Short Summaries of

Sermons on Ephesians

by Rev. Ralph Allan Smith

Jews and Gentiles Dead in Sin

(Eph. 2:1-3)

Perhaps we cannot make a general rule about Paul's use of the words "we" and "you," but here in the first verses of chapter 2 Paul seems to be distinguishing between Jews and Gentiles. The content of the "you" and "we" sentences fit the distinctions we would expect between Jew and Gentile. After defining their distinctive sinfulness, Paul goes on to speak of salvation in verse 4, where Jews and Gentiles are united together in the one church as "us."

Characteristic Sins of the Gentiles

What is especially emphasized when speaking of Gentiles is their bondage to Satan. This does not mean that non-Christian Jews in Paul's day were not slaves of the devil, for Christ asserted of the Jews who made a false profession of faith in Him: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do" (Joh. 8:44a). In our Lord's day Jewish bondage to the devil was primarily manifested in their hypocrisy. Gentiles, however, worshiped false gods through polytheistic idolatry. Their lives were more obviously directed by the "prince of the power of the air."

Japan is no exception to this. Although most Japanese people think that Japan is not very religious, the fact is that Japan's religions are typically pagan. Pagan religions are not usually concerned with ethics, they are concerned with ritual purity and appeasing the gods. Even today, when Japan's traditional religions are admittedly weaker than in the past, Japanese perform various rites to avoid the curses of various local gods and/or the spirits of ancestors.

Japanese have numerous ceremonies aimed at appeasing the spirits of dead ancestors or whatever other spirits and gods they fear in a particular locality. Although this may be largely forgotten by those who participate, Japanese festivals are usually concerned with driving away evil spirits. Visits to Shrines and other ceremonial aspects of the New Year celebration too aim at protection from harm by spirits. Carpenters are very careful to appease the spirits before they build a house. Politicians visit shrines and temples to pray to local deities for protection and blessing for their localities.

Japanese companies are very much involved with religious rites too. To cite just one specific example, there is a company in the Kyoto area that has special rites twice a year to appease the spirit of a long dead man. In February 1927 an Italian engineer committed suicide. He was one of the chief technical advisors among a group of men who installed machinery in a Japanese synthetic fibers factory. Because of his important role in helping the factory and also because he died without heirs, the factory to this day has special ceremonies to comfort his spirit. If they do not, he might become a "muenbotoke," a malevolent spirit who would bring a curse on the factory.

Satan directs men to walk "according to the course of this world." There is a typical manner that this world walks. I think that it can be summed up in terms of the three basic sins that are seen in the first six chapters of Genesis. Adam and Eve sinned against God by directly breaking His command and challenging His goodness. They stole the sacred food from the sanctuary. Their sin against God's sanctuary was especially a sin against God the Father. Cain, their first born son, sinned against God by committing murder. By killing his brother Cain sinned against the image of God in man. This is primarily a sin against God the Son (cf. Heb. 1:1-3). The third sin in the early chapters of Genesis is the sin of the sons of Seth. They grieved the Holy Spirit by marrying the daughters of the sons of Cain. This spiritual compromise resulted in the corruption of the godly line.

Thus defiling the sanctuary, killing the brother, and cultural compromise may be regarded as the three basic sins of man. This is illustrated in the history of Israel also, the first period from Moses until Saul is a time of struggle with idolatry, defilement of the sanctuary. From the time of Saul until the fall of the kingdoms the people of Israel are characteristically at war with one another, brother killing brother. Saul tries to kill David, David kills Uriah, David's sons kill one another, the Northern kingdom fights against the southern kingdom. After the Babylonian captivity, the characteristic sin of Israel is cultural compromise. The problem of intermarriage with non-Christians is seen in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi. By the time Christ came, the Jews had compromised with Rome to a great degree. The Pharisees were hypocrites.

These three sins are summed up in the death of Christ. The One sent from the Father is hated and rejected. The true brother, God incarnate, is killed. The Spirit's work is rejected as Jews combine with Edomites and Romans to kill the Holy One. The death of Christ was caused especially the sin of God's people Israel, but idolatry, murder, and cultural corruption were typical of the Gentiles all through the ages. Dominated by Satan, they walked in the pattern of sin that he established.

Characteristic Sins of Israel

It has been pointed out that pagan cultures are not deeply self-reflective. The typical picture of the happy savage living a simple unreflective life contains an element of truth. The point is not that these people are unintelligent. Sometimes they are very intelligent. But their society does not have a tradition or even, sometimes, a vocabulary for ethical self-examination. They sin as much as anyone else, typically they sin more than other societies, but they do not take their sins seriously. Their consciences are underdeveloped, or, more accurately, seared.

This is illustrated, perhaps, in the history of the Western church as well. It is notable that the early Greek Christianity did not have a deep doctrine of sin, even though it was very capable of abstract reasoning, as witnessed in its doctrine of God. It was not really until Augustine (AD 354-430) that the early church had a theologian whose writing approached Biblical depth in its doctrine of man's sinfulness. Perhaps it took 400 years of contact with the Bible before the Mediterranean world could develop the kind of conscience that was sensitive to sin.

Paul, a Jew and a Pharisee, had the kind of cultural background and Biblical education that made it possible for him to be deeply reflective. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, he came to a deep knowledge of his own sinfulness and taught the Church to understand sin as a heart issue.

When Paul refers to the characteristic sins of the Jews, he uses language that points to the more developed conscience among those who have a Biblical tradition. He refers to the lusts and desires of the Adamic nature and the mind. His language makes it clear that sin is a spiritual issue. The word "flesh" does not refer to the physical body, but to our nature in Adam. Paul speaks of the desires of the "mind" because sin begins in the heart not the body.

Under Wrath

Jew or Gentile, man outside of God's grace is under His wrath. Though the outward manifestations and typical actions of Jewish and Gentile sinfulness were significantly different, the fundamental antipathy toward God that is the root of sin was the same in both groups. They also shared the common judgment that their sin invited. They were all "children of wrath." They deserved God's wrath against them because of their sinful rebellion against His will. Gentile believers hearing this expression might have thought primarily in terms of their worshiping idols rather than the true God. Jews may have thought primarily of their breaking God's commandments. But both groups must know and confess that they deserve the wrath of God for their rebellion against Him. Recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation, which Paul takes up in the next verses.

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