What Is the Meaning of “By Nature” In Ephesians 2:3?

Ephesians 2:3 is a favorite text of those who teach that humans inherit the guilt of Adam’s sin.

For example, John Piper, a popular Calvinist, appeals to this text to support the idea of inherited sin. He says:

There is a phrase in verse 3 that shows the seriousness of deadness. At the end it says, “We were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” In other words the things we have done to bring the wrath of God upon us we have done by nature. We need a Savior not just because we have sinned, but because we have sinned by nature. We are by nature sinners (emphasis added).

In a verbal shell game, Piper shifts the text so Paul appears to say: “We are by nature sinners.”

Did Paul mean “BY BIRTH”?

In his otherwise helpful commentary on Ephesians, Clinton E. Arnold writes:

“When Paul says that ‘by nature’ (fu/sei) we were destined for wrath, he probably intends to convey that we inherited this status and condition at birth” (134; emphasis added).

Similarly, Frank Thielman asserts: “This destiny, moreover was theirs fu/sei (physei, by nature). This term referred to the condition into which someone was born” (127). Reading statements like these, one might assume “by nature” must mean by birth—as if no other view exists.

However, other writers deny that the definition “by birth” is clear-cut.

T. K. Abbott wrote that “[‘by nature’] does not necessarily mean ‘by birth.’” (45). Lynn H. Cohick said: “This noun [‘by nature’] does not in itself suggest wickedness, and there is no reason to assume that Paul [in Eph. 2:3] hints at Adam’s sin” (148).

Some say “by nature” means by birth. Others contend that it does not.

How can we learn what this word means in Ephesians 2:3?

To answer this question, we must remind ourselves that word meanings are not determined by commentators, but by usage. How first-century native authors used a term is the ultimate source for word meanings.

So let’s go to the source. How did the apostle Paul use the term?

Paul’s Use of “By Nature”

Paul used the term “by nature” in different passages with the basic meaning of that which is natural. Here are some examples.

What grows from a tree naturally? The apostle referred to an olive tree’s natural branches as opposed to grafted wild branches (Rom 11:24).

Paul wrote in Galatians 4:8: “However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods.” Paul used “by nature” to describe the truth about false gods. He was not referring to their birth. Those fictitious gods were by the nature of the case not divine.

Similarly, Paul wrote in Romans 2:14: “For when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature the things of the law, they are a law to themselves although they do not have the law.”

Though the Gentiles did not have the written law, they naturally followed it. How could this be? They were created by God as moral beings. They had a law “written in their hearts” (v. 15). A sense of moral obligation was natural because of how God created human nature, not because of the physical genetics passed down by their Gentile parents.

In Galatians 2:15, Paul said that “we are Jews by nature.” The word “Jew” constrains our understanding of what is “by nature” in this context. A Jew is naturally a descendant of Abraham.

“By nature” is like the law of cause and effect. This word does not define the cause. The context determines the cause of the natural state for whatever is being discussed.

Natural branches grow from a tree. God created human beings to have moral feelings naturally. Jews, by the nature of the case, are descendants of Abraham.

In my view, Rudolf Schnackenburg summed up the meaning:

The phrase [i.e., “children of wrath by nature”] does not allow any protological speculations (divine punishment because of original sin) or anthropological reflections (on the natural disposition of such people). However, it refers to the natural state in which such people [i.e., sinners] found or still find themselves (93).

Like olives naturally grow on olive trees, sinners naturally deserve God’s wrath.

What Paul Did NOT Say

Let’s go back to Ephesians 2:3. In addition to understanding the general meaning of “by nature,” we must emphasize what Paul did not say.

He never said we are by nature sinners. He said “we” are by nature children of wrath. But who is included in the pronoun “we”?

“We” has already been defined in the context (vv. 1–3a). “We” includes those dead in their sins, living as sons of disobedience.

Every mention of sin in verses 1–3 relates to personal sins and individual disobedience. By reading the main verbs of verse 3, we get the sense of what Paul declared. “We lived” and “we were.”

“Children of wrath” in Ephesians 2:3 is simply another way of stating the law of sowing and reaping (Gal. 6:7). When we sow sins, we naturally reap wrath.

Paul makes the same point in Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death.” The “consequence” for sinners is the point of Ephesians 2:3.

We lived a certain way, thus naturally deserved God’s wrath.

Without God’s grace, sinners are heading for God’s wrath because of the nature of the case. The cause: our sins. The effect: wrath.

Sins are what we choose, not what we inherit. Sons of disobedience are naturally worthy of wrath.

Thankfully, our deserving of God’s wrath by our disobedience is not the end of the story.

Paul goes on to explain: “But God being rich in mercy” (vv. 4–7)! What a Savior!