made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!
Parallel translations
- WEB even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
- KJV Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
- NKJV even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
- NASB even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
- NLT that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
While we were spiritually dead, God made us alive together with Christ — by grace we are saved. It declares salvation as a sheer gift of resurrection grace.
Overview
Completing the thought begun in verse 1, Paul says God 'made us alive together with Christ' even in our deadness. Our new life is bound up with Christ's resurrection. The parenthesis 'by grace you have been saved' interrupts to underline the point: this salvation is entirely unearned, the gift of God's grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Rom 3:24and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
- Eph 2:8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- Rom 5:10For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!
- Rom 5:8But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Acts 15:11On the contrary, we believe it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
- Eph 2:1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Rom 8:2For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.
- Titus 2:11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.
- Rom 4:16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
- Eph 5:14So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- Titus 3:5He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
- Rom 5:6For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
- John 5:21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.
- 2 Cor 13:14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
- Rom 16:20The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
- Rom 11:5–6In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
- John 6:63The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
- Rev 22:21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 2:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.