ESV Study Bible | English Standard Version

By Grace Through Faith

2 j And you were k dead in the trespasses and sins 2 l in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following m the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in n the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in o the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body [1] and the mind, and p were by nature q children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But [2] God, being r rich in mercy, s because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even t when we were dead in our trespasses, u made us alive together with Christ—v by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and w seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable x riches of his grace in y kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For z by grace you have been saved a through faith. And this is b not your own doing; c it is the gift of God, 9 d not a result of works, e so that no one may boast. 10 For f we are his workmanship, g created in Christ Jesus h for good works, i which God prepared beforehand, j that we should walk in them.

One in Christ

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called k the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember l that you were at that time separated from Christ, m alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to n the covenants of promise, o having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were p far off have been brought near q by the blood of Christ. 14 For r he himself is our peace, s who has made us both one and has broken down t in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in u ordinances, that he might create in himself one v new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might w reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and x preached peace to you who were y far off and peace to those who were z near. 18 For a through him we both have b access in c one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer d strangers and aliens, [3] but you are e fellow citizens with the saints and f members of the household of God, 20 g built on the foundation of the h apostles and prophets, i Christ Jesus himself being j the cornerstone, 21 k in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into l a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him m you also are being built together n into a dwelling place for God by [4] the Spirit.