The Trinity in Ephesians 2
In our continued study of the Trinity, in all six chapters of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, we now look at chapter two. In chapter one, we considered God’s grace in election, in Christ’s work of redemption, and the Spirit’s grace in revelation. Now, we will look at the Trinity, in the gracious salvation of totally depraved sinners, who have become the very saints Paul wrote to in the church at Ephesus.
The chapter opens with the plight of man (2:1–3). God’s love and mercy is highlighted in contrast (2:4), “He loved us,” that is, the saints, who had been spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. What changed?
God raises the dead souls of His elect, by making them alive in Christ (2:5). This is a gracious work of the Holy Spirit (2:5; c/f Col 2:13), who causes God’s people to be born again of God (1 Pet 1:3). In this spiritual resurrection, known doctrinally as “regeneration” the soul is quickened. The mind of Christ is given to this new creature (1 Cor 2:16). The new spiritual man’s heart is filled with the love of God, so now he has a love for God and for his neighbor. The old man, he used to be, has died with Christ, has been buried and raised with Christ. He has ascended to be seated with Christ in the heavenlies (2:6).
We learn from our study of the Trinity that salvation is “not of yourselves (2:8).” God has given His adopted sons the indescribable gift of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 9:16). He has also given His saints, the gift of His Spirit (Rom 5:5). We are saved by God (Titus 3:5), which is His varied works to do all that is necessary to accomplish His eternal purpose carried out in Christ Jesus, our Lord (Eph 3:11). Jonah said it best, “Salvation belongs to the Lord (Jon 2:9).”
Seeing the helpless, hopeless condition of His chosen nation (sounds like the Israelites in Egypt!), God the Father sent a Deliverer, Moses’ anti-type, Jesus Christ. He preached to the people and then gave them access to the Father, by dying on the cross and presenting His own blood on the mercy seat in heaven.
Having secured peace with God (2:14–18), as the Federal Head of His holy nation (Rom 5:12–21; 1 Pet 2:9), the church (Mt 16:18), the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), the next phase of God’s salvation is revealed to us. It is the ingathering of God’s people, both Jew and Gentile (2:11–13; c/f Acts 10, 15), from every nation, tribe, and tongue (Rev 5:9). The church of God occupies both heaven (Gal 4:26; Heb 11:16; Rev 4–5) and earth.
The ingathered church on earth is the kingdom of God in the Spirit (Rom 14:17). There is a visible church that has Christ’s sheep and some goats (compare the prepared and unprepared virgins — Mt 25). The invisible church is the holy temple of God, in the Spirit (2:21). It is the dwelling of God (2:22), with the apostles and prophets as its foundation, Jesus Christ as its cornerstone (2:20), and each born again, as a living stone in God’s household (2:19).
The Christian’s access to God the Father, therefore, is in one Spirit (2:18). Christ’s one church in the world has one baptism for initiation (1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:5). The church is the body of Christ, with Jesus Christ as its Head (Col 1:18). The spiritual body, occupying flesh in the world, is the spiritual temple where God’s people worship Him in Spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23–24; Rom 14:17; 1 Jn 4:6; 5:6).
In saving ungodly sinners from enslavement to sin (Rom 6:6, 16–20), under the dominion of Satan (Acts 26:18), Christians become Spirit-powered witnesses to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). Through His church on earth, God in Christ is making His salvation known through the preaching of the Gospel (Mt 24:14; Mk 16:15). We proclaim Him (Col 1:28).
The gift of salvation is God Himself (2:8), working all things, perfectly, in accordance with His will, decreed from eternity, in His predetermined plan (Acts 2:23). The God of all grace, like the morning sun, is revealing more and more of the surpassing riches of His grace (2:7; c/f Rom 2:4; 11:22).
The kindness of God toward us in Christ Jesus (2:7), includes purposeful good works prepared for His saints to walk in (2:10), as we walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:25), who is in us (Gal 2:20), willing and working for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13).
Christian, you have been predestined by God the Father for salvation. You have been justified before God with an alien righteousness, secured by Christ’s blood redemption. You are being saved and will ultimately be saved by the Holy Spirit.
You have been grafted into the True Vine (Jn 15). You are being fitted for your eternal place in His Temple (Eph 2:21–22). You are a working member of His body, the church (Eph 5:23; Col 1:18, 24). God the Father has ordered your place. Christ has purchased your place, with His blood. The Spirit is sanctifying you to be holy and blameless before Him. Behold, the salvation of our Triune God in Ephesians 2.
The unity of the Trinity includes your union with Christ, which has brought you near to God, even to the place of being “in Him.”
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
September 18, 2022
