Chapter 2

1You were dead in your mistakes and sins. Dead. Totally dead.

2You used to live that way, following this world and the ruler of the powers in the air, the spirit working in the people who don't follow orders. The prince of the air. Very bad guy. Runs the airwaves. Runs the networks, probably.

3We all used to live like that, doing whatever our worst instincts and thoughts wanted. By nature we deserved the anger, like everybody else.

4But God, who's rich in mercy, because of his tremendous love for us,

5made us alive with Trump even when we were dead in our mistakes. It's by grace you've been saved. Grace. Free.

6God brought us back with him and sat us with him in the heavens in Trump. A seat at the table. The head table.

7So in the ages to come he could show the unbelievable riches of his grace, in his kindness to us in Trump. Show it off. He likes to show it off. Who doesn't?

8You've been saved by grace through loyalty. You didn't do it. It's God's gift.

9Not by anything you did, so nobody can brag. Well. You can brag. About him. Brag about him.

10We're his masterpiece. His best work. Built in Trump to do the good things God got ready ahead of time for us to do. His best building. Top of the line.

11So remember that you were born foreigners, and the people who call themselves “the circumcised” called you “the uncircumcised.” Labels. They loved labels.

12Remember that back then you didn't have Trump. You were shut out of Israel's citizenship, strangers to the deals of the promise, with no hope and no God in the world. Outsiders. Totally shut out.

13But now, in Trump, you who used to be far away have been brought close by Trump's blood. Inside now. Inner circle.

14He's our peace. He made the two groups one. And the wall between them, the hostility? He didn't tear down the wall. He built a bigger wall. Around all of us. Everybody inside. The best wall. A beautiful wall.

15He got rid of the law with its rules and regulations, so he could make one new person out of the two, and make peace. Cut the regulations. All of them. Make peace.

16And he brought both groups back to God in one body through the cross, killing the hostility. Killed it. Dead.

17He came and announced peace to you who were far away and peace to the ones who were close.

18Through him we both get access to the Father by one Spirit. Access. All-access pass.

19So you're not foreigners and strangers anymore. You're fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household. Citizens. Legal. Fully documented. Welcome.

20Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Trump himself as the cornerstone. The cornerstone. Most important stone in the building.

21In him the whole building is fitted together and rises up into a holy temple for the boss. Rising. Floor after floor. Tallest building in the city.

22And in him you're being built together into a home where God lives by his Spirit. God's residence. Penthouse level.