Ephesians 2 very important in regard to foundational gospel truths. It starts with the horrible condition of the entire human race in Adam—dead in sin. In Adam all die. This spiritual death in Adam was true for the Ephesian Christians before they were converted.Death is not obliteration, but separation. Spiritual death is separation from God. There is a dangerous tendency in modern evangelicalism to water down this truth about spiritual death in Adam and adopt human sentimentality in its place. Paul’s description of our state of spiritual death under the powers of darkness continues until verse 5 says God “made us alive.” This literary technique makes us take seriously how dead and lost we really were. The term “walked” forms an inclusio with its use again in Ephesians 2:10 where it will describe how God has prepared for us to walk now as those who are God’s workmanship. Paul twice uses a preposition in verse 2 translated “according to” that denotes a norm of conduct. For the spiritually dead, this conduct is according to wicked spiritual powers that are of this evil age. Only Christ’s work of redemption can save us from this horrible condition, not the powerless, religious sentimentality that is so prevalent in many places today. Conversion is going from death to life through faith in Christ’s atoning work.

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