Ephesians 4:18

“They[ the Gentiles] are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.”

Paul here is scathing in his description of the state of unredeemed Gentiles. He goes on to make it clear that he is not talking about the Ephesian christians because they have clearly accepted the gospel.

the unsaved Gentiles are darkened in their understanding.

before any person comes to know Jesus, they are living in a state of spiritual darkness. Satan has blinded them to the truth because they are living under deception. They cannot see the truth because they are blind and in the dark.

Even when such people make an intellectual assent to the gospel, it lacks the power to change them because they are in the dark. It takes a revelation, a special act of God, to heal their spiritual blindness.

this darkness of understanding extends to areas other than spiritual. It includes lack of wisdom (or foolishness) in daily living. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God,” (Psalm 14:1) and lives in the belief that he or she is God and able to determine their own life. The academics and elite leaders multiply this foolishness by promoting and endorsing it.

this darkness and understanding extends to scientific realms also. The presuppositions and biases in various fields are based on human wisdom, not on the understanding that God created all things and sustains them. They think that it all just came into existence, and ignore the signs that there is a creator.

they are separated from the life of God.

the word “separated” here can also mean “alienated”. They are not just cut off spatially from the life of God, but also relationally. They are not just removed from God, they are opposed to Him.

to be separated from the life of God means that they are far away from the source of life. They are effectively living as zombies, the walking dead.

Those who have not been born again, that is born of the Spirit, are living partial lives, lives that are less than what God intended for us. The way to experience true life, life in all its fullness, is to be connected to the source of life, that is God.

to do this we must receive Jesus, who is the Life. It is our rebellion against God that alienates us from Him. When we come to Jesus and confess our sins to Him, then we are forgiven and receive eternal life.

This darkness of their minds and separation from the life of God is due to the ignorance that is in them.

ignorance is not a lack of knowledge, although that is tragic in itself. If that were the problem, then it would be silly to describe the minds of Gentiles as having ignorance in them. It is impossible to have a negative quality existing in itself. It is like saying a room is full of darkness.

ignorance can be manifest as a characteristic. Here it is akin to foolishness. Lack of knowledge about God leads to a certain way of thinking that opposes itself to God, perhaps promoting idolatry instead.

the unbelieving Gentiles, then, are ignorant about God, and this leads to alienation from Him and darkness of thinking.

this ignorance is not due to lack of information, but is caused by the hardening of their hearts.

Paul says in Romans 1 that the glory of God is seen in creation, and so when people worship the creation rather than the Creator they are without excuse. That they do this is because their hearts are hardened.

are they has hardened by their own indifference or by Satan? We cannot say for sure, although it is possibly both.

when we sin it causes a hardening in our hearts. We quieten the conscience that condemns us because we do not want to feel guilty or even admit that we are at fault. While God desires a soft heart, our history of sin makes us hardhearted and progressively more so.

It is only Christ who can rescue us from this cycle of sin, guilt, and ever hardening heart.

So Paul says that those who are not saved (“the Gentiles”) are hardhearted because of their sin. This leads to ignorance and indifference to God, which in turn causes them to be alienated from his life and darken in their understanding.

this self-sustaining process is the reason why we need a Saviour. We could never escape from this fate by ourselves. Praise God that he has provided the way to eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

key points in this verse:

• Unredeemed Gentiles are darkened in their understanding

• satan has blinded their spiritual eyes

• they are alienated from God and the life He brings so they live zombie-like lives

• ignorance of of God is due to the hardening of their hearts

• only Jesus can rescue is from this cycle of sin and death