1You were once dead because of your failures and sins.
2You used to live your lives doing what the world around you did and obeying the ruler of the evil powers in the sky. That same spirit is still working in those who refuse to obey God.
3All of us used to live that way, following the evil desires of our bodies and minds. Because of our nature, we were headed for God's anger, just like everyone else.
4But God is rich in mercy because of his great love for us.
5Even when we were dead because of our failures, he made us alive with Christ. (It is by God’s grace you have been saved!)
6He raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavenly world through Christ Jesus.
7He did this to show future generations the incredible richness of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8Because of his grace, you have been saved through faith. This salvation is not due to anything you have done; it is God’s gift.
9It is not a reward for working hard, so no one can boast.
10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
11So remember that you Gentiles by birth, whom the Jews call “uncircumcised” (because they themselves are circumcised, a physical act made by human hands),
12at that time you were separated from Christ. You were excluded from being citizens of Israel and were strangers to the agreements of the promise. You had no hope and were without God in the world.
13But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14For he is our peace. He made Jews and Gentiles into one group and broke down the wall that separated them, their hostility toward each other.
15Christ canceled the hostility that the law of commandments and regulations created, by dying in his body. His purpose was to make the two groups into one new person in himself, in this way making peace.
16He wanted to bring both groups together into one body and reconcile them to God through his death on the cross, thereby destroying the hostility.
17He came and preached peace to you, both to those who were far away and to those who were near.
18For through him, we all, both groups, have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19So now you are no longer strangers and outsiders. Instead, you are citizens with God's holy people and members of God's own family.
20You are built on the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the most important cornerstone.
21In Christ, the entire building is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
22In him, you are also being built together to become a place where God lives by his Spirit.