Grosey's Messages

1. Man by nature, or the human condition (verses 1–3)

a. We were dead

And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked (verses 1–2a). The death to which Paul refers is not a figure of speech, as in the parable of the Prodigal Son, 'This my son was dead'; it is a factual statement of everybody's spiritual condition outside Christ. And it is traced to their trespasses and sins. These two words seem to have been carefully chosen to give a comprehensive account of human evil. A 'trespass' (paraptōma) is a false step, involving either the crossing of a known boundary or a deviation from the right path.

b. We were enslaved

Paul is not content to say simply that we once walked in trespasses and sins. The expression is a Hebraism, indicating our former behaviour or lifestyle. But a 'walk' suggests (at least to western minds) a pleasant promenade in the countryside, with leisured freedom to enjoy the beauties of our surroundings. Very different, however, was our former 'walk in trespasses and sins'. There was no true freedom there, but rather a fearful bondage to forces over which we had no control. What were they? If behind death lies sin, what lies behind sin that we are held in such captivity? Paul's answer, when put into later ecclesiastical terminology, is 'the world, the flesh and the devil'. For he refers to these three influences as controlling and directing our former pre-Christian existence.

Our second captivity was to the devil, who is here named the prince of the power of the air or 'the ruler of the kingdom of the air'. The word for 'air' could be translated 'foggy atmosphere', indicating the darkness which the devil prefers to light. But the whole phrase need mean no more than that he has command of those 'principalities and powers' already mentioned, who operate in the unseen world. It is unfashionable nowadays in the church (even while satanism flourishes outside it) to believe either in a personal devil or in personal demonic intelligences under his command. But there is no obvious reason why church fashion should be the director of theology, whereas the plain teaching of Jesus and his apostles (not to mention the church of the subsequent centuries) endorsed their malevolent existence.

A further phrase is the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Since the words the spirit are in the genitive, they are not in apposition to the prince

(accusative). We must rather understand that 'the ruler of the kingdom of the air' is also 'the ruler of the spirit which works in disobedient people'. 'Spirit' then becomes an impersonal force or mood which is actively at work in non-Christian people. Since Scripture identifies the devil not only as the source of temptations to sin, but also as a 'lion' and a 'murderer', we may safely trace all evil, error and violence back to him in the end. When he and the mood he inspires are said to be at work in human beings, the verb (energeō) is the same as that used of God's power (1:20) which raised Jesus from the dead. Only that divine energy or action could have rescued us from the devil.

The phrase κατὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος (kata ton archonta tēs

exousias tou aeros, according to the Ruler of the realm of the air) takes the

plight of Paul's readers deeper still. The term ἐξουσία (exousia) is sometimes

used of the "domain" or "realm" of a king (2Kings 20:13 LXX; Luke 23:7)

and metaphorically of the "realm" that the devil, or Satan, rules (Luke 4:6; cf.

22:53; Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13). The domain of which Paul speaks here is the ἀήρ

(aēr, air). In ancient Aristotelian cosmology, the ἀήρ was the region below the

moon and above the earth (Urmson 1990: 10), and in much ancient thinking,

it was also the habitation of spiritual powers. Plutarch (Mor. 274b), describing

an ancient view with which he seems to agree, says that "the open air"

(ὁὕπαιθρος ἀήρ, ho hypaithros aēr) is "full of gods and demons."15 Diogenes

Laertius (Vit. phil. 8.32), describing the view of Pythagoras, says that "all the

air [ἀέρα, aera] is full of souls [ψυχῶν, psychōn], and these are also called

[ὀνομάζεσθαι, onomazesthai] demons [δαίμονας, daimonas] and divinized,

departed human beings [ἥρωας, hērōas]."16 These powers were thought to

send people dreams and visions. They needed to be placated and wooed with

"purifications and lustrations … divination, and the like" (Vit. phil. 8.32).17

They were also the object of magical incantations that sought to control them.

Clearly, the powers that inhabited the air were widely feared.

For Paul, the "air" was probably part of the "heavenly places" and the location,

within them, of "every name that is named" (πᾶς ὄνομα ὀνομαζόμενος,

pas onoma onomazomenos, 1:21). These names signified the inimical spiritual

powers over whom God had given Christ the victory when he raised him from

the dead and seated him at his right hand (1:20–21; cf. 6:12). Christ's place

in the heavens is high above them (1:21; 4:10), and they are beneath his feet

(1:22). Before they believed the gospel, Paul's readers lived according to the

norms of the Ruler of these evil beings, and in Ephesians, this Ruler could

only be "the devil" (4:27; 6:11–12).

The devil is not only the ruler of the air but is also the ruler τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ

νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας (tou pneumatos tou nyn energountos

en tois hyiois tēs apeitheias, of the spirit now at work within the sons of disobedience).

As the additional note on τοῦ πνεύματος explains, this term probably

refers to the evil, spiritual force that is at work within οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς ἀπειθείας (hoi

hyioi tēs apeitheias, the sons of disobedience; cf. 1Cor. 2:12). The word ἀπείθεια

(apeitheia) carries the connotation not merely of disobedience to a command

but also of unbelief, a heartfelt refusal to place one's confidence in something

(BDAG 99; cf. 4Macc. 8:7–9; Rom. 11:30). In Ephesians, therefore, "the sons of

disobedience" are those who have not believed "the word of truth, the gospel

of .. salvation" (1:13) and who, because of this, stand under the wrath of

God (5:6; cf. 1:14; 2:3) Frank Theilman Baker Exegetical Commentary 2010.

Thus first, God made us alive together with Christ (verse 5), next he raised us up with him (verse 6a), and thirdly he made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (verse 6b).

These verbs ('made alive', 'raised' and 'made to sit') refer to the three successive historical events in the saving career of Jesus, which are normally called the resurrection, the ascension and the session. We declare our belief in them when we say the Creed: 'The third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and he sits at the right hand of God the Father.' What excites our amazement, however, is that now Paul is not writing about Christ but about us. He is affirming not that God quickened, raised and seated Christ, but that he quickened, raised and seated us with Christ.

He has written about the Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection, ascension and session at the right hand of the Father in Ephesians 1:19- 23 " ..and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."

"1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 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— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body1  and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2  4 But3  God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

Everything that is under Christ's feet is now under your feet too.

Luke 10: 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Luke 10:17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" 18 And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20  Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."