Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past,.... What the apostle says of the Gentile Ephesians before conversion, he says of himself and other Jews; and this he does, partly to show that it was not from ill will, or with a design to upbraid the Gentiles, that he said what he did; and partly to beat down the pride of the Jews, who thought themselves better than the sinners of the Gentiles; as well as to magnify the grace of God in the conversion of them both: the sense is, that the apostle and other Jews in the time of their unregeneracy, had their conversation according to the customs of the world, and to the prince of the air, and among unbelievers, as well as the Gentiles; and that they were equally sinners, and lived a like sinful course of life:

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Had our conversation (ἀνεστράφημεν)

See on the kindred noun conversation, 1 Peter 1:15. Rev., more simply, lived.

Fulfilling (ποιοῦντες)

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We all had our conversation - see the notes at 2 Corinthians 1:12; compare 1 Peter 4:3.

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Among whom also we all had our conversation - We Jews, as well as you Gentiles, have lived in transgressions and sins; ανεστραφημεν, this was the course of our life; we lived in sin, walked in sin, it was woven through our whole constitution, it tinged every temper, polluted every faculty, and perverted every transaction of life. The lusts - the evil, irregular, and corrupt affections of the heart, showed themselves in the perversion of the mind as well as in our general conduct. The mind was darkened by the lusts of the flesh, and both conjoined to produce acts of unrighteousness. It was not the will of God that was done by us, but the will of the flesh and of the mind.

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{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.

2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation. In Eph 2:1,2, the second person is used, meaning the Ephesians; here the person is changed to the first. Meyer thinks that ye refers to Gentile Christians; we to Paul and his Jewish brethren. The Gentile Christians had been dead in trespasses and sins; nor had the Jewish Christians differed in this respect.

Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Not only fleshly desires, but the impulses of a sinful mind, such as malice, envy, pride, etc.

And were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. This declares that we, now Jewish Christians, were once, when in a state of nature, under condemnation, just as the others, the rest of the world, or the Gentiles. Some have held that this passage teaches innate, hereditary depravity. I am sure that this was not in the apostle's mind. (1) Two classes are spoken of, you and we, Gentiles and Jews. (2) Both were equally sinful, the first dead in trespasses and in sins (Eph 2:1), and the second by nature the children of wrath, even as the others. (3) The passage then simply affirms that Jews and Gentiles alike, before conversion, were dead in trespasses and sins, and under the divine condemnation. However, by nature is supposed to teach that the depravity is innate, and that all are born under the wrath of God. Such an interpretation would put the passage in conflict with Paul's teaching elsewhere, and with that of Christ. For instance, Mt 18:3 19:14 are inconsistent with the view that little children are born under the wrath of God. Indeed, it is taught in this passage that both classes have been brought into this state of condemnation by walking in sin, not by their birth. But does not by nature imply that they are born children of wrath ? The word phusis, rendered by nature, is found in Ro 2:14 1Co 11:14 Ga 2:15 4:08 In only one of these passages can it refer to natural birth at all, and there it refers to race (Ga 2:15). In not one passage does it describe what is innate. It does describe custom, practice, and unconverted state. No one would say that the Gentiles, who do by nature the things of the law (Ro 2:14), do so because it is innate. It means that they do so without the revelation. In a similar sense it is used here, and means that we, as well as others, before we were converted by the gospel, were dwelling in sin like others, and were like them, the children of wrath. The state of nature is the unconverted state.

2:3 Among whom we - Jews. Also, formerly had our conversation: doing the will of the flesh - In gross, brutal sins. And of the mind - By spiritual, diabolical wickedness. In the former clause, flesh denotes the whole evil nature; in the latter, the body opposed to the soul. And were by nature - That is, in our natural state. Children of wrath - Having the wrath of God abiding on us, even as the gentiles. This expression, by nature, occurs also, Gal 4:8; Rom 2:14; and thrice in the eleventh chapter . Rom 11:24 But in none of these places does it signify, by custom, or practice, or customary practice, as a late writer affirms. Nor can it mean so here For this would make the apostle guilty of gross tautology, their customary sinning having been expressed already, in the former part of the verse . But all these passages agree in expressing what belongs to the nature of the persons spoken of.

desires: Gr. wills

3. also we-that is, we also. Paul here joins himself in the same category with them, passing from the second person (Eph 2:1, 2) to the first person here.

all-Jews and Gentiles.

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