Section 2:1–10

God saved us by his grace

In this section Paul explained how the power of God, which he described in 1:19–20, changed the lives of the Ephesians. 2:1–3 describes their condition before they became believers. 2:4–10 describes the new life that God gave to them. Paul stressed that God has done many things for them because he is kind, so they should not be proud.

Here are some other examples for a heading for this section:

Made alive in Christ (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
From Death to life (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version)
-or-
God Saved Us Because of His Great Love for Us (God’s Word)
-or-
Because God is loving and kind he saved us (incl.)

Paragraph 2:1–3

In this paragraph, Paul described the condition of the Ephesians before they became Christians. They were spiritually “dead” because of their sins, Satan controlled them, and God was angry with them.

To begin this paragraph, a good model to follow is the Good News Translation. The Good News Translation starts this paragraph with the phrase “in the past” to show that Paul was talking about the former condition of the Ephesians. The Contemporary English Version and New Century Version also begin this paragraph in the same way. Some other ways you can make this implied information clear are:

As for you, ⌊formerly⌋ you were dead
-or-
As for you, ⌊before you believed⌋ you were dead

2:1–2

The Berean Standard Bible and some other English versions translate 2:1–2 as one long sentence. Other versions such as the New Living Translation (2004) and the Contemporary English Version divide these verses into three sentences. You may want to divide 2:1–2 into two or three sentences as well.

2:1

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins: In the Greek text, the pronoun you is emphatic. It refers to the Ephesian Christians. Try to show this emphasis in your language in a way that is natural. This sentence means “you (plur.) were dead because of your transgressions and sins.”

dead: Here the word dead refers to spiritual death, not physical death. Because of their sins, they were like dead people as far as the things of God were concerned. They could not respond to God at all. In many languages, it is better to translate this as a simile. For example:

you were like dead people
-or-
it was as if you were dead

In some languages, it may be necessary to make the point of comparison explicit. For example:

you were as unable to please God as a dead person is

trespasses and sins: These two words are similar in meaning and are a doublet. In translating these words, you have at least the following choices:

• Find synonyms to translate both trespasses and sins. One way to translate trespasses is “disobedience.” For example:

because of your disobedience and sins (Good News Translation)

Here are some other ways to translate these two words:

you sinned and fought against God (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
your sins and the things you did against God (New Century Version)

• If your language would not use doublets in this case or does not have synonyms for trespasses and sins, you can translate these two words as one concept. For example:

because of your many sins (New Living Translation (1996))

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