TEXT. world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. PARAPHRASE. of the air, the spirit that now yet possesses 3 and works in the children of disobedience. Of which number even we all having formerly been §, lived in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires || NOTES. being in a state of apostacy and revolt from him, the professed vassals and subjects of the devil, to whom they paid homage, obedience, and worship; and αἰὼν μέλλον, "the world to come," i. e. the time of the gospel, wherein God, by Christ, broke down the partition-wall between jew and gentile, and opened a way for reconciling the rest of mankind, and taking the gentiles again into his kingdom under Jesus Christ, under whose rule he had put it. * In these words St. Paul points out the devil, the prince of the revolted part of the creation, and head of that kingdom, which stood in opposition to. and was at war with, the kingdom of Jesus Christ. + 'Evepylos is the proper term, whereby, in the greek, is signified the possession and acting of any person by an evil spirit. "Children of disobedience," are those of the gentiles, who continued still in their apostacy, under the dominion of Satan, who ruled and acted them, and returned not from their revolt, described Rom. i. 18, &c. into the kingdom of God, now that Jesus Christ had opened an entrance into it, to all those who disobeyed not his call; and thus they are called, chap. v. 6. 3 Evos cannot signify" amongst whom we also all had our conversation" for if μes, 6. we, stands for either the converted jews, or converts in general, it is not true. If "we," stands (as is evident it doth) for the converted gentiles, of what force or tendency is it for the apostle to say we, the converted gentiles, heretofore lived among the unconverted gentiles? But it is of great force, and to his purpose, in magnifying the free grace of God to them, to say we of the gentiles, who are now admitted to the kingdom of God, "were formerly of that very sort of men, in whom the prince of the power of "the air ruled, leading lives in the lusts of the flesh, obeying the will and in"clinations thereof, and so as much exposed to the wrath of God as those who "still remain in their apostacy under the dominion of the devil.” 66 This was the state that the gentile world were given up to. See Rom. i. 21, 24. Parallel to this 3d verse of this 2d chapter, we have a passage in chap. iv. 17-20, of this same epistle, where xadas xai và hoà ïbun, "even as the other "gentiles" plainly answers s nai oi λañol, "even as the others," here; and i μαλαιότητι τοῦ νοὸς ἀυλῶν, ἐσκοτισμένοι τῇ διανοία, “ in the vanity of their minds, "having their understandings darkened," answers & Taïs Tiduríais tñs caprès ἠμῶν, ποιόντες τὰ θελήματα της σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν, "in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind." He that compares these places, and considers that, what is said in the fourth chapter, contains the character of the gentile world, of whom it is spoken; I say, he that reads and onsiders these two places well together, and the correspondency between them, TEXT. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when ye were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. PARAPHRASE. 4 thereof, and of our blinded perverted mind. But* God, who is rich in mercy †, through his great love, 5 wherewith he loved us, Even us, gentiles, who were dead in trespasses ‡, hath he quickened §, together 6 with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) And hath raised || us up together with Christ, and made us partakers, in and with Jesus Christ, of the glory and power of his heavenly kingdom, which God has put into his NOTES. cannot doubt of the sense I understand this verse in; and that St. Paul here, under the terms "we" and "our" speaks of the gentile converts. 4 * '0 2, 66 But," connects this verse admirably well with the immediately preceding, which makes the parts of that incident discourse cohere, which ending in this verse, St. Paul, in the beginning of ver. 5, takes up the thread of his discourse again, as if nothing had come between, though 8, “but," in the beginning of this 4th verse, rather breaks, than continues the sense of the whole. See note, ver. 1. +"Rich in mercy." The design of the apostle being, in this epistle, to set forth the exceeding great mercy and bounty of God to the gentiles, under the gospel, as is manifest at large, ch. iii. it is plain that us, "us," here in this verse must mean the gentile converts. 5 "Dead in trespasses," does not mean here, under the condemnation of death, or obnoxious to death for our transgressions; but so under the power and dominion of sin, so helpless in that state into which, for our apostacy, we were delivered up, by the just judgment of God, that we had no more thought, nor hope, nor ability, to get out of it, than men, dead and buried, have to get out of the grave. This state of death he declares to be the state of gentilism, Col. ii. 13, in these words: "and you, being dead in trespasses, and the uncircum"cision of your flesh, hath God quickened together with him," i. e. Christ. § "Quickened." This quickening was by the Spirit of God, given to those who, by faith in Christ, were united to him, became the members of Christ, and sons of God, partaking of the adoption, by which spirit they were put into a state of life; see Rom. viii. 9-15, and made capable, if they would, to live to God, and not to obey sin, in the lusts thereof, nor to yield their members instruments of sin unto iniquity; but to give up themselves to God, as men alive from the dead, and their members to God as instruments of righteousness; as our apostle exhorts the converted Romans to do, Rom. vi, 11-13. 6 Wherein this raising consists, may be seen, Rom. vi. 1—10, TEXT. 7 That, in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us, through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: PARAPHRASE. 7 hands, and put under his rule: That, in the ages * to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us, through Christ 8 Jesus. For by God's free grace it is, that ye† are, through faith in Christ, saved and brought into the 66 7 NOTES. The great favour and goodness of God manifests itself, in the salvation of sinners, in all ages, but that, which most eminently sets forth the glory of his grace, was those, who were first of all converted from heathenism to christianity, and brought out of the kingdom of darkness, in which they were as dead men, without life, hope, or so much as a thought of salvation, or a better state, into the kingdom of God. Hence it is that he says, chap. i. 12, “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first believed." To which he seems to have an eye in this verse; the first conversion of the gentiles being a surprising and wonderful effect and instance of God's exceeding goodness to them, which, to the glory of his grace, should be admired and acknowledged by all future ages; and so Paul and Barnabas speak of it, Acts xiv. 27, "They rehearsed all that God had done with him, and how he had opened the "door of faith to the gentiles." And so James and the elders at Jerusalem, when they heard what things God had wrought by St. Paul's ministry, among the Gentiles, they "glorified the Lord," Acts xxi. 19, 20. 8" Ye." The change of "we," in the foregoing verse, to "ye," here, and the like change observable ver. 1 and 5, plainly shows, that the persons spoken of, under these two denominations, are of the same kind, i. e. gentile converts; only St. Paul, every now and then, the more effectually to move those he is writing to, changes "we" into "ye," and vice versa: and so makes, as it were, a little sort of distinction, that he may the more emphatically apply himself to them. "Saved." He that reads St. Paul with attention, cannot but observe, that speaking of the gentiles, be calls their being brought back again, from their apostacy, into the kingdom of God, their being saved. Before they were thus brought to the people of God again, under the Messiah, they were, as they are here described, aliens, enemies, without hope, without God, dead in trespasses and sins: and therefore when, by faith in Christ, they came to be reconciled, and to be in covenant again with God, as his subjects and liege people, they were in the way of salvation; and if they persevered, could not miss of attaining it, though they were not yet in actual possession. The apostle, whose aim it is, in this epistle, to give them an high sense of God's extraordinary grace and favour to them, and to raise their thoughts above the mean observances of the law, shows them that there was nothing in them; no deeds, or works of their's, nothing that they could do, to prepare, or recommend themselves, contributed aught to the bringing them into the kingdom of God, under the gospel: that it was all purely the work of grace, for they were all dead in trespasses and sins, and could do nothing, not make one step, or NOTE. the least motion towards it. Faith, which alone gained them admittance, and alone opened the kingdom of heaven to believers, was the sole gift of God; men, by their natural faculties, could not attain to it. It is faith, which is the source and beginning of this new life; and the gentile world, who were without sense, without hope of any such thing, could no more help themselves, or do any thing to procure it themselves, than a dead man can do any thing, to procure himself life. It is God here does all; by revelation of what they could never discover by their own natural faculties, he bestows on them the knowledge of the Messiah, and the faith of the gospel; which, as soon as they have received, they are in the kingdom of God, in a new state of life; and being thus quickened by the spirit, may, as men alive, work if they will. Hence St. Paul says, Rom. x. " Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the "word of God," having in the foregoing verses declared, there is no believing without hearing, and no hearing without a preacher, and no preacher unless he be sent; i. e. the good tidings of salvation by the Messiah, and the doctrine of faith, was not, nor could be, known to any, but to those, to whom God communicated it, by the preaching of prophets and apostles, to whom he revealed it, and whom he sent on this errand with this discovery. And thus God, now, gave faith to the ephesians, and the other gentiles, to whom he sent St. Paul, and others his fellow-labourers, to bestow on them the knowledge of salvation, reconciliation, and restoration into his kingdom of the Messiah. All which though revealed by the spirit of God, in the writings of the Old Testament, yet the gentile world were kept wholly strangers from the knowledge. of by the ceremonial law of Moses, which was the wall of partition, that kept the gentiles at a distance, aliens and enemies; which wall God, according to his gracious purpose before the erecting of it, having now broke down, communicated to them the doctrine of faith, and admitted them, upon their acceptance of it, to all the advantages and privileges of his kingdom; all which was done of his free grace, without any merit, or procurement of their's: "he was found of them, who sought him not, and was made manifest to them "that asked not after him." I desire him, that would clearly understand this chap. ii. of the ephesians, to read carefully with it Rom. x. and I Cor. ii. 9—16, where he will see, that faith is wholly owing to the revelation of the spirit of God, and the communication of that revelation, by men sent by God, who attained this knowledge, not by the assistance of their own natural parts, but from the revelation of the spirit of God. Thus faith, we see, is the gift of God, and with it, when men by baptism are admitted into the kingdom of God, comes the spirit of God, which brings life with it: for the attaining this gift of faith, men do, or can do, nothing, grace hitherto does all, and works are wholly excluded; God himself creates them to do good works, but when, by him, they are made living creatures, in this new creation, it is then expected, that being quickened, they should act; and, from henceforwards, works are required, not as the meritorious cause of salvation; but as a necessary, indispensable qualification of the subjects of God's kingdom, under his son Jesus Christ; it being impossible, that any one should, at the same time, be a rebel and a subject too: and, though none can be subjects of the kingdom of God, but those who, continuing in the faith, that has been once bestowed on them, sincerely endeavour to conform themselves to the laws of their Lord and Master Jesus Christ; and God gives eternal life to all those, and those only that do so; yet eternal life is the gift of God, the gift of free grace, since their works of sincere obedience afford no manner of title to it: their righteousness is imperfect, i. e. they are all unrighteous, and so deserve deth; but God gives them life, upon the account of his righteousness, vid. Rom. i. 17. The righteousness of faith, which is by Jesus Christ, and so they are still saved by grace, Now when God hath, by calling them into the kingdom of his son, thus quickened men, and they are, by his free grace, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, that then works are required of them, we see in this, that they are PARAPHRASE. kingdom of God, and made his people, not by any thing you did yourselves to deserve it; it is the free gift of God, who might, if he had so pleased, with : NOTE. called on, and pressed to, "walk worthy of God, who hath called them to "his kingdom and glory," 1 Thess. ii. 12. And to the same purpose here, ch. iv. 1 Phil. i. 27, Col. i. 10-12. So that of those, who are in the kingdom of God, who are actually under the covenant of Grace, good works are strictly required, under the penalty of the loss of eternal life: "if ye live "after the flesh, ye shall die; but if through the spirit ye mortify the deeds of "the body, ye shall live," Rom. viii. 13. And so Rom. vi. 11, 13, they are commanded to obey God, as living men. This is the tenour of the whole New Testament the apostate, heathen world were dead, and were of themselves, in that state, not capable of doing any thing to procure their translation into the kingdom of God; that was purely the work of grace: but, when they received the gospel, they were then made alive by faith, and by the spirit of God and, then, they were in a state of life, and working and works were expected of them. Thus grace and works consist, without any difficulty; that which has caused the perplexity and seeming contradiction, has been men's mistake concerning the kingdom of God: God, in the fulness of time, set up his kingdom in this world, under his son; into which he admitted all those, who believed on him, and received Jesus, the Messiah, for their Lord. Thus, by faith in Jesus Christ, men became the people of God, and subjects of his kingdom; and, being by baptism admitted into it, were from henceforth, during their continuing in the faith and profession of the gospel, accounted saints, the beloved of God, the faithful in Christ Jesus, the people of God, saved, &c. for in these terms and the like, the sacred scripture speaks of them. And indeed those, who were thus translated into the kingdom of the Son of God, were no longer in the dead state of the gentiles; but, having passed from death to life, were in the state of the living, in the way to eternal life; which they were sure to attain, if they persevered in that life which the gospel required, viz. faith and sincere obedience. But yet, this was not an actual possession of eternal life, in the kingdom of God in the world to come; for by apostacy or disobedience, this, though sometimes called salvation, might be forfeited and lost; whereas he, that is once possessed of the other, hath actually an eternal inheritance in the heavens, which fadeth not away. These two considerations of the kingdom of heaven, some men have confounded and made one; so that a man being brought into the first of these, wholly by grace, without works, faith being all that was required to instate a man in it; they have concluded that, for the attaining eternal life, or the kingdom of God in the world to come, faith alone, and not good works, are required, contrary to express words of scripture, and the whole tenour of the gospel: but yet, not being admitted into that state of eternal life for our good works, it is by grace, here too, that we are saved, our righteousness, after all, being imperfect, and we, by our sins, liable to condemnation and death: but it is by grace, we are made partakers of both these kingdoms: it is only into the kingdom of God in this world, we are admitted by faith alone, without works; but for our admittance into the other, both faith and obedience, in a sincere endeavour to perform those duties, all those good works, which are incumbent on us, and come in our way, to be performed by us, from the time of our believing, till our death. |