Ephesians 2:1

Plain English Version

You know, in the past you mob did lots of bad things. You couldn’t be friends with God. It was like your spirits were dead.

Cross References

Genesis 8:21

God smelled the meat cooking on that stone table, and he was happy. Then God said to himself, “People always just want to do bad things. They do that all their lives, from when they are little kids, right up until the time they die. But I will never again punish them the same way that I did this time. I will never again finish up everything that breathes air, and I will never again curse the earth. While the earth is still here, the seasons will stay the same. There will always be day and night, and every year there will be a hot time and a cold time, a wet season and a dry season. There will always be a right time to plant seeds for food, and a right time to get the food from those plants.”

Matthew 8:22

Jesus said to him, “No. You come and follow me now. You see, some people are spiritually dead, so they can bury the dead bodies of their own people. But you come and follow me.” (We have not yet translated 8:23—9:26. You can read those stories in Mark 2:1-22; 4:35-41; 5:1-43.)

Luke 15:24

You see, my son got himself lost, but now I have found him. I thought he was gone for ever, like he was dead, but now he came back to me, and it is like he came alive again.’ So those workers did what he told them to do, and they had a big party.

Luke 15:32

But your brother got himself lost, and now I have found him. I thought he was gone for ever, like he was dead, but he came back to me, and now it is like he came alive again. So we have to have a party and be happy together.’ ”

John 14:6

Jesus said, “I am like that track for you. I can take you to my father. And I am the one that says what is true about God. And I am the one that can give people life so that they live with God for ever. I am the only one that can take people to God.

John 5:21

You see, my father can make dead people alive again. And I am like my father, I can give life to anyone I want to.

John 5:25

Listen, there are people that are spiritually dead, but I am God’s son, and I am telling you straight, a time is coming when they will hear my voice, and if they listen to me, they will come alive spiritually. And that time is happening now.

Romans 8:2

His spirit is in us, and he gives us new life, and he makes us strong so that we can say no to that bad part of us that tries to make us go wrong. That is the new way that we live, because we belong to Jesus, and it makes us free from the old way of doing bad things and ending up dead.

1 Corinthians 15:45

This is what God says in his book, “The 1st man, Adam, became a living person.” But we can think of Jesus, that he is the last Adam. You see, he is the spirit that makes people alive.

Ephesians 4:18

They can’t understand anything properly. It is like their minds are in darkness. They don’t want to know God, and they are a long way away from him. He doesn’t give them new life. They do bad things, but they never feel sorry about it.

Ephesians 5:14

The light shows us what something really is. So some people say this, “Stop doing bad things. It’s like you are asleep, so wake up now. It’s like you are dead, so come alive again now. Then Jesus will show you the right way to live, it’s like he will shine light on you.”

Colossians 2:13

You did bad things before. Your spirits still had that bad part that made you go wrong. It is like your spirits were dead. I will use picture talk to show you what I mean. Whenever you did bad things, it is like somebody wrote it down on paper so they could blame you later. But God let them blame Jesus instead of you, and then God chucked that paper away. It is like he nailed that paper to the cross when he let people nail Jesus there. And then God made your spirits alive again, just like he made Jesus alive again. Now he doesn’t blame you for the bad things you did.

1 Timothy 5:6

But other widows don’t think about God. They only want to have fun. They might think they are alive, but really, their spirits are dead.