1 Made Alive in Christ And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] deadandseparated from Him because of your transgressions and sins,
2 in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God].
3 Among these [unbelievers] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by the sinful self], indulging the desires ofLit flesh.human nature [without the Holy Spirit] and [the impulses] of the [sinful] mind. We were, by nature, children [under the sentence] of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind].
4 But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His greatandwonderful love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were [spiritually] deadandseparated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment).
6 And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenlyplaces,[because we are] in Christ Jesus,
7 [and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurableandunsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [by providing for our redemption].
8 For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God;
9 not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boastortake credit in any way [for his salvation].
10 For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].
11 Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, who are called “Uncircumcision” by those who called themselves “Circumcision,” [itself a mere mark]which ismade in the flesh by human hands—
12 rememberthat at that time you were separated from Christ [excluded from any relationship with Him], alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise [with no share in the sacred Messianic promise and without knowledge of God’s agreements], having no hope [in His promise] and [living] in the world without God.
13 But now [at this very moment] in Christ Jesus you who once were [so very] far away [from God] have been brought nearOr in.by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peaceandour bond of unity. He who made bothgroups—[Jews and Gentiles]—intoone body and broke down the barrier, the dividing wall [of spiritual antagonism between us],
15 by abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the hostilitycaused bythe Law with its commandmentscontainedin ordinances [which He satisfied]; so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thereby establishing peace.
16 And [that He] might reconcile them both [Jew and Gentile, united] in one body to God through the cross, thereby putting to death the hostility.
17 AH[Gentiles],[Jews].
18 For it is through Him that we both have a [direct] way of approach in one Spirit to the Father.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens [outsiders without rights of citizenship], but you are fellow citizens with the saints (God’s people), and are [members] of God’s household,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the [chief] Cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole structure is joined together, and it continues [to increase] growing into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, set apart, and sacred to the presence of the Lord].
22 In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.