Before we were saved, we were subject to certain negative things. According to Ephesians 2:2 and 3, these negative things included the age of this world, the ruler of the authority of the air, and the lusts of the flesh. But after we were saved, as those in Christ, as members of the church, we began to be bothered by other kinds of negative things.
According to Ephesians, the first negative thing which hinders believers is blindness. Although the word blindness is not used in the book of Ephesians, it is implied in 1:17 and 18, where Paul prays that the Father of glory would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him, the eyes of our heart having been enlightened. Today millions of Christians suffer from spiritual blindness. They are blind in the eyes of their heart. This was also our situation before we came into the church life. Because we were blind, we did not know the hope of God's calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. Furthermore, we did not know God's eternal purpose or His economy. We did not know what is meant by the all-inclusiveness of Christ, nor did we realize that the church comes into being as the fullness of the One who fills all in all through our enjoyment of the riches of Christ and participation in those riches. For the most part, we knew only that we were sinners destined for hell, but that God loved the world and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins that one day we might go to heaven. We did not know the profound truths revealed in the book of Ephesians.
Preachers like to quote Paul's word in Ephesians 2:5 and 8, telling us that we are saved by grace through faith. There is even a well-known gospel song entitled "Only a Sinner Saved by Grace." According to the concept of many gospel preachers today, to be saved by grace is simply to be saved from hell. But although Ephesians 2 does speak of being saved by grace, there is no mention of hell. Rather, according to the context of this chapter, we are saved from sin, from the ruler of the authority of the air, from the course of this age, from the lustful desires of the flesh, and from death. Such a salvation makes us God's masterpiece, His workmanship (v. 10). Nevertheless, many Christians have no realization of the extent of this salvation, much less of the deeper truths concerning the Body as the fullness of Christ. In a very real sense, the eyes of many hearts have been blinded.