Ephesians 2:2

Wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience; among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Walked according to the course of this world ... "This refers to the behavior which is characteristic of unregenerated people. Such persons do what people are normally expected to do, from motives that are common to all, and invariably governed by selfishness. The course of this world is laid out in harmony with self and selfish desires. The person walking after this manner regards not the will of God but only the passions, appetites and ambitions of egocentric self.

The prince of the powers of the air ... The character in view here is most assuredly Satan, who is called the "god of this world" in 2 Corinthians 4:4, and who was called the "prince of this world" (John 14:30; 16:11) by none other than the Christ himself. Only those who consciously reject the teaching of the New Testament can deny the existence of the personal ruler of this world's darkness. Christ himself taught people to pray, "Deliver us from the evil one!" Therefore, all people should reject the snide arrogance which says:

The idea of a personal devil is all but unimaginable to the mind of our own times, and is capable of interpretation only as a personification of the external forces of evil which play upon the human life.[5]

The greatest deception Satan ever perpetrated upon people is that of persuading them that he does not exist! The intelligent organization of complementary and interlocking systems of wickedness all over the world proves the intelligent and personal nature of the evil one. The intellectual snobbery that sets aside the teaching of the Christian Scriptures on this subject has already run its course; and, as Wedel said, "Sober theologians are again wrestling openly with the problem of the `demonic'."[6] Such things as psychology, social pressures, poverty, etc., are simply not an adequate explanation of evil; and the more thoughtful and perceptive scholars are already aware of this; but the great rank and file of mankind have never been deceived for a moment. They invariably accept the terminology of the New Testament for what it says. Again from Wedel, "Simple folk are often better theologians than the learned of the schools."[7]

It is clearly Satan which Paul referred to in this place; but what is meant by "powers of the air"? In this also, it is necessary to discard many current interpretations. This is not merely "a reference to the prevailing superstitions of those times that the air was full of evil spirits."[8] It is not an accommodation of Christian thought to "later Gnostic"[9] theories. This authentic Pauline epistle antedates Gnosticism.

Powers of the air ... This is the same as "power of darkness" (Luke 22:53; Colossians 1:13) and the "spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). This possible meaning was pointed out by Bruce, who based it upon the fact that the word Paul used for "air" is not [Greek: aither], meaning the clear upper air, but [Greek: aer], which means the obscure, misty, lower air.[10] The logic of construing Paul's meaning here as "darkness" is further supported by the truth noted by Barry:

Air here describes a sphere, and therefore a power, below the heaven and yet above the earth. The word and its derivatives carry with them the ideas of cloudiness, mist and even darkness. Hence it is naturally used to suggest the evil power as allowed invisibly to encompass and move about this world, yet overruled by the power of the true heaven, which it vainly strives to overcloud and hide from the earth.[11]

Thus, inherently, the designation of Satan as prince of the powers of the air (in the sense suggested above) is precisely accurate and instructive. Satan's awesome power is above that of human beings, but below that of Christ. Furthermore, Paul's reference later in this epistle (Ephesians 6:12) to "spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" is more accurately understood, in the light of this, as not being on a parity with the dominion of Christ (also in the heavenly places), but confined to that lower, obscure heavenly place in view here.

The spirit that now worketh ... A spirit is a living being; and from this it is plain that Paul considered Satan to be at work in the people of his generation; and we are certain that he is no less at work now.

Barclay pointed out that these first three verses have a description of the life without Christ, the same being: (1) a life lived on the world's standards and with the world's values; (2) a life under the dictates of the prince of powers of the air; (3) a life of disobedience; (4) a life at the mercy of desire. "To succumb to that desire is inevitably to come to disaster."[12] (5) a life that follows the desires of the flesh, and (6) a life which deserves only the wrath of God. To this list there should also be added: "It is a life which follows the desires of the mind" (Ephesians 2:3). The unregenerated mind itself is at enmity with God; and the imaginations of it are a source of rebellion against God.

Lusts of the flesh ... desires of the flesh ... These certainly include the gratification of bodily appetites; but, as Lipscomb said, "The flesh, the world and the devil are not different classes of sin, but aspects of sin; and any one is made at times to represent all."[13]

With regard to the powerful spiritual hosts over whom Satan is said to be their prince, MacKnight identified these with the fallen angels of Jude 1:6,1 Peter 5:8, supposing that "they have arranged themselves under the direction of one chief[14] the better to carry on their evil work. He also supposed that Satan might have been the leader of the angels who rebelled against God, hence "the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).

By nature, children of wrath ... Apart from God, there is nothing in nature that leads people into paths of righteousness; and rejection of the knowledge of God by the pre-Christian world promptly issued in their unbelievable debauchery.

We also all once lived ... How could Paul have included himself here with the godless pre-Christian Gentiles? Of course, in the sense of all people being guilty before God, the Jew and Gentile alike were without merit; but that is not the meaning of this place. Paul had always sought to have a pure conscience before God, and he was a practicing Pharisee of the noblest and purest motives; and one may not escape the certainty that in this place Paul was including himself with the pre-Christian Gentiles in an accommodative sense. The writings of Paul abound in examples of this same fundamental courtesy and consideration on his part; and one may only marvel at the blindness that refuses to see it in a passage like Hebrews 2:3.

[5] Francis W. Beare, op. cit., p. 639.

[6] Theodore E. Wedel, The Interpreter's Bible (New York: Abingdon Press, 1953), Vol. X, p. 640.

[7] Ibid.

[8] John William Russell, op. cit., p. 476.

[9] Francis W. Beare, op. cit., p. 640.

[10] F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Ephesians (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1961), p. 48.

[11] Alfred Barry, op. cit., p. 23.

[12] William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954), p. 116.

[13] David Lipscomb, New Testament Commentaries (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1939), Ephesians, p. 40.

[14] James MacKnight, Apostolical Epistles with Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1969), Vol. III, p. 278.