Formerly we were all spiritually dead and were certain to be punished by God, but he acted very kindly toward us and saved us freely as a result of our faith in Christ.

1Formerly, because you were habitually sinning [DOU], you were ◄spiritually dead/as unable to please God as a corpse [MET] is►.

2You were acting in the same evil way as those who oppose Christ [MTY] act. That is, you were behaving in the evil ways that Satan wanted you to behave. He rules over evil spiritual beings that no person can see [MTY]. He is the spirit who now powerfully controls the people who disobey God.

3Formerly, we all used to disobey God as they do. We did the things that our self-centered nature wanted us to do. We habitually did those evil deeds that our bodies and our minds wanted to do. When we were acting like that, it was certain that God would punish [MTY] us, just like he will certainly punish all other evil people.

4But God always acts very mercifully, and he loves us very much.

5As a result, even when we were ◄spiritually dead/as unable to please God as a corpse [MET] is► because we were habitually sinning, he enabled us to receive spiritual/eternal life because of our relationship with Christ. Do not forget this: It is only because God has acted so kindly toward you, in a way that you did not deserve, that you are saved {that he saved you} from the guilt of your sin

6And it is as though God gave us spiritual life when he caused Christ Jesus to be alive again after he died [MET]. And it is as though God caused us to sit and rule [MTY] with him in heaven,

7in order that he might show to everyone at all times in the future that he has acted toward us in an extremely kind way because of what Christ Jesus did for us.

8It is only by God acting [PRS] toward you in a way that you did not deserve that you have been saved {that he has saved you} as a result of your trusting in Christ. You did not save yourselves. His saving you was his gift to you.

9He did not save any of you because of anything you yourselves did. Because you have done nothing to save yourselves, you cannot be proud of your efforts to save yourselves.

10It is God who has made us what we are now. Because of our relationship with Christ Jesus, he has enabled us to receive spiritual/eternal life in order that we should conduct our lives habitually doing the good deeds that God previously planned for us to do.

God brought you Gentiles into his family so that now you and Jewish believers both share the same blessings and form one group; you now have peace with each other and can come to God in prayer with the help of the Holy Spirit.

11You Ephesians have been non-Jews from the time that you were born. The Jews ◄insult you/say that you are not God’s people► by calling you ‘those who are not circumcised’. They proudly call themselves ‘we (exc) who are circumcised’. They have allowed people to circumcise them to indicate that they are God’s people, but that has only changed their bodies, not their ◄inner beings/hearts►.

12You should constantly remember these things: Formerly you did not have any relationship with Christ. You did not belong to the people of Israel, the people whom God chose. You did not know about the things God promised in his agreements with his people. You did not confidently expect to go to heaven after you die (OR, that God would save you). You lived in this world without knowing God.

13But now, because of your relationship with Christ Jesus, God has brought you, who had no relationship with him [MET], into his family [MET]. He did that because you trusted in what Christ accomplished when his blood [MTY] flowed from his body when he died on the cross.

14Christ himself has caused us Jewish and non-Jewish believers to have peace with each other. He has made both of our groups to become one group. Just like people ◄tear down/demolish► a wall that separates groups of people [MET], he has destroyed the hatred between Jews and non-Jews.

15By dying [MTY] for us on the cross he made it no longer necessary for us to obey all the Jewish laws and rituals in order to be saved. He did that in order to enable the two groups to become one new group because of our relationship with him. The result was that he has caused us to have peace with each other.

16By dying on the cross [MTY] he caused both Jews and non-Jews to have a peaceful relationship with God. That is how he caused us to no longer be [MET] enemies with God (OR, with each other).

17He came to earth and proclaimed that you non-Jews, who did not have a relationship with [MET] God, and us(exc) Jews, who considered that we(exc) belonged to [MET] God’s family, can all now have peace with God.

18We know that he has done that because we both, Jews and non-Jews, are now able to approach God the Father in prayer by the help of his Spirit, because of what Christ has done.

19So God no longer treats you non-Jews as people treat [MET] foreigners and strangers who live among them [MET]. Instead, along with all God’s people, it is as though you have become citizens of a country that he rules over, and as though you have become members of the family of which he is the father [MET].

20Just like a building is built {as someone builds a building} on a foundation, God has joined you into one group that originated/began from what the apostles and prophets taught. Christ Jesus is the most important one in that group, just like a cornerstone is the most important part of a building. And

21just like a builder might join together all the parts of a building to make it a temple that people will dedicate to the Lord [MET], Christ is continually causing all of you who have a relationship with him to be united, in order that you will become one holy group.

22And because of your relationship with Christ, God is joining you non-Jews together with Jewish believers to be like one building [MET] in which his Spirit lives.