Eph 2:1
2:1 And {1} you [hath he quickened], who were {a} dead in {2}
    trespasses and sins;

 (1) He declares again the greatness of God's good will by
     comparing that miserable state in which we are born, with
     that dignity unto which we are advanced by God the Father
     in Christ.  So he describes that condition in such a way
     that he says, that with regard to spiritual motions we are
     not only born half dead, but wholly and altogether dead.
     (a) See Ro 6:2.  So then he calls those dead who are
         not regenerated: for as the immortality of those who
         are damned is not life, so this knitting together of
         body and soul is properly not life, but death in those
         who are not ruled by the Spirit of God.
 (2) He shows the cause of death, that is, sins.

Eph 2:2
2:2 {3} Wherein in time past ye walked {4} according to the
    course of this world, {b} according to the prince of the
    power of the air, the spirit that now {5} worketh in the {c}
    children of disobedience:

 (3) He proves by the effects that all were spiritually dead.
 (4) He proves this evil to be universal, insomuch that all are
     slaves of Satan.
     (b) At the pleasure of the prince.
 (5) Men are therefore slaves to Satan, because they are
     willingly rebellious against God.
     (c) They are called the children of disobedience, who are
         given to disobedience.

Eph 2:3
2:3 {6} Among whom also we all had our conversation in times
    past in the lusts of our {d} flesh, fulfilling the desires
    of the flesh and of the mind; and {7} were by nature the {e}
    children of wrath, even as {f} others.

 (6) After he has separately condemned the Gentiles, he
     confesses that the Jews (among whom he numbers himself)
     are not the least bit better.
     (d) By the name of flesh in the first place, he means the
         whole man, which he divides into two parts: into the
         flesh, which is the part that the philosophers consider
         to be without reason, and into the thought, which they
         call reasonable.  And so he leaves nothing in man half
         dead, but concludes that the whole man is by nature the
         son of wrath.
 (7) The conclusion: all men are born subject to the wrath and
     curse of God.
     (e) Men are said to be the children of wrath passively,
         that is to say, guilty of everlasting death by the
         judgment of God, who is angry with them.
     (f) Profane people who did not know God.

Eph 2:4
2:4 {8} But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
    wherewith he loved us,

 (8) Now from this follows another member of the comparison
     declaring our excellency, that is, that by the power of
     Christ we are delivered from that death, and made partakers
     of eternal life, to the end that at length we may reign
     with him.  And by various and different means he emphasises
     this, that the efficient cause of this benefit is the free
     mercy of God: and Christ himself is the material cause: and
     faith is the instrument, which also is the free gift of
     God: and the end is God's glory.

Eph 2:6
2:6 And hath raised [us] up {g} together, and made [us] sit
    together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:

    (g) That is, as he adds afterwards, in Christ, for as yet
        this is not fulfilled in us, but only in our head by
        whose Spirit we have begun to die to sin, and live to
        God, until that work is fully brought to an end.  And
        yet the hope is certain, for we are as sure of that
        which we look for, as we are of that which we have
        already received.

Eph 2:8
2:8 For by {h} grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
    yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

    (h) So then, grace, that is to say, the gift of God, and
        faith, stand with one another, to which two it is
        contrary to be saved by ourselves, or by our works.
        Therefore, what do those mean who would join together
        things of such contrary natures?

Eph 2:9
2:9 {9} Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 (9) He specifically and completely takes away from our works
     the praise of justification, seeing that the good works
     themselves are the effects of grace in us.

Eph 2:10
2:10 For we are {i} his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
     unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
     should walk in them.

     (i) He speaks here of grace, and not of nature: therefore
         if the works are ever so good, see what they are, and
         know that they are that way because of grace.

Eph 2:11
2:11 {10} Wherefore remember, that ye [being] in time past
     Gentiles in the flesh, who are {k} called Uncircumcision by
     that which is {l} called the Circumcision in the flesh made
     by hands;

 (10) Applying the former doctrine to the Gentiles, he shows
      that they were not only as the Jews by nature, but also
      after a special manner, strangers and without God.
      Therefore they ought so much the more remember that same
      so great a benefit of God.
      (k) You were called in no other state than as Gentiles, so
          that all the world might witness your uncleanness.
      (l) Of the Jews who were known by you by the mark of
          circumcision, the mark of the covenant.

Eph 2:12
2:12 That at that time ye were {m} without Christ, being {n}
     aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from
     the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God
     in the world:

     (m) He begins first with Christ, who was the end of all the
         promises.
     (n) You had no right or title to the commonwealth of Israel.

Eph 2:13
2:13 {11} But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off
     are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

 (11) Christ is the only bond of the Jews and Gentiles, by whom
      they are reconciled to God.

Eph 2:14
2:14 {12} For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath
     broken down the middle wall of partition [between us];

 (12) As by the ceremonies and worship appointed by the Law, the
      Jews were divided from the Gentiles, so now Christ, having
      broken down the partition wall, joins them both together,
      both in himself, and between themselves, and to God.  From
      which it follows, that whoever permanently establishes the
      ceremonies of the Law, makes the grace of Christ void and
      of no effect.

Eph 2:16
2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in {o} one body
     by the cross, having {p} slain the enmity thereby:

     (o) He alludes to the sacrifices of the Law, which
         represented that true and only sacrifice.
     (p) For he destroyed death by death, and fastened it as it
         were to the cross.

Eph 2:17
2:17 {13} And came and preached peace to you which were afar
     off, and to them that were nigh.

 (13) The preaching of the Gospel is an effectual instrument of
      this grace, common to the Jews as well as to the Gentiles.

Eph 2:18
2:18 For {q} through him we both have access by one Spirit unto
     the Father.

     (q) Christ is the gate as it were, by whom we come to the
         Father, and the Holy Spirit is as it were, our guiding
         man who leads us.

Eph 2:19
2:19 {14} Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
     but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of
     God;

 (14) The conclusion: the Gentiles are taken into the fellowship
      of salvation, and he describes the excellency of the
      Church, calling it the city and house of God.

Eph 2:20
2:20 {15} And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
     prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the {r} chief corner
     [stone];

 (15) The Lord committed the doctrine of salvation, first to the
      prophets, and then to the apostles, the end of which, and
      matter as it were and substance, is Christ.  Therefore
      that is indeed the true and universal Church which is
      built upon Christ by the prophets and apostles, as a
      spiritual temple consecrated to God.
      (r) That is the corner stone of the building, for the
          foundations are as it were corner stone of the
          building.

Eph 2:21
2:21 In whom all the building {s} fitly framed together groweth
     unto an holy temple in the Lord:

     (s) So that God is the workman not only of the foundation,
         but also of the whole building.