Ephesians 2:4

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, BUT. Consolatory contrast to the universality of men's natural heritage of "wrath." GOD, WHO IS RICH - Greek, '(as) being rich in mercy.' FOR - i:e., 'because of [ dia (G1223)] His great love:' the special ground of God's saving us; as "rich in mercy" (cf. Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 1:7; Romans 2:4; Romans 10:12) was the general ground. 'Mercy takes away misery, love confers salvation' (Bengel)....

4._But God, who is rich in mercy. _(122) Now follows the second member of the sentence, the substance of which is, that God had delivered the Ephesians from the destruction to which they were formerly liable; but the words which he employs are different. _God, who is rich in mercy, hath quickened you together with Christ. _The meaning is, that, there is no other life than that which is breathed into us by Christ: so that we begin to live only when we are ingrafted into him, and enjoy the same life with himself. This enables us to see what the apostle formerly meant by death, for that death and this resurrection are brought into contrast. To be made partakers of the life of the Son of God, — to be quickened by one Spirit, is an inestimable privilege. On this ground he praises the _mercy _of God, meaning by its _riches, _that it had been poured out in a singularly large and abundant manner...

1-10 Sin is the death of the soul. A man dead in trespasses and sins has no desire for spiritual pleasures. When we look upon a corpse, it gives an awful feeling. A never-dying spirit is now fled, and has left nothing but the ruins of a man. But if we viewed things aright, we should be far more affected by the thought of a dead soul, a lost, fallen spirit. A state of sin is a state of conformity to this world. Wicked men are slaves to Satan. Satan is the author of that proud, carnal disposition which there is in ungodly men; he rules in the hearts of men. From Scripture it is clear, that whether men have been most prone to sensual or to spiritual wickedness, all men, being naturally children of disobedience, are also by nature children of wrath. What reason have sinners, then, to seek earnestly for that grace which will make them, of children of wrath, children of God and heirs of glory...

Verse Ephesians 2:4. _BUT GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY_] As they were _corrupt_ in their _nature_, and _sinful_ in their _practice_, they could possess no _merit_, nor have any _claim_ upon God; and it required much _mercy_ to remove so much _misery_, and to pardon such transgressions. _HIS GREAT LOVE_] God's infinite love is the groundwork of our salvation; in reference to _us_ that love assumes the form of _mercy_, and that mercy provides the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore the apostle adds, Ephesians 2:5: _By grace ye are saved_-it is by God's free mercy in Christ that ye are brought into this state of salvation....

BUT GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY - On the use of the word “rich” by Paul, see the notes at Ephesians 1:7. It is a beautiful expression. “God is ‘rich’ in mercy;” overflowing, abundant. Mercy is the riches or the wealth of God. People are often rich in gold, and silver, and diamonds, and they pride themselves in these possessions; but God is “rich in mercy.” In that he abounds and he is so rich in it that he is wilting to impart it to others; so rich that he can make all blessed. FOR HIS GREAT LOVE - That is, his great love was the reason why he had compassion upon us. It is not that we had any claim or deserved his favor; but it is, that God had for man original and eternal love, and that love led to the gift of a Saviour, and to the bestowment of salvation....

EXPOSITION EPHESIANS 2:1 SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF THE EPHESIANS. This passage corresponds to Genesis 1:1. It is a history of creation, and we note the same great stages. 1. Chaos (Genesis 1:1). 2. The dawn—the Spirit of God moving on the face of the waters (Genesis 1:4). 3. The work of creation—in successive stages (Genesis 1:4-1)....

BUT GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY,.... Mercy is a perfection of the divine nature, and is essential to God; and may be considered with respect to the objects of it, either as general, extending to all men in a providential way; or as special, reaching only to some in a way of grace; for though mercy is his nature, yet the display and exertion of it towards any object, is the act of his will; and special mercy, with all the blessings and benefits of it, is only exhibited in Christ Jesus: and God is said to be "rich" in it, because he is free and liberal in dispensing it, and the effects of it; and that to a large number of persons, in great abundance and variety, by various ways, and in divers instances; as in the covenant of grace, in the mission of Christ, in redemption by him, in regeneration, in pardon of sin, and in eternal salvation; and yet it is inexhaustible and perpetual; and this s...

Ephesians 2:1. _And you he hath quickened._ Is it so? Could the apostle say that to you, and to me? Ephesians 2:1. _Who were dead in trespasses and sins;_ Look back to what you used to be, to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged: «You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2:2. _Wherein in time past ye walked_ With a terrible activity of spiritual death; Ephesians 2:2. According to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

2. THE PRODUCTION OF THE MASTERWORK AND ITS DESTINY CHAPTER 2:1-10 _ 1. What we are by nature (Ephesians 2:1)_ 2. What God does--rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4) 3. The destiny of the masterwork (Ephesians 2:7) 4. Saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8) After the great revelation of the first chapter and the prayer which followed, the production of the masterpiece itself is now brought more fully into view. We have before us a revelation concerning our state by nature and how God takes us up and produces out of such material His masterpiece. The first ten verses of this chapter give us this story. They

CHRISTIANS ARE RAISED AND EXALTED IN THE RISEN AND EXALTED CHRIST BY GOD'S FREE GRACE AND GIFT. The recipients of the letter, like other people, had been (spiritually) dead by reason of the sins and trespasses in which they formerly walked in accordance with the course of the existing world-order, as subjects of the ruler who has power over the air and over the spirit operating in disobedient hearts (Ephesians 2:1 f.); the writer in like manner, and those for whom he speaks, had all lived formerly in the lusts of their flesh, following the impulses of the flesh and of the mind, and were in themselves as much the objects of Divine wrath as other people (Ephesians 2:3)_;_ the wealth, however, of the Divine mercy and the greatness of the Divine love had brought them to life with the bringing to life of Ch