Ephesians 2:3
3 Among [en] whom [hos] also [kai] we [hemeis] all [pas] had our
conversation [anastrepho] in times past [pote] in [en] the lusts [epithumia] of our [hemon] flesh, [sarx] fulfilling [poieo] the
desires [thelema] of the flesh [sarx] and [kai] of the mind; [dianoia] and [kai] were [en] by nature [phusis] the
children [teknon] of wrath, [orge] even [kai] as [hos] others. [loipoy] KJV-Interlinear
3 Among
them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the
rest. NASB
Conversation, ‘anastrepho,’
means conduct, to overturn, to busy oneself, behave or behavior.
In times past, again
refers to the time in your life, prior to your being saved. And it likewise refers to the time or times
in your life when as a believer, you have spent your time living out of
fellowship.
This verse is in
reference to the time in your life when your conduct was, or is, led by sin and
evil.
Far too often people get
things mixed up and they become very self-righteous. They take things that are seemingly mild in
nature, and yet may be wicked, and make them even more wicked as they judge
things that they do not approve.
The world is full is
wickedness, and choosing ones battles is an art that can keep you out of the
way of your own demise. There are
certainly more wicked things in life, so why would one want to make the simple things
in life worse than they really are? Better
to focus on ones own spiritual advancement, rather than spending time on the
errors or even perceived errors of others.
And that is the general
meaning of this verse.
Prior to your salvation,
your entire life was one of wickedness, and yet you did not perceive it as
that. Even after salvation, believers
will have a tendency to become a little too self-righteous, and thus defeat
themselves by judging or spending their time in judging standards or activities
in society of which they do not agree.
But then even Jesus was a
guest in the house of the sinners, and many rebuked Him for even that. And yet who was judging and who was being
judged?
Self-righteous people
will even judge God, because they have lost sight due to their own wickedness.
If you are looking for a
perfect world, one in which there is no criticism, one in which everything
agrees with you or you with it, then you are in for a big disappointment. This world is saturated with wickedness. You just need to look to doctrine and not to
the wickedness around you, and move forward in your spiritual life, rather than
moving backward in criticism.
Lusts of the flesh,
desires of the flesh and of the mind, is not limited to sexual disorders or
drives, but is bounded by the entire spectrum of sins. If you have a passion to criticize, to judge,
to eat, to drink, to do drugs, to gossip, to ruin others, to do what you think
is right because others do not follow your opinions, and so forth, then you are
certainly guilty of living a life within a conduct of sin. That would be your conversation or
interaction with your own life.
Sin or wrath is a policy
and pattern of Satan. Conceptually then,
following his pattern makes you a child of Satan, or children of wrath. Like father like son, would apply to you or
to anyone who lives their life in accordance with evil.
We all started out in
life, in spiritual death, in sin and wickedness. But once you are saved, then the objective is
not to continue living that old or former pattern, but to change your
conversation, as it were, to a new subject, namely doctrine.
Why pursue something old
that means certain failure, when you have a new objective, spiritual growth,
which guarantees success?
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