And you he made alive, when you were dead due to your transgressions and sins,
in which you once walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient,
among whom we also all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest of humankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead due to our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
so that in the ages to come he could show the immeasurable riches of his grace by his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through trust, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God,
not as a result of works, so that no one can boast.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them.
One in Christ
Therefore, remember that at one time you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by those who are called “circumcision” (which is done in the flesh by human hands);
remember that at that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants based on the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who at one time were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, the partition between us. He made the hostility—
the law consisting of commands expressed in regulations—of no effect by his flesh, so that in himself he could create one new man from the two groups, thus making peace,
and so he could reconcile both groups to God in one body by means of the cross, having put to death the hostility by it.
And when he came he proclaimed good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near,
because through him we both have access by one spirit to the Father.
So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God,
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord,
in whom you also are being built together by means of the spirit into a dwelling place of God.