Глава II

Continuation of the speech about the greatness of the economy of our salvation in Christ Jesus: the religious and moral state of the Jews and pagans before Christ and their rebirth in Christ (1-10). Comparison of the state of the pagans with the state of the Jews. The reconciliation of all to God in Christ and the consequences of this reconciliation (11–22) Eph.2:1–10. Hitherto, in the first chapter, Ap. portrayed the greatness of Christianity in general, and now, in particular, he talks about what Christianity has done for the readers of the epistle. Previously they were people who were spiritually dead because of their sins, but now in Christ they are made alive by God and can live doing good works. Eph.2:1. And you, dead in your trespasses and sins, Eph.2:2. in which you once lived, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, First of all, Ap. speaks of the condition of the pagans, because most of the Ephesian Christians were apparently former pagans. These pagans were “dead” - of course in the moral sense. Although many pagan peoples, and especially the Greeks, boasted of their successes in culture, were proud that they lived cheerfully and happily, nevertheless, their life was not a real life at all, not the kind that only deserves the name “life.” They were all sinners and committed all kinds of sins (“crime” and “sin” are synonyms). - “According to the custom of this world.” “This world” is an imperfect, evil world (Gal.1:4), with which Ap. does not advise Christians to be friends (Rom. 12:2). - “By the will of the prince who rules the air.” Here, of course, Satan is of course (cf. 1 Cor. 11:9-21; 2 Cor. 4:4). He is called “the prince of the power of the air” (the Russian translation here is inaccurate) because various spirits are subject to his power, which are here called in the collective sense “power” (εξουσία cf. Col. 1:13). These powers are called “airy” (τ. αίρος) in the sense that they are invisible, imperceptible, etc. incorporeal (prof. Bogdashevsky), although one cannot help but say that the Ap., calling them airy, obviously made it clear that with their influence, their harmful breath, one might say, all the air that the pagans breathed was saturated. The latter, therefore, breathed contaminated air and this explains their persistence in sins. - “Spirit”. Probably there is one here. number instead of plurals: spirits. The devil is more precisely defined as the prince of spirits, which even now still operate in stubborn people who are not influenced by the gospel preaching (“son of disobedience” is a Hebraism denoting people who, so to speak, by nature resist God (cf. the expression “son of perdition” in 2 Thess. 2:3)). Eph.2:3. among whom we all once lived according to our carnal lusts, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath, like others, “Among whom,” that is, among these sons of disobedience. - “We were also,” that is, the Jews. - “According to our carnal lusts.” Ap. here he means desires both physical and mental, which go against the highest demands of the spirit (cf. Gal. 5:17). From this we can conclude that the Jews were not under the influence of an alien, demonic force, like the pagans, and therefore, perhaps, their guilt is greater than the guilt of the pagans, who could not free themselves from the influence of this alien force. It was still possible for the Jews to fight their own lusts. - “Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and thoughts.” The Jews allowed their reason (thoughts - διάνοιαι actually: the mood of the soul) and the desires of lust, or, more simply, the flesh itself, to enter into an alliance with each other, instead of making their reason a weapon in the struggle against the inclinations of the flesh. As a result, the flesh began to present its demands to man with great impudence. - “And they were by nature children of wrath, like others,” i.e. remained, like the pagans, under the influence of God’s wrath, which we completely deserved by our very nature, corrupted by the hereditary sin of Adam. This expression indicates the internal basis of the fact indicated in the previous expression: “fulfilling the desires of the flesh and thoughts.” – “The Wrath of God,” which is spoken of here, is the jealousy of God’s holy love for people against their passion for wickedness. Eph.2:4. God, rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, Eph.2:5. and made us alive together with Christ, who were dead in trespasses; by grace you have been saved, With the coming of Christ, a new state arose for those Jews and pagans who believed in Him. Instead of their former deadness, they began to live a real life together with Christ. God revived us with Christ, did this solely out of His love, which is based on “mercy” or pity for all those who suffer. - “And us,” that is, even us who were completely spiritually dead. - “You are saved by grace,” that is, completely without any merit on your part. This remark was useful to hear especially for the Jews, who were accustomed to basing their salvation on their own good deeds. Eph.2:6. and raised him up with Him, and made him sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, “And he resurrected...”. In Christ we have already been resurrected or raised to new life (Rom. 6:4), although the bodily resurrection is still only the subject of our hope. At the same time, the expression used here and in the following expression (“planted in heaven”) past. owls time indicates that Christians are unshakably confident that both the resurrection and their glorification will certainly take place. Eph.2:7. that in the coming ages he might show forth the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Everything that God has done for us so far has been done so that over time, “in the ages to come” or, otherwise, in the future life, we will receive even more - “the exceeding riches of His grace,” which has its basis in the fact that God became merciful to us (“in goodness”), thanks to the great work of redemption accomplished by Christ. The present blessings that Christians enjoy are only the beginning of the bliss that they will enjoy in the future life. Eph.2:8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: Eph.2:9. not from works, so that no one can boast. Eph.2:10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to walk in. Introductory thought. Ap. here he wants to impress upon his Jewish readers that they have no right to attribute to themselves any merit in arranging their salvation. They owe everything to the love of God. On their part, only faith could be presented (cf. Rom. 3:22), although even faith itself is in a sense a gift of God, since God helps us to establish it in ourselves. – “We are His creation,” that is, we were recreated by Him in Christ, becoming a new creation (Gal. 6:15). “Created in Christ Jesus for good works..”. God, recreating us in Christ, thereby destined us to lead a virtuous life, the latter is thus absolutely necessary, inevitable for a Christian. However, the expression: “we must fulfill” shows that “we” also have to do something ourselves in our new state, that not only the grace of God will lead us to higher glorification, but we ourselves are obliged to take care of our moral development. Eph.2:11–22. To make it clear to pagan Christians how great the work has been done for them by God (Eph. 2:10), Apostle. reminds them that before the adoption of Christianity they were in an extremely disastrous state in terms of religious and moral matters. Their situation was incomparably worse than the situation of the Jews. But now they have been reconciled with God in Christ and, together with the Jews who turned to Christ, they form the one Church of Christ. At the same time, Ap. briefly depicts the character of the Church. Eph.2:11. Remember therefore that you who were once Gentiles according to the flesh, who were called uncircumcised by those who were called circumcised by the circumcision of the flesh, done with hands, Eph.2:12. that at that time you were without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, had no hope and were atheists in the world. “Pagans according to the flesh” - that is, the pagans even had a special external sign, they were the ones who were not circumcised. - “So-called”. Ap. This expression does not destroy the meaning of the rite of circumcision, which was a sign of the covenant with God. He only wants to say that the Jews had no reason to be too proud of the Gentiles, because they were not circumcised with the true circumcision in the spirit (Rom. 2:29). - “Without Christ,” that is, they did not have definite predictions about the coming of the Savior-Messiah to the world. - “Alienated from Israeli society,” that is, they did not enjoy the advantages of a theocratic, completely comfortable life that the Jews enjoyed. - “Covenants of Promise”. God made covenants with the patriarchs of the people of Israel several times, and gave them different promises. - “They had no hope” - in general, hope for a better future, and in particular for salvation from sins. - “Atheists in the world.” The pagans, despite the fact that they had many gods, did not know the true God and therefore were rightly called by the Apostle “godless” (άθεοι cf. Gal. IV: 8). - “In the world” - i.e. in their sinful world, which is the direct opposite of the well-ordered Israeli society. Eph.2:13. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have been brought near by the Blood of Christ. The pagans, who were far from God before Christ, now became close to Him. The reason for this change is the great sacrifice made by Christ for all people ("Blood of Christ" cf. Rom. 3:25). Eph.2:14. For He is our peace, having made both one and destroyed the barrier that stood in the middle, Ap. explains how the reconciliation of the pagans with God was accomplished. Christ is the “peace” of all of us - Christians - who belong by origin either to Jews or to pagans. Christ not only externally led us to peace, but He Himself in His person is peace: thanks to Him, peace was immediately restored (cf. Is. 9:6; Mic. 5:5). - “He who made both one.” According to the interpretation of John Chrysostoms, God did not join the pagans to Judaism in order to reconcile them, but, on the contrary, as if having two statues in front of Him - one made of silver, the other from tin, He melted both of them and formed from this mixture one statue, but this time gold. Thus, Jews and pagans, turning to Christ, form one Church. - “Obstacle”. Such a barrier between Jews and pagans was the Law of Moses, which the Jews considered the only path to salvation, with which the pagans did not want to agree. Christ abolished the law of Moses by the fact that He Himself fulfilled all its obligations that it imposed on people. Eph.2:15. having abolished enmity by His flesh, and the law of commandments by doctrine, in order to create in Himself one new man from the two, establishing peace, “Having abolished hostility in His flesh.” It would be more correct to refer to the word “abolishing” to the following expression: “the law of commandments.” Then the expression: “enmity” will be an appendix to the previous expression: “obstacle”. This obstacle Ap. more precisely defines it as “enmity” - first, of course, as enmity between Jews and pagans, and then as enmity of Jews against God, because the law in fact produced only anger in God towards the Jews who did not fulfill this law (Rom. 4:15). - “The law of commandments by teaching.” Since Christ abolished the law not by the teaching of the Gospel, but by sacrificing Himself for people, taking upon himself the curse assigned to him (Gal. 3:13), it is obvious that the Russian translation here is not correct. In addition, Greek the word δόγματα, translated in Russian by the expression “teaching,” is in fact nowhere used in the New Testament to designate doctrine or opinion (P. Ewald). Therefore, it would be more correct to translate the passage in question as follows: “having abolished in His Flesh the law of commandments, expressed in the form of precise, indisputable decrees, (εν δίγμασιν).” Christ precisely abolished, put an end to the law of Moses (cf. Rom. 10:4), which consisted of small instructions (“commandments”), which with all severity, as instructions of the highest state authority (cf. Luke 2:1), determined every step of the Jew (cf. Col. 2:14). - “In His flesh.” Christ destroyed the enmity between Jews and pagans by giving His “Flesh” to death, i.e. Your carnal life. “While Christ lived in the flesh,” says P. Ewald, “He was the Son of David (Rom. 1:3), sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (cf. Matt. 10:5 et seq. Matt. 15:24). From the moment He left his carnal life, He entered into the state of the Son of God in power (Rom. 1:4), and became proclaimed to Jews and Gentiles as one in whom “righteousness without law” is given to all without distinction.” - “So that out of two...”. The goal of destroying “obstacles” is indicated here. Christ in Himself, as the founder of a new humanity, created a new man, while establishing peaceful relations between Jews and pagans and also the peace of man with God. Eph.2:16. and in one body reconcile both to God through the cross, killing the enmity thereon. Christ not only created in Himself one new man, but also reconciled the pagans and Jews, who constituted such a single man, in His body with God. The Body of Christ is here called “one” because Apostle. wanted to express the idea that Jews and pagans, previously divided and warring, were equally reconciled by the great Calvary sacrifice (Prof. Bogdashevsky). - “By means of the cross,” that is, by lifting up His body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). - “Having killed enmity on him,” that is, on the cross. According to P. Ewald, the word “on it” should be replaced by the expression “in Him” (εν αυτῶ) or “in Himself.” Christ, having sacrificed Himself on the cross, also destroyed the enmity of people with God. Eph.2:17. And he came and preached peace to you, far and near, Until now Ap. spoke about what Christ did for people, and now he mentions what Christ, starting from His very first appearance in public ministry, taught people: He began His preaching with the gospel of peace, which was intended for those far and near to God, that is, for Jews and pagans. However, Ap. first mentions the pagans (“distant ones”) because they constituted the main contingent of the Ephesian church. Eph.2:18. because through Him we both have access to the Father in one Spirit. Here is Ap. confirms the idea that Christ announced the news of the reconciliation of people with God, precisely because at the present time such reconciliation is already an accomplished fact. The same Holy Spirit brings us all to the Father through Christ. Eph.2:19. So you are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, Eph.2:20. being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, From the fact that all people are reconciled with God, it follows that the pagans are now “not strangers,” that is, they are not represented in the Church as some kind of strangers, and they are not “aliens” (πάροικοι), that is, they are not deprived of citizenship rights. They became “fellow citizens with the saints,” that is, the chosen Jewish people, and “their own,” that is, close to God (οικεῖοι household), as members of one family are close to the father of this family. - “Were approved...”. Here the Apostle depicts the Church under the guise of a house under construction, in which all believers are stones. These stones are placed on the foundation, which is the Apostles and Prophets (prophets, obviously, of the New Testament, because they were placed after the Apostles) 7 . However, the Apostles and Prophets themselves, like all Christians, are established on the cornerstone - Christ, Who supports the entire building of the Church (cf. Matt. 21:42; 1 Pet. 2:7). Eph.2:21. in which the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy church in the Lord, Eph.2:22. in which you also are being built into a dwelling place of God through the Spirit. Thanks to the fact that the Church has such a reliable foundation as the cornerstone - Christ, the “whole building” or, more correctly, the whole structure (πᾶσα οικοδομή) proceeds quite successfully: in Christ everything is put together quite harmoniously, everything is given its proper place. In the end, the Church, constantly growing, must become a true church, which is “in the Lord,” that is, in Christ it will become “saints” (at present there are also sinners in the Church). By the growth of the Church we can mean both an increase in the number of Church members and their spiritual improvement. – “On which” – i.e. on the cornerstone. - “And you are being built” - more precisely: you are being built together (συνοικοδομεῖσθε), that is, together with many other churches, the Christians of Ephesus become the dwelling place of God, thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit in them. Prof. Bogdashevsky, finding it more correct to see the Old Testament prophets here, refers to the proof of this opinion that “the essence is not in the chronological sequence, but in the internal genetic connection of facts.” Supply of dilapidated goods. The prophets after the Apostles emphasize the idea of ​​the unity of the dwelling of God into which the pagans are called... everything has one basis (v. 173). But we think that the Apostle has already become accustomed to the prophets of old times. represent earlier than the Apostles and place them in a natural order before the latter, so it is difficult to imagine that here he made a deviation from this natural chronological order You might be interested in: