Ephesians 1:7

1:7 In him ¹  we have redemption through his blood, ²  the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace

Ephesians 1:13

1:13 And when ³  you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ ⁴  – you were marked with the seal ⁵  of the promised Holy Spirit, ⁶ 

Ephesians 2:5-6

2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! ⁷  – 2:6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 2:14-18

2:14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one ⁸  and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, 2:15 when he nullified ⁹  in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man ¹⁰  out of two, ¹¹  thus making peace, 2:16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. ¹²  2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 2:18 so that ¹³  through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

[1:7]  ¹ tn Grk “in whom” (the relative clause of v. 7 is subordinate to v. 6). The “him” refers to Christ.

[1:7]  ² sn In this context his blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, refers to the price paid for believers’ redemption, which is the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.

[1:13]  ³ tn Grk “in whom you also, when…” (continuing the sentence from v. 12).

[1:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “in whom also having believed.” The relative pronoun “whom” has been replaced in the translation with its antecedent (“Christ”) to improve the clarity.

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Or “you were sealed.”

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “the Holy Spirit of promise.” Here ἐπαγγελίας (epangelias, “of promise”) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Or “by grace you have been saved.” The perfect tense in Greek connotes both completed action (“you have been saved”) and continuing results (“you are saved”).

[2:14]  ⁸ tn Grk “who made the both one.”

[2:15]  ⁹ tn Or “rendered inoperative.” This is a difficult text to translate because it is not easy to find an English term which communicates well the essence of the author’s meaning, especially since legal terminology is involved. Many other translations use the term “abolish” (so NRSV, NASB, NIV), but this term implies complete destruction which is not the author’s meaning here. The verb καταργέω (katargew) can readily have the meaning “to cause someth. to lose its power or effectiveness” (BDAG 525 s.v. 2, where this passage is listed), and this meaning fits quite naturally here within the author’s legal mindset. A proper English term which communicates this well is “nullify” since this word carries the denotation of “making something legally null and void.” This is not, however, a common English word. An alternate term like “rendered inoperative [or ineffective]” is also accurate but fairly inelegant. For this reason, the translation retains the term “nullify”; it is the best choice of the available options, despite its problems.

[2:15]  ¹⁰ tn In this context the author is not referring to a new individual, but instead to a new corporate entity united in Christ (cf. BDAG 497 s.v. καινός 3.b: “All the Christians together appear as κ. ἄνθρωπος Eph 2:15”). This is clear from the comparison made between the Gentiles and Israel in the immediately preceding verses and the assertion in v. 14 that Christ “made both groups into one.” This is a different metaphor than the “new man” of Eph 4:24; in that passage the “new man” refers to the new life a believer has through a relationship to Christ.

[2:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “in order to create the two into one new man.” Eph 2:14-16 is one sentence in Greek. A new sentence was started here in the translation for clarity since contemporary English is less tolerant of extended sentences.

[2:16]  ¹² tn Grk “by killing the hostility in himself.”

[2:18]  ¹³ tn Or “for.” BDAG gives the consecutive ὅτι (Joti) as a possible category of NT usage (BDAG 732 s.v. 5.c).