My Enemies Are Three – Part 2

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest [Ephesians 2:1-3].

The children of God are daily confronted with three categories of enemies. The first three verses of Ephesians 2 reveal them. Let’s dissect these verses and see for ourselves. But before identifying the enemies, let’s not overlook the two categories which comprise the children of God.

The first two verses depict one type, while verse 3 portrays the other. We recognize the first type by the words “you were dead in your trespasses and sins”. The other type is revealed by the words “we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh”. Do you see the significant difference? I’ll give you a hint. Notice the two pronouns “you” and “we”.

We know both of these categories of persons belong to God’s family because of the concomitant descriptions. The “you” folks are described this way:

• you were dead in trespasses and sins
• you formerly walked

Those words depict children of the devil, yes. But notice the words no longer applied to those whom Paul was addressing. The verbs are past tense. Those qualities once were true of these people, but no more. They were no longer children of the devil, though they once were. This means they were born again into the family of God.

The “we” folk are described this way:

• we too all formerly lived
• we were by nature children of wrath

You will observe how the same applied to the “we” folks as applied to the “you” folks. They once upon a time were children of the devil, but no more. The verbs are past tense. Now they belonged to God’s family.

So then, who were the “you” folks and who were the “we” ones? Well, Paul did the writing, so the language means he was one of the “we” folks. Paul was writing to the Christians in the city of Ephesus, so they were the “you” folks. So what distinguished Paul from the Ephesian Christians?

It’s really quite simple, dear friends. Paul was a Jew by ethnicity, the Ephesian Christians predominantly Gentiles. The first two verses of Ephesians 2 note how the Gentile Ephesian Christians used to belong to the devil’s family. In the third verse Paul added that the Jewish Christians were in the same boat. They too once belonged to the devil’s family, even though they had the Law and the Temple.

In fine, Paul lumped all mankind, Jew and Gentile alike, into the same lump of clay. Every person, regardless of ethnicity or any other distinction, is conceived in sin and born in iniquity. Every person is born dead to God and by nature a child of the devil. Every person must be born again, if he would see the Kingdom of God.

We will conclude this analysis in our next study. For now we have plenty on our plate on which to feed.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...