Even when we were dead in sins, God hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved);
Everything on this planet eventually comes to an end. Inanimate objects break down or rust, and living beings die. But this verse and the next one show us what God has done to overcome death. Christ’s resurrection has an impact far greater than we could ever imagine.
Paul begins by summarizing the message of the previous verses. He states categorically that the Ephesian believers used to be dead. He’s clearly referring to their spiritual state, not their physical condition. Death signifies separation, and the Christians in Ephesus used to be separated from God because of their sin.
So what did God do? He could have left things as they were, but instead He acted to undo the damage. Paul now reveals the essence of the Christian message. He writes that God “quickened us,” meaning “to cause to live, to make alive, or to give life.” What’s more, the Greek verb carries the additional notion of being made alive together with someone. This coming back to life is inseparably connected with Christ.
What is he talking about? He’s referring to spiritual life, but what exactly does that entail? First, a believer’s relationship with God is restored. Where there was separation and estrangement, there is now reconciliation and friendship. But it doesn’t stop there; it goes a step further by introducing a new quality of life. We know from elsewhere in the Bible that believers have the Holy Spirit who empowers them with strength, wisdom, and everything needed to live a life pleasing to God (yes, I know, Christians don’t always take advantage of this and then behave wrongly, but this divine power is available to them if only they would use it).
You may remember that Jesus both claimed to be life and to give it. He also said that a person must be “born again,” which is another way of saying that we all need new spiritual life. This is what Paul is talking about here. The Bible never presents salvation as something that only happens after death – at its core, it’s a person becoming spiritually alive. Salvation affects the here and now as well as eternity.
Unfortunately, Christians never live out this new life perfectly. The reasons for this are many (Satan, our sinful tendencies, and worldly influences, to name a few). These conspire to wage war against any attempt to live as God would want. But just as a plant takes time to grow from a seed into a large tree, so this new life gradually becomes more and more visible in the life of a believer. Many struggles come along the way, but God can give the victory.
Paul reminds the Ephesians how they received this new life – by grace. Since he goes into more detail a few verses later, we won’t examine it now. But I would like to mention one thing before closing. The grammar Paul uses emphasizes that a past action has a continuing present result. A full translation of what Paul wrote is this: “By grace you have been saved in past time completely, with the result that you are in a state of salvation which persists through present time.” (1) Paul clearly wants to communicate that salvation is both completed in the past and unending in the present. Believers can be secure in their relationship with God!
I started this post by saying that our planet is full of death. Jesus made life possible for us. Let’s embrace it with all we’ve got!
(1) Wuest, K.S., Ephesians and Colossians in the Greek New Testament. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1953, p. 66