1You were living in your sins and lawless ways. But in fact you were dead.2You used to live as sinners when you followed the ways of this world. You served the one who rules over the spiritual forces of evil. He is the spirit who is now at work in those who don’t obey God.3At one time we all lived among them. Our desires were controlled by sin. We tried to satisfy what they wanted us to do. We followed our desires and thoughts. God was angry with us as he was with everyone else. That’s because of the kind of people we all were.4But God loves us deeply. He is full of mercy.5So he gave us new life because of what Christ has done. He gave us life even when we were dead in sin. God’s grace has saved you.6God raised us up with Christ. He has seated us with him in his heavenly kingdom. That’s because we belong to Christ Jesus.7He has done it to show the riches of his grace for all time to come. His grace can’t be compared with anything else. He has shown it by being kind to us. He was kind to us because of what Christ Jesus has done.8God’s grace has saved you because of your faith in Christ. Your salvation doesn’t come from anything you do. It is God’s gift.9It is not based on anything you have done. No one can boast about earning it.10We are God’s creation. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good works. Long ago God prepared these works for us to do.
God’s new family of Jews and Gentiles
11You who are not Jews by birth, here is what I want you to remember. You are called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘circumcised’. But they have only been circumcised in their bodies by human hands.12Before you believed in Christ, you were separated from him. You were not considered to be citizens of Israel. You were not included in what the covenants promised. You were without hope and without God in the world.13At one time you were far away from God. But now you belong to Christ Jesus. He spilled his blood for you. This has brought you near to God.14Christ himself is our peace. He has made Jews and Gentiles into one group of people. He has destroyed the hatred that was like a wall between us.15Through his body on the cross, Christ set aside the law with all its commands and rules. He planned to create one new people out of Jews and Gentiles. He wanted to make peace between them.16He planned to bring both Jews and Gentiles back to God as one body. He planned to do this through the cross. On that cross, Christ put to death their hatred towards one another.17He came and preached peace to you who were far away. He also preached peace to those who were near.18Through Christ we both come to the Father by the power of one Holy Spirit.19So you are no longer outsiders and strangers. You are citizens together with God’s people. You are also members of God’s family.20You are a building that is built on the apostles and prophets. They are the foundation. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone in the building.21The whole building is held together by him. It rises to become a holy temple because it belongs to the Lord.22And because you belong to him, you too are being built together. You are being made into a house where God lives through his Spirit.
Ephesians 2
Nuova Riveduta 2006
from Società Biblica di Ginevra
La salvezza per grazia
1Dio ha vivificato anche voi, voi che eravate morti nelle vostre colpe e nei vostri peccati,2ai quali un tempo vi abbandonaste seguendo l’andazzo di questo mondo, seguendo il principe della potenza dell’aria[1], di quello spirito che opera oggi negli uomini ribelli.3Nel numero dei quali anche noi tutti vivevamo un tempo, secondo i desideri della nostra carne, ubbidendo alle voglie della carne e dei nostri pensieri; ed eravamo per natura figli d’ira, come gli altri.4Ma Dio, che è ricco in misericordia, per il grande amore con cui ci ha amati,5anche quando eravamo morti nei peccati, ci ha vivificati con Cristo (è per grazia che siete stati salvati),6e ci ha risuscitati con lui e con lui ci ha fatti sedere nei luoghi celesti in Cristo Gesù,7per mostrare nei tempi futuri l’immensa ricchezza della sua grazia, mediante la bontà che egli ha avuta per noi in Cristo Gesù.8Infatti è per grazia che siete stati salvati, mediante la fede; e ciò non viene da voi: è il dono di Dio.9Non è in virtù di opere affinché nessuno se ne vanti;10infatti siamo opera sua, essendo stati creati in Cristo Gesù per fare le opere buone, che Dio ha precedentemente preparate affinché le pratichiamo.
Giudei e stranieri uniti in Cristo
11Perciò, ricordatevi che un tempo voi, stranieri di nascita, chiamati incirconcisi da quelli che si dicono circoncisi, perché tali sono nella carne per mano d’uomo, voi, dico,12ricordatevi che in quel tempo eravate senza Cristo, esclusi dalla cittadinanza d’Israele ed estranei ai patti della promessa, senza speranza e senza Dio nel mondo.13Ma ora, in Cristo Gesù, voi che allora eravate lontani siete stati avvicinati mediante il sangue di Cristo.14Lui, infatti, è la nostra pace; lui, che dei due popoli[2] ne ha fatto uno solo e ha abbattuto il muro di separazione, abolendo nel suo corpo terreno[3] la causa dell’inimicizia,15la legge fatta di comandamenti in forma di precetti, per creare in se stesso, dei due, un solo uomo nuovo facendo la pace;16e per riconciliarli tutti e due con Dio in un corpo unico mediante la croce, sulla quale fece morire l’inimicizia.17Con la sua venuta ha annunciato la pace a voi che eravate lontani e la pace a quelli che erano vicini[4];18perché per mezzo di lui abbiamo gli uni e gli altri accesso al Padre in un medesimo Spirito.19Così dunque non siete più né stranieri né ospiti; ma siete concittadini dei santi e membri della famiglia di Dio.20Siete stati edificati sul fondamento degli apostoli e dei profeti, essendo Cristo Gesù stesso la pietra angolare,21sulla quale l’edificio intero, ben collegato insieme, si va innalzando per essere un tempio santo nel Signore.22In lui voi pure entrate a far parte dell’edificio che ha da servire come dimora a Dio per mezzo dello Spirito.