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Made Alive in Christ

¹ And you He made alive when you were spiritually ^(C1)dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins,² in which you ^(C1)once walked. You were following the ways of ^(C2)this world influenced by this present age, in accordance with ^(C3)the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in ^(C4)the disobedient the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God.³ Among these unbelievers we all ^(C1)once lived in ^(C2)the passions of our flesh our behavior governed by the sinful self, indulging the desires of ^(F1)human nature without the Holy Spirit and the impulses of the sinful mind. We were, ^(C3)by nature, ^(C4)children under the sentence of God's wrath, ^(C5)just like the rest of mankind.⁴ But God, being so very ^(C1)rich in mercy, because of ^(C2)His great and wonderful love with which He loved us,⁵ even when we were spiritually ^(C1)dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us spiritually alive together with Christ (^(C2)for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God's judgment). ^(VR1)6 And He ^(C1)raised us up together with Him when we believed, and ^(C2)seated us with Him in ^(C3)the heavenly places, because we are in ^(C4)Christ Jesus,⁷ and He did this so that in the ages to come He might clearly show the immeasurable and unsurpassed ^(C1)riches of His grace in His ^(C2)kindness toward us in Christ Jesus by providing for our redemption.⁸ For it is ^(C1)by grace God's remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ that you have been saved actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life ^(C2)through faith. And this salvation is not of yourselves not through your own effort, but it is ^(C3)the undeserved, gracious gift of God;^9 (C1)not as a result of your works nor your attempts to keep the Law, so that ^(C2)no one will be able to boast or take credit in any way for his salvation.¹⁰ For we are His workmanship His own master work, a work of art, ^(C1)created in ^(C2)Christ Jesus reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used for ^(C3)good works, which God ^(C4)prepared for us beforehand taking paths which He set, so that we would ^(C5)walk in them living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us. ^(VR1)

¹¹ Therefore, remember that ^(C1)at one time ^(C2)you Gentiles by birth, who are called "^(C3)Uncircumcision" by those who called themselves "^(C3)Circumcision," itself a mere mark which is made in the flesh by human hands—¹² remember that at that time you were separated from Christ excluded from any relationship with Him, ^(C1)alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to ^(C2)the covenants of promise with no share in the sacred Messianic promise and without knowledge of God's agreements, having ^(C3)no hope in His promise and living in the world ^(C4)without God.¹³ But now at this very moment in ^(C1)Christ Jesus you who ^(C2)once were so very ^(C3)far away from God have ^(C3)been brought near ^(F1)(C4)by the blood of Christ.¹⁴ For He Himself is ^(C1)our peace and our bond of unity. ^(C2)He who made both groups—Jews and Gentiles—into one body and broke down the barrier, the dividing wall of spiritual antagonism between us,¹⁵ by ^(C1)abolishing in His own crucified flesh the hostility caused by ^(C2)the Law with its commandments contained in ordinances which He satisfied; so that in Himself He might ^(C3)make the two into ^(C4)one new man, thereby establishing ^(C5)peace.¹⁶ And that He might ^(C1)reconcile them both Jew and Gentile, united in ^(C2)one body to God through the cross, thereby ^(C3)putting to death the hostility.¹⁷ AND ^(C1)HE CAME AND PREACHED THE GOOD NEWS OF ^(C2)PEACE TO YOU Gentiles WHO WERE ^(C3)FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE Jews WHO WERE ^(C3)NEAR. ^(VR1)18 For it is through Him that we both have ^(C1)a direct way of approach in ^(C2)one Spirit to ^(C3)the Father.¹⁹ So then you are no longer ^(C1)strangers and aliens outsiders without rights of citizenship, but you are ^(C2)fellow citizens with the saints (God's people), and are members of ^(C3)God's household,²⁰ having been ^(C1)built on ^(C2)the foundation of ^(C3)the apostles and prophets, with ^(C4)Christ Jesus Himself as the chief ^(C5)Cornerstone,^21 (C1)in whom the whole structure is joined together, and it continues to increase growing into ^(C2)a holy temple in the Lord a sanctuary dedicated, set apart, and sacred to the presence of the Lord.²² In Him and in fellowship with one another you also are being ^(C1)built together into a ^(C2)dwelling place of God in the Spirit.