Sermon Series
Week 2
Ephesians 2:1-22 | From Death to Life in God’s Family
Preaching Commentary
Context
Standard Letter Format
Recall the Greco-Roman letter form that Paul uses in Ephesians:
Salutation and Greeting
Thanksgiving
Body
Exhortations/Encouragements
Closing/Farewell
You are Here: the Body of the Letter
By the start of Ephesians chapter 2 Paul has clearly begun the body of the letter. This is the “meat and potatoes” of the letter.
We could call chapter 2 a “declarative chapter.” Paul declares the “what” of salvation – what the human condition is and what God has done about it. Sin, grace, salvation, acceptance in the family/body—all of these themes are laid out as key realities of the Good News!
Later in the letter, we will see more of the practical impact of the salvation Jesus brings that is described in chapter 2.
Mission Connection
Although it isn’t fleshed out here in detail, Paul explicitly says that the redeemed “are what [God] has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (vs. 10a, NRSVUE). The amazing grace that brings believers out of death in sin to life in Christ has a purpose – good works! Salvation is not intended to be for individuals alone, but that the salvation we receive is meant by God to impact the world around us for good. As we do good we reflect the good gift of God that we’ve received.
Preaching Angles
Dead in Sin/Alive in Christ
For Paul, sin causes death and life is only found in Christ (cf. Rom. 6:23). As chapter 2 begins (vs. 1-3), Paul connects sin to death and also to following the world and the ruler of the power of the air (Satan), disobedience, the passions of the flesh and wrath.
He does not give one of his lists here as in, for example, Gal. 5:19-21 or 1 Cor. 6:9-10, but he does follow a similar formula: the bad news, followed by the good news. (This is true in both the examples found in Galatians 5 and 1 Corinthians 6). This is the “but God.” It was really bad, but God has brought redemption and reconciliation.
In this text, God is described as “rich in mercy” and loving (vs. 4), life and grace-giving (vs. 5) and eager to show immeasurable kindness (vs. 7). Jesus brings life out of death!
Saved by Grace for Good Works
Perhaps the best know verses in Ephesians are 2:8-9. Verse 10, however, is inextricably connected to them!
God brings salvation with a purpose, which is described here as good works that God has prepared for believers to walk and abide in. These good works are not a prerequisite for receiving the gift of grace, but what happens once that gift has been received through faith. Paul eloquently and organically unites Jesus as the Savior that brings believers from death to live and Jesus as Lord who commands the futures of those he has redeemed.
It is also worth noting that the “you” in Ephesians 2:8 is plural. In the south we would say, “Y’all are saved by grace through faith…”
Part of God’s Family
Those receiving the gift of God’s grace (easily an expanded exposition of God’s blessings from chapter 1) are described in the final section of chapter 2 as “members of the household of God” (vs. 19b). Certainly vs. 11-22 could easily be enough for 3 or 4 sermons by itself. In the big picture of Ephesians, this is the direct result of being saved by God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
Paul will return to the concept of God’s family and how it should function later on the letter.
Discussion Questions
Paul describes believers as "dead in sin" but "made alive in Christ" (Eph. 2:1–5). What does this transformation mean for how we live and relate to others in our daily lives?
Ephesians 2:10 says we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” How does this shape your understanding of the purpose of salvation beyond personal forgiveness?
Ephesians 2:11–22 emphasizes unity and inclusion in the family of God. What barriers—cultural, social, or personal—still divide people today, and how can the Church actively break them down?
In what ways have you seen (or struggled to see) Jesus as both your Savior and your Lord? How might this affect your sense of mission or calling?
Sermon Resources
Key Quotes
- View
The work of salvation is God’s work from beginning to end. He loved us when we were dead, and made us alive in Christ.
"Sermon: Quickened Together with Christ," delivered in 1868.
- View
The Church, as described in Ephesians, is the foretaste of a reconciled humanity. Its existence is itself part of God’s mission to the world.
- View
Paul’s vision in Ephesians is one of a single, united people of God, created through the cross to embody peace and reconciliation.
Key Illustration
- View
Following Jesus Requires Real Commitment
What are you willing to do for love?
An instructor for the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course shared with a class the major hang-up he had to get over before asking his wife to marry him. She had always felt a call to be a missionary. She had been clear with him since they’d begun dating that her passion for mission had not changed. So, he had reached a real sticking point – did he love her enough to uproot his life and move halfway across the world?He was a believer and was an active member of his church. As he considered and prayed about this dilemma he had a realization. He put it this way, “I had made Jesus my Savior, but I had not yet made him my Lord.”
They did get married and went on to serve as missionaries in a Middle Eastern country for many years.
Following Jesus is more than just intellectual agreement with certain propositions about God. It is a commitment to let your life be defined by the Lord, King Jesus.
Liturgical Resources
Call to Worship
- View
Leader: We worship in the name of God the Father,
People: who, through Christ, has chosen us and blessed us with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer.
Leader: And of the Son,
People: whose blood forgives our sins and sets us free.
Leader: And of the Holy Spirit,
People: who guides us and enables us to join in God’s plan of salvation for the whole world.
All: Praise to the Trinity!
Prayer of Adoration
- View
Kindness flows from you, Lord, pure and continual. You had cast us off, as was only just, but mercifully you forgave us; you hated us and you were reconciled to us, you cursed us and you blessed us; you banished us from paradise, and you called us back again; you took from us the fig leaves that had made us so unseemly a garment, and you put on us a cloak of great value; you opened the prison gates and gave the condemned a pardon, you sprinkled us with clean water and washed away the dirt.
Never again, after all this, will Adam blush when you call him, never will he try to hide because his conscience reproaches him, never will he seek concealment under the trees in the garden. The flaming sword will nevermore whirl about the walls of paradise and cut off the entrance from those who approach it.
For us that were heirs to his sin, all has been changed into rejoicing, for man now has access to paradise and even to heaven itself. The whole creation, heaven and earth, is at one again in friendship, its former differences forgotten, men join their voices with the angels and echo angels’ praise of God...
There is no doubt who it is that dresses the bride in her finery; it is of course Jesus Christ – he that is and was and will be. Blessed is he, now and throughout the ages. Amen.
Gregory of Nyssa, Quoted in Walter Mitchell, trans, Early Christian Prayers, ed., A. Hamman, (Longman Green, London, and Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1961).
Prayer of Confession
- View
Gracious Father, too often we base our worth on our performance. We believe if we do well, your love grows, and if we falter, your love lessens. Our God, how far this is from the truth. We confess our desire to earn your love rather than receive it as a free gift. Teach us to receive your unconditional love so that we might be ready to love others as you love us.
Assurance of Pardon
- View
Let us remember that Christ forgives our sins because he bore them at Calvary, not because we deserve Christ’s pardon; and though our sins stubbornly cling to us, our Savior’s love releases us from their grip and gives us freedom to live the new life of grace. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.
Benediction
- Adapted from Lamentations 3:22-24 and Ephesians 2:11-22View
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is his faithfulness. ‘The Lord is our portion,’ says our souls, ‘therefore, we will hope in him.’ Go now with the assurance that He is our peace and through him the dividing wall of hostility has been dismantled. We are his new creation built upon Christ, the cornerstone and foundation, created in him for good works. Let us now walk in them. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Adapted with minor modifications for liturgical use.
Bible Translation: ESV English Standard Version Crossway PublishingScripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.