John Calvin Commentary Ephesians 2

And you who were dead. This is an ἐπεξεργασία of the former statements, that is, an exposition accompanied by an illustration. To impress upon the Ephesians more effectively the general doctrine of Divine grace, he reminds them of their former condition. This application consists of two parts.

“You were formerly lost; but now God, by his grace, has rescued you from destruction.” And here we must observe that, in endeavoring to present an impressive view of both of these parts, the apostle makes a break in the style by (ὑπερβατὸν) a transposition. There is some perplexity in the language; but, if we attend carefully to what the apostle says about these two parts, the meaning is clear. As to the first, he says that they were dead; and states, at the same time, the cause of the death—trespasses and sins. He does not mean simply that they were in danger of death; but he declares that it was a real and present death under which they suffered. As spiritual death is nothing other than the alienation of the soul from God, we are all born as dead men, and we live as dead men, until we are made partakers of the life of Christ—agreeably to the words of our Lord,

“The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.” (John 5:25)

The Papists, who are eager to seize every opportunity of undervaluing the grace of God, say that while we are out of Christ, we are half dead. But we are not at liberty to set aside the declarations of our Lord and of the Apostle Paul that while we remain in Adam, we are entirely devoid of life, and that regeneration is a new life of the soul, by which it rises from the dead.

Some kind of life, I acknowledge, does remain in us while we are still at a distance from Christ, for unbelief does not altogether destroy the outward senses, or the will, or the other faculties of the soul. But what has this to do with the kingdom of God? What has it to do with a happy life, as long as every sentiment of the mind and every act of the will is death?

Let this, then, be held as a fixed principle: that the union of our soul with God is the true and only life, and that out of Christ we are altogether dead, because sin, the cause of death, reigns in us.

In which for some time ye walked. From the effects or fruits, he draws a proof that sin formerly reigned in them; for, until sin displays itself in outward acts, people are not sufficiently aware of its power. When he adds, according to the course of this world, he implies that the death which he had mentioned rages in human nature, and is a universal disease. He does not mean that course of the world which God has ordained, nor the elements, such as the heaven, and earth, and air—but the depravity with which we are all infected; so that sin is not unique to a few, but pervades the whole world.

According to the prince of the power of the air. He now proceeds further, and explains the cause of our corruption to be the dominion which the devil exercises over us. A more severe condemnation of mankind could not have been pronounced. What does he leave to us, when he declares us to be the slaves of Satan, and subject to his will, as long as we live outside the kingdom of Christ?

Our condition, therefore, though many treat it with ridicule, or, at least, with little disapproval, may well fill us with horror. Where now is the free will, the guidance of reason, the moral virtue, about which Papists babble so much? What will they find that is pure or holy under the tyranny of the devil?

On this subject, indeed, they are extremely cautious, and denounce this doctrine of Paul as a grievous heresy. I maintain, on the contrary, that there is no obscurity in the apostle’s language; and that all people who live according to the world, that is, according to the inclinations of their flesh, are here declared to fight under the reign of Satan.

In accordance with the practice of the inspired writers, the Devil is mentioned in the singular. As the children of God have one head, so do the wicked; for each class forms a distinct body. By assigning to him the dominion over all wicked beings, ungodliness is represented as an unbroken mass.

As for his attributing to the devil power over the air, that will be considered when we come to the sixth chapter. At present, we will merely address the strange absurdity of the Manicheans, in attempting to prove from this passage the existence of two principles, as if Satan could do anything without divine permission. Paul does not grant him the highest authority, which belongs to the will of God alone, but merely a tyranny which God permits him to exercise.

What is Satan but God’s executioner to punish human ingratitude? This is implied in Paul’s language, when he represents the success of Satan as confined to unbelievers; for the children of God are thus exempted from his power. If this is true, it follows that Satan does nothing except under the control of a superior, and that he is not (αὐτοκράτωρ) an unlimited monarch.

We may also draw this inference from it: that ungodly people have no excuse for being driven by Satan to commit all sorts of crimes. Why are they subject to his tyranny, if not because they are rebels against God? If only those who have renounced the service of God and refuse to yield to His authority are slaves of Satan, let them blame themselves for having such a cruel master.

By the children of disobedience, according to a Hebrew idiom, is meant obstinate people. Unbelief is always accompanied by disobedience, so that it is the source—the mother—of all stubbornness.

Among whom also we all had our conversation. Lest it be supposed that what he had now said was a slanderous reproach against the previous character of the Ephesians, or that Jewish pride had led him to treat the Gentiles as an inferior race, he includes himself and his countrymen with them in the general accusation. This is not done hypocritically, but in a sincere giving of glory to God. Indeed, it may cause wonder that he should speak of himself as having "had his conversation in the lusts of the flesh," while on other occasions he boasts that his life had been entirely blameless.

For example, he says, Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless (Philippians 3:6). And again, Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and unblamably, we behaved ourselves among you that believe (1 Thessalonians 2:10).

I answer that the statement applies to all who have not been regenerated by the Spirit of Christ. However praiseworthy the life of some may appear, because their lusts do not break out in the sight of others, nothing is pure or holy that does not come from the fountain of all purity.

Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. To fulfill these desires is to live according to the guidance of our natural disposition and our mind. Here, the flesh means the disposition, or what is called, the inclination of nature; and the next expression (τῶν διανοιῶν) means what comes from the mind. Now, the mind includes reason, as it exists in humans by nature; so that lusts do not refer exclusively to the lower appetites, or what is called the sensual part of a person, but extend to the whole person.

And were by nature children of wrath. All people without exception, whether Jews or Gentiles (Galatians 2:15, 16), are here declared to be guilty until they are redeemed by Christ. Therefore, apart from Christ, there is no righteousness, no salvation, and, in short, no excellence. Children of wrath are those who are lost and who deserve eternal death. Wrath means the judgment of God, so that the children of wrath are those who are condemned before God. Such, the apostle tells us, the Jews had been—such had been all the excellent people who were now in the Church; and they were so by nature—that is, from their very beginning and from their mother’s womb.

This is a remarkable passage, opposing the views of the Pelagians and of all who deny original sin. What dwells naturally in all is certainly original. But Paul declares that we are all naturally liable to condemnation; therefore, sin dwells naturally in us, for God does not condemn the innocent.

Pelagians used to object that sin spread from Adam to the whole human race not by descent but by imitation. But Paul affirms that we are born with sin, just as serpents bring their venom from the womb.

Others who think that it is not actually sin are no less at odds with Paul’s language, for where there is condemnation, there must undoubtedly be sin. God is offended not with blameless people, but with sin. Nor is it surprising that the depravity we inherit from our parents is counted as sin before God, for the seeds of sin are perceived and condemned before they have been openly displayed.

But one question arises here. Why does Paul represent the Jews, equally with others, as subject to wrath and curse, when they were the blessed seed? I answer: they have a common nature. Jews differ from Gentiles only in this: that through the grace of the promise, God delivers them from destruction. But that is a remedy that came after the disease.

Another question is: since God is the Author of nature, how is it that no blame attaches to God if we are lost by nature? I answer: there is a twofold nature. One was produced by God, and the other is its corruption. Therefore, this condemnation that Paul mentions does not come from God but from a depraved nature; for we are not born as Adam was at first created; we are not wholly a right seed, but are turned into the degenerate (Jeremiah 2:21) offspring of a degenerate and sinful man.

But God, who is rich in mercy. Now follows the second part of the sentence, the substance of which is that God had delivered the Ephesians from the destruction to which they were formerly liable; but the words which he employs are different. God, who is rich in mercy, hath quickened you together with Christ.

The meaning is that there is no other life than that which is breathed into us by Christ, so that we begin to live only when we are ingrafted into Him and enjoy the same life with Him. This enables us to see what the apostle formerly meant by death, for that death and this resurrection are brought into contrast. To be made partakers of the life of the Son of God, — to be quickened by one Spirit, is an inestimable privilege.

On this ground he praises the mercy of God, meaning by its riches, that it had been poured out in a singularly large and abundant manner. The whole of our salvation is here ascribed to the mercy of God. But he then adds, for his great love wherewith he loved us. This is a still more express declaration that all was owing to undeserved goodness, for he declares that God was moved by this single consideration. Herein, says John, is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us. — We love him because he first loved us. (1 John 4:10, 19)

Even when we were dead in sin. These words have the same emphasis as similar expressions in another Epistle.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. — But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6, 8).

Whether the words, by grace ye are saved, were inserted by another hand, I do not know; but, as they are perfectly consistent with the context, I am quite willing to receive them as written by Paul. They show us that he always feels as if he had not sufficiently proclaimed the riches of Divine grace and, accordingly, expresses by various terms the same truth: that everything connected with our salvation ought to be ascribed to God as its author. And certainly, anyone who duly considers human ingratitude will not complain that this parenthesis is superfluous.