Ephesians / Question
Ephesians describes a former condition as being “dead in the trespasses and sins” in which people once walked. It links that life to following “the course of this world” and “the prince of the power of the air.” See Ephesians 2:1–3.
In Ephesians 2:1–3 Paul describes his readers’ previous condition. He portrays them as “dead” because of wrongdoings, and he explains this death in terms of a whole way of life shaped by the surrounding world and by a powerful unseen ruler at work in disobedient people. This paragraph continues the momentum of the prior chapter, where Paul speaks about God’s power shown in raising and exalting Christ and placing all powers under him (Ephesians 1:19–23).
Paul describes a past condition shared by his readers and, in verse 3, by Paul himself (“we all”). He calls it being “dead” in relation to “trespasses and sins,” meaning a real spiritual and moral brokenness rather than physical death.
A common mistake is to turn the wording into a slogan. The better reading keeps the phrase tied to the passage, the speaker, and the problem the book is addressing.
Start with Ephesians 2:1-3, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
1You were made alive when you were dead through your trespasses and sins,
2in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience;
3among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.