We Now Have Life

2 In the past you were ·spiritually dead [^Ldead] ·because of [or in] your sins and ·the things you did against God [transgressions]. ² Yes, in the past you ·lived [walked] ·the way the world lives [^Laccording to the course/ways/age of this world], following the ruler [^CSatan] of the ·evil powers that are above the earth [^Ldominion/authority of the air; ^Cprobably demonic forces]. That same spirit is now working in ·those who refuse to obey God [^Lthe children/sons of disobedience]. ³ In the past all of us lived ·like [or among] them, ·trying to please [or giving in to the cravings of] our ·sinful selves [sinful nature; flesh] and doing all the things our ·bodies [flesh] and minds wanted. We ·should have suffered God’s anger because we were sinful by nature [^Lwere by nature children/sons of wrath]. ·We were the same as all other people [^L…just like the rest; ^Cof mankind].

⁴ But ·God’s mercy is great [^LGod is rich in mercy], and he loved us very much. ⁵ Though we were spiritually dead because of ·the things we did against God [our transgressions], he ·gave us new life [brought us to life] with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace. ⁶ And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the ·heavens [heavenly places/realms]. He did this for those in Christ Jesus ⁷ so that ·for all future time [^Lin the ages to come] he could show the ·very great [exceeding; overwhelming] riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ ·I mean that [or For; Because] you have been saved by grace through ·believing [faith]. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. ⁹ It was not the result of ·your own efforts [works], so ·you cannot [no one can] ·brag about it [boast]. ¹⁰ ·God has made us what we are [^LFor we are his handiwork/workmanship/work of art]. In Christ Jesus, God ·made [created] us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.

One in Christ

¹¹ [^LTherefore] Remember that you ·were born as Gentiles [are Gentiles in the flesh], the ones called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “circumcised.” (·Their circumcision is only something they themselves do on their bodies […^Lperformed in the flesh by hands].) ¹² Remember that ·in the past [at that time/season] you were without ·Christ [the Messiah]. You were ·not citizens [^Lexcluded from the citizenship] of Israel, and you ·had no part in [^Lwere aliens/strangers to] the ·agreements with the promise that God made to his people [^Lcovenants of promise; ^Cthe Abrahamic (Gen. 12:1–3), Mosaic (Ex. 19—24), and Davidic (2 Sam. 7) covenants.] You had no hope, and you did not know God. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away from God are brought near through the blood of ·Christ’s death [^LChrist; ^Cblood symbolizing his sacrificial death]. ¹⁴ Christ himself is our peace. He made ·both Jews and Gentiles one people [^Lboth one], and broke down the wall of ·hate [hostility; enmity] that divided them [^Cthe wall beyond which Gentiles could not pass in the Jerusalem temple, or the law of Moses that distinguished Jew from Gentile (see v. 15)] ·by giving his own body [^Lin his flesh; ^Cthis phrase may go with the following sentence]. ¹⁵ He did this by ·ending [setting aside; nullifying] the law of commands and rules ·by giving his own body [^Lin his flesh; ^Cthis phrase may go with the previous sentence]. His purpose was to make the two groups of people become one new ·people [humanity; person; man] in him and in this way make peace. ¹⁶ It was also Christ’s purpose to ·end [^Lput to death; kill] the ·hatred [hostility; enmity] between the two groups, to make them into one body, and to ·bring them back [reconcile them] to God. ·Christ did all this with his death on the cross [^L…through the cross]. ¹⁷ Christ came and ·preached [proclaimed the Good News of] peace [Is. 52:7] to you who were ·far away from God [^Lfar away/off], and to those who were ·near to God [^Lnear; Is. 57:19]. ¹⁸ ·Yes, it is [For; or So that] through Christ we all have ·the right to come [free access] to the Father ·in [by] one Spirit.

¹⁹ Now you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any longer, but are citizens together with ·God’s holy people [^Tthe saints]. You belong to God’s ·family [household]. ²⁰ ·You are like a building that was built […having been built] on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself is the ·most important stone [cornerstone; or capstone; Is. 28:16; 1 Cor. 3:11] in that building, ²¹ and that whole building is joined together in Christ. He makes it grow and become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in Christ you, too, are being ·built together with the Jews [^Lbuilt together] into a place where God lives through the Spirit.