Ephesians 2 and the “new topic”

Lynn H. Cohick writes on Ephesians in the NICNT series (page 143) on Chapter 2, verses 1-3:

Paul begins a new topic in Eph 2, though one that is tightly related to his previous declaration of Christ’s complete sovereignty over all powers and authorities… Paul sets before the Ephesians two sharply contrasted visions: that of the victorious and risen Christ, head of his body, the church, (1:22-23), and themselves as morally bankrupt and spiritually dead…
The New International Commentary on the New Testament

This is not how I would express it.

Ephesians 2:1-7 is not about personal conversion

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:1-7 ESV

This is not about being regenerated.

Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Zacharias and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna, and Cornelius were all dead this way. None of them were unregenerate by the modern Evangelical use of the term “regeneration.”

Ephesians 2:1 as Test for Evangelical Bible Literacy

I am thinking of writing a commentary on Ephesians. Thus, I have been looking at other commentaries, both popular and scholarly, to see what is already available.

That has led me to type this short rant:

The first thing any and every commentator on Ephesians 2:1 should note is the cleanliness code dealing with corpses in the Pentateuch.

Reminding Yourself of Your Future

Back in August, I recommended Henry Hazlitt’s self-help book, The Way to Will Power. I still do. I thought of that book recently when I read Peter’s exhortation:

Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, staying sober, fully place hope on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:13

In my opinion, this exhortation is strongly related to becoming a better man and guarding your heart. Writing to believers, Peter basically tells his readers to regularly remind themselves of where they are headed and why. He wants them to develop a strong habit of doing this and not let anything distract them from maintaining the habit.

Why?

Single-Model Robots Need Wisdom

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
1 Corinthians 12:14–21 ESV

This is a profound statement about diversity and unity in the church. It has obvious application to wider human society.

But it is also counter-intuitive. We have been so thoroughly immersed in the imagery that we don’t notice that it portrays human life and human society as almost the opposite of the way it appears.

Paul, the Apostle of Bourgeois Capitalism

(This post originally appeared at TownHall.com)

People with means should help those without means. Many societies in history have failed to affirm this value. But with the spread of Christianity the idea has taken root that we all have an obligation to help others.

Weirdly, this idea has come to be associated with another one: that capitalism is evil or at least morally questionable. Helping others is thought to conflict with wanting to make money.

This is morally and logically backwards. If you don’t make money, then how can you have anything worth sharing with someone in need?

Encouragement Really Strengthens

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
1 Samuel 30:6 ESV

The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones.
Proverbs 15:30 ESV

The line between thinking and physically performing is simpler to define in theory than detect in reality. It is easy to think one can separate physical weakness from discouragement, but the way the Bible speaks of strengthening ourselves leads to questions about such a separation.

That Time Jesus Had to Strengthen Himself in His God: What It Means to You

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
1 Samuel 30:6 ESV

And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Luke 22:41–44 ESV

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
Proverbs 24:10 ESV

I wrote a post about David to persuade you that you need to occasionally and perhaps regularly strengthen yourself in God. An issue that might obstruct a reader from following that advice is a conviction that one is already strong enough. One might have an unjustified confidence in one’s strength and might mistake that confidence for faith.

Your Obligation to Make Yourself Strong

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
1 Samuel 30:6 ESV

David was a leader of an outlaw band and he had just suffered a devastating blow. Hostile forces had taken his own family and wealth, as well as destroyed his credibility as the commander of his “militia” and as a claimant for Israel’s throne. He was now severely weakened. How could he rule these men any more?

But that problem makes David’s duties clear in the story. First Samuel shows that God had chosen David to be king. If David was now too weak to meet his obligations, then that could only mean he had a derivative obligation:

He needed to strengthen himself.

The Bible’s Plant Analogies Are Meant to Provoke Action

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matthew 3:5–10 ESV

So writes Matthew about the message and actions of John the Baptizer. Notice his purpose in speaking of a tree and it’s fruit. John wants people to repent of their sins and engage in new obedience. Claiming to be Abraham’s descendants is not enough. They have to, to borrow the language of the Apostle Paul, “also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had” (Romans 4:12).