by nature a man, so also are we. And just as sons of Gehenna and sons of perdition are so called, those who are worthy of these things, so too those who do things worthy of wrath are children of wrath. And the word By nature stands for truly and genuinely, even as the others; for no one was free.

⁵ But God, being rich in mercy. We, for our part, were doing things worthy of implacable wrath; but God, being not simply merciful, but even rich in mercy.

⁶ Because of his great love wherewith he loved us. And the love springs from great mercy. For how could we, being children of wrath, have been loved?

⁷ And us, being dead in trespasses, he quickened together with Christ. Here is the apodosis of the thought that began above, and the other things had been inserted between. And again Christ is in the midst, and the matter is trustworthy; for if the firstfruits live, we also live. For he quickened both him and us—him in actuality, us now in potentiality, but a little later in actuality as well. Behold the surpassing greatness of his power, that he quickened the dead, the sons of wrath; this is the hope of the calling.

⁸ By grace you have been saved. This he inserted in the middle out of inward astonishment, marveling at the unspeakable gift of God. For you were saved, he says, not by toil and your own works, but by grace alone. For as far as works went, you were worthy of punishment and wrath.

⁹ And he raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Just as, our firstfruits and head—Christ, I mean—having been raised, he raised us also through it; so too, when it is seated, the rest of the body is seated together with it. Therefore he says, In Christ Jesus; that is, In his being seated we also are seated. Or the word He raised us up together is to be taken not of the resurrection, but of the renewal of life through the laver. How, then, did he make us sit together? If we endure, he says, we shall also reign together with him. And Christ says: You shall sit upon twelve thrones; and again, But to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. So then it has been prepared.

¹⁰ That in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace, in kindness toward us, in Christ Jesus. Lest anyone disbelieve what has been said, he makes the statement convincing; and he says that, even if not because of his love toward you, yet because of his will to display his goodness, he will assuredly do it. For now many disbelieve, but in the age to come all will know what he has freely given us, beholding the saints in unspeakable glory. And the words In Christ Jesus mean: these things would not stop at Christ alone, but through him will come also to us, as from a firstfruits to the whole; and we shall be quickened together and seated together. These things the great John says here; but in his commentary on Matthew he says that no one will sit then. Truly, then, there is need of the Spirit and of revelation, in order to understand the depth of these mysteries. For unless this all-wise teacher John had said expressly that we too shall be seated, one might have said that we are seated in Christ, just as in Christ we are also worshiped by angels. For we are not worshiped in our own person, but, our nature that is united to God the Word being worshiped, the glory passes over to us. This, then, is what he means here also, that we too shall be seated.

¹¹ For by grace you have been saved through faith. Having stated what belongs to God—that we were saved by grace—he adds also what is ours, namely, Through faith; so that free will might not be done away with.

¹² And this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Again he checks it, and says that not even faith is from ourselves; for had he not come, had he not called, we would not have obeyed. For how, he says, shall they believe, unless they hear? So that this too is a gift of God. Or otherwise: he does not call faith the gift of God, but the being saved through faith—this is the gift of God. For granting that faith is ours, how could it alone have availed to save, unless God had been pleased to receive us through it—so that we might not be wholly idle, but might seem to contribute something ourselves as well?

¹³ Not of works, lest anyone should boast. It was not that he thrust us away when we had works, but that, when we had been betrayed by works, he saved us by grace, so that, as a result, no one might thereafter have anything to boast of. For the word That is not causal, but is drawn from the outcome of the matter.

¹⁴ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Lest, hearing that we were justified not by works, you grow slack concerning works, he says that now, after faith, there is need of works. For you were created in Christ Jesus, and became a new workmanship, the old man having died for you in baptism. And just as in the beginning you were brought from non-being into being, so now he has brought you into well-being; and you were created not that you should be idle, but that you should work, and walk in good works; that is, that you should complete the whole road of life in these, not for two or three years, but the whole road of your life. For this he hints at by the word to walk. For God prepared these beforehand; so that there is no putting it off, since the work has been appointed by God. But also in all things; for if one is lacking, virtue has been maimed. But Gregory the Theologian understood the words Created unto good works not of the creation in baptism, but of the original creation.

¹⁵ Wherefore remember that you, being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision in the flesh made by hands—that at that time you were without Christ. Having said that he saved them when they were dead, he is now about to say to whom he made them equal and joint heirs—namely, to the Israelites; for great was the dignity of these; and he says, Wherefore remember. Wherefore? On what account? Because we were created unto good works; for this alone is sufficient to persuade us to be diligent about virtue. And he said Remember, because it is customary for those who have risen from great lowliness to a height not even to remember their former state. And what are you to remember? That you were estranged from Christ in former times; but now you have come near to him, just as Israel also. This, then, is the aim of the passage. But observe how skillfully he overthrows circumcision, showing that it differs from uncircumcision in word only, and not in deed. For you, he says, are Gentiles in the flesh, but not in spirit; and called so, but not being so; as if he were saying, In the flesh you have the inferiority, not in the spirit. And again: By that which is called Circumcision in the flesh; indicating the preeminence that lies in words only and in flesh. Now uncircumcision was not a dreadful thing, nor abominable, even if it was so called by those who boasted in circumcision; but to be without Christ—this was truly dreadful and unbearable. Why ever, when he is about to show them partakers of the glory with the Israelites, does he pull down the dignity of the Israelites? But observe in what respects he pulls it down: in the things that are not necessary. For circumcision is not necessary, but indifferent. But in the necessary things he even greatly exalts them, naming the Israelites holy and members of God’s household.

¹⁶ Being alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. He did not say, Separated, but, Alienated; since the Israelites too were outside the lawful polity that is according to God, yet not as aliens, but as negligent.

¹⁷ And strangers from the covenants of promise. This too is a great separation. For he did not say, Not attending to the covenants, but, Wholly strangers. For even though the Israelites fell from the promises, yet not as strangers. And what are the covenants of promise? To you and to your seed will I give this land; and whatever other things he promised, all of them to be understood spiritually.

¹⁸ Having no hope. No hope, that is, concerning the things to come—the hope of the resurrection and of recompense.

¹⁹ And without God in the world. And yet they worshiped gods; but they were not gods. And he added the words In the world, to show that they were inferior not only in the heavenly things, but also in the things esteemed on earth. For the Israelites were, even on account of their piety, glorious and most noble.

²⁰ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ. We were far from God, not in place, but in purpose and in manner of life; but now we have been made near, not by our manner of life (for we brought nothing of works), but in Christ Jesus, and by his blood. For he, having poured out his blood and given himself for us, delivered us from the captivity that was estranging us far from him, and brought us near. And you may also understand it thus: that We were far from the Israelites; but now we have come near to them.

²¹ For he is our peace, who made both one. For before the incarnation, there was great enmity of the circumcision toward the uncircumcision; but now we have made peace, having become one by faith. For we are no longer characterized by circumcision and uncircumcision, but we have one distinguishing mark, faith. For let there be two men, the one a slave, the other an adopted son; and let both give offense to the same person—the one having done things deserving of disinheritance, the other having run away; then let both become heirs and true sons. Behold, they have been brought to one honor, and the two have become one. So also the Gentiles and the Israelites: the former as slaves, the Israelites as sons, having given offense. What then? Is it a great thing to share with the Israelites? You led us up into the heavens, and now do you again bring this forward as something great? Yes, he says; for those things must be grasped by faith, but these by the very facts themselves. Besides, he does not say this, that he raised us up to their nobility, but that he raised both us and them to something greater. Yet greater is the benefit toward us; for to them he made a promise, but to us he neither made a promise, and we were farther off, according to the example given above.

²² And having broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, in his flesh. He explains what the middle wall of partition was, and says that it is the enmity toward God of both Gentiles and Jews, which was being born of our trespasses, as the prophet also says: Is it not your sins that make a division between me and you? This middle wall, then—the enmity, I mean—he broke down in his own flesh. How? By making the enmity to stand there. For inasmuch as he united it to the Godhead, it is evident that he wrought reconciliation, the two natures being interwoven and embracing one another. And in another way too: by appearing without sin and by fulfilling the whole law, he broke down the enmity. For the law was a fence, inasmuch as it was given for safety, to hedge us about; but when it was transgressed, it made sin into a middle wall; by which we are not established in safety, but are separated from God.

²³ Having abolished the law of commandments contained in ordinances. Lest anyone say: What then? if we have been released from the former transgression of the law, are we again compelled to keep it? he says that he has abolished it as well. For having given it to us for safety, when we did not keep it, though he ought to have punished us, he instead abolished the law, just as if someone, having handed a child over to a tutor, should, when the child does not obey, free him from the tutor as well. And he calls it a law of commandments, as ordaining things concerning conduct; and by ordinances, faith, as being established through doctrines; as if he were saying that in place of a way of life he introduced faith. For we were not justified out of commandments, which prescribe to do this and that; but, if you believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth, you shall be saved. Or by ordinances he means the declarative injunctions of the Lord, such as this: But I say to you, Do not swear at all; and, Not to be angry; and the like.

²⁴ That he might create in himself of the two one new man. He did not make the Greek a Jew, but raised both to one condition. And he did not say, Change, but, Create, in order to show vividly what is meant, and that we ought no longer to start back from it as from things contrary to nature. And the words In himself either stand for By himself; for no other did this, but he himself by himself, and having melted down both Jew and Gentile, brought forth one new and wondrous man. Or it is because he himself first provided a pattern and example, having himself also appeared first as this very thing which he made them to be; and because, having become the midst of both, and holding the Jew on this side and the Greek on that, and mingling them together, and doing away with all that was alien, he refashioned them anew through fire and water. In the human nature, then, which he assumed—which is common to both Gentile and Jew, and was assumed on behalf of both, and which is in itself estranged from all corruption and oldness that comes from sins—in this he created the two into one new man, freed from the old age of sins and of unrighteousness; for no longer are this one and that one characterized by their own peculiarities, but the peculiarities of one man, formed according to Christ, characterize them both. And you would come nearer to what is meant, if you should think of the Lord as a cornerstone, and these two as walls being built upon it.

²⁵ Making peace. Both toward one another (for the Jew is then joined to the Gentile, when he becomes a believer), but especially toward God—which is also more proper, as he makes plain through what follows.

²⁶ And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body through the cross. He did not say, Reconcile, but, Reconcile fully; showing that human nature had been reconciled to God through the law as well; then, having become rather an enemy through transgression, it again had need of reconciliation with God, which, as being complete, is fittingly called a full reconciliation. And In one body means, in his own. For he himself underwent the penalty owed by us through the cross; which he also said above, In the flesh; and again, he will create the two in himself. But some understood the words “In one body” thus, as meaning: he reconciled both to God as having become, as it were, one body, of which he himself is the head.

²⁷ Having slain the enmity in himself. He did not say, Having loosed, but the more emphatic, Having slain, so that it might never rise again. How, then, does the enmity rise again? That one never rises again; but we beget another by sinning afresh. And the words In himself mean either on the cross, or in his own body. For he slew the enmity both on the cross and in his own body, in which he also took up the cross.

²⁸ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near. He sent no other, but came himself, taking upon himself the rank of a servant and minister,[1] and preached peace—that is, peace toward God; to those far off, the Gentiles; and to those near, the Jews; for these seemed more intimate with God. For indeed he said: Peace I leave with you; and, Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world; and, The Father loves you; and, Whatever you ask, you shall receive. For all these are tokens of peace.

²⁹ For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. The wrath he dissolved through his own death, and further he made us beloved to the Father, through the Spirit, having graced us with one grace. For it was not that to them, as being near, he gave a greater grace, and to us, as far off, a lesser; but in one Spirit he gave one grace to both, and so brought us to the Father. Or the word In stands for By, so that the statement is this: through him and the Spirit we were brought to the Father.

³⁰ Now therefore you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints. Since the Son abides forever, those who are not to attain the city above are strangers and sojourners. But we are not such now, but fellow citizens with the saints; not simply of the Jews, but of those holy ones, the patriarchs and prophets, and we were enrolled in the same city which they too longed for as for something seen from afar.

³¹ And members of the household of God. That which they scarcely obtained through many toils, we found by grace, having been made members of God’s household. Behold the hope of the calling; for in such hopes we were called, that we might receive such things.

³² Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Wishing to signify the great union of the Gentiles with the prophets and apostles, he says, Built upon; as if he were saying: The prophets and apostles are laid down as a foundation, but you fill up the rest of the building, so that all become one temple of God; such as is the being built upon the patriarchs and prophets, which elsewhere he calls a grafting in. And he placed the apostles first, even though they were last in time.

³³ Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. It is Christ who holds the whole together. For the cornerstone holds together both the walls and the foundations. And observe: sometimes he says that he binds the whole together from above, where he also names him head; and sometimes from below, as in the case of the cornerstone; and elsewhere he also calls him a foundation.

³⁴ In whom the whole building, fitly framed together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In the cornerstone, he says—that is, in Christ—the whole building, that is, all the faithful, being fitly framed together, and united by nature and inseparably, grow and are filled up, so as to become a temple of God. For I will dwell in them, he says, and walk in them. For the Church in common—the assembly, I mean, of all the faithful—is a temple of God, and each one also individually. And the words In the Lord stand for By the grace of the Lord, not by our own toils. And by saying Fitly framed together, he shows that it is not possible to be built together into a temple of God in any other way, unless we also have our life in fellowship with the cornerstone.

³⁵ In whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. And all the faithful are built together in him, and you Ephesians as well, so as to be a habitation of God in the Spirit—that is, through the cooperation of the Spirit. Or he said In the Spirit by way of contrast with the perceptible building, as if he were saying: a spiritual habitation of God. So then, this building together goes on until the second coming, through those who believe in each generation.