Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Ephesians 2:3

"among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:--" — Ephesians 2:3 (ASV)

“Among them” refers to the “disobedient” rather than to “transgressions and sins” (v.1). So far Paul has been depicting the former lifestyle of Gentile Christians. Now he admits that Jewish believers were no better, for they too once “lived” an earth-bound life in the grip of sin. Nor does he exclude himself from this general indictment (cf. “all of us”), despite his claim to have been technically blameless under the law (but cf. Romans 7:7–11).

The past life of Jewish Christians, like that of the Gentiles, was dominated by the appeal of fallen nature. The “sinful nature” (lit., “flesh”; GK 4922) is not merely the body but the whole person orientated away from God and toward one’s own selfish concerns. Human beings have a multiplicity of sinful urges. “Thoughts” refers not to the mind itself but to the projects it entertains with uncontrolled abandon. The natural human being is altogether at the mercy of the tyrant self and its rash impulses.

Because of all this, the Jewish converts were just as much in danger of God’s “wrath” and judgment as anyone. “By nature” (GK 5882) contrasts with “by grace” in vv.5, 8. Those who prefer to stand on their own and refuse to accept what God has done for them in Christ are self-condemned.