1 A t one time you were dead because of your sins.

And you, when you were dead (slain) by trespasses and sins

2 Y ou followed the sinful ways of the world and obeyed the leader of the power of darkness. He is the devil who is now working in the people who do not obey God.

In which at one time you walked. You were following the course and fashion of this world, following the prince of the power of the air. the spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience.

3 A t one time all of us lived to please our old selves. We gave in to what our bodies and minds wanted. We were sinful from birth like all other people and would suffer from the anger of God.

Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh, obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind. We were then by nature children of wrath and heirs of indignation, like the rest of mankind.

4 B ut God had so much loving-kindness. He loved us with such a great love.

But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,

5 E ven when we were dead because of our sins, He made us alive by what Christ did for us. You have been saved from the punishment of sin by His loving-favor.

Even when we were dead (slain) by shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved ( delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).

6 G od raised us up from death when He raised up Christ Jesus. He has given us a place with Christ in the heavens.

And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together '> joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

7 H e did this to show us through all the time to come the great riches of His loving-favor. He has shown us His kindness through Christ Jesus.

He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.

8 F or by His loving-favor you have been saved from the punishment of sin through faith. It is not by anything you have done. It is a gift of God.

For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved ( delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through faith. And this is not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God;

9 I t is not given to you because you worked for it. If you could work for it, you would be proud.

Not because of works, lest any man should boast.

10 W e are His work. He has made us to belong to Christ Jesus so we can work for Him. He planned that we should do this. Followers Now Become the Body of Christ

For we are God’s handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us, that we should walk in them.

11 D o not forget that at one time you did not know God. The Jews, who had gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew by man’s hands, said you were people who do not know God.

Therefore, remember that at one time you were Gentiles (heathens) in the flesh, called Uncircumcision by those who called themselves Circumcision, '> mere mark] in the flesh made by human hands.

12 Y ou were living without Christ then. The Jewish people who belonged to God had nothing to do with you. The promises He gave to them were not for you. You had nothing in this world to hope for. You were without God.

that you were at that time separated (living apart) from Christ, utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the promise. And you had no hope (no promise); you were in the world without God.

13 B ut now you belong to Christ Jesus. At one time you were far away from God. Now you have been brought close to Him. Christ did this for you when He gave His blood on the cross.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near.

14 W e have peace because of Christ. He has made the Jews and those who are not Jews one people. He broke down the wall that divided them.

For He is our peace (our bond of unity and harmony). He has made us both one, and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us,

15 H e stopped the fighting between them by His death on the cross. He put an end to the Law. Then He made of the two people one new kind of people like Himself. In this way, He made peace.

By abolishing in His flesh the enmity the Law with its decrees and ordinances; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man, so making peace.

16 H e brought both groups together to God. Christ finished the fighting between them by His death on the cross.

And to reconcile to God both in a single body by means of His cross, thereby killing the mutual enmity and bringing the feud to an end.

17 T hen Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to you who were far away from God. And He preached it to us who were near God.

And He came and preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.

18 N ow all of us can go to the Father through Christ by way of the one Holy Spirit.

For it is through Him that we both now have an introduction (access) by one Spirit to the Father.

19 F rom now on you are not strangers and people who are not citizens. You are citizens together with those who belong to God. You belong in God’s family.

Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God’s own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself); and you belong to God’s household.

20 T his family is built on the teachings of the missionaries and the early preachers. Jesus Christ Himself is the cornerstone, which is the most important part of the building.

You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone.

21 C hrist keeps this building together and it is growing into a holy building for the Lord.

In Him the whole structure is joined (bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to rise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord.

22 Y ou are also being put together as a part of this building because God lives in you by His Spirit.

In Him you yourselves also are being built up with the rest, to form a fixed abode (dwelling place) of God in (by, through) the Spirit.