Ephesians 2:1-10 says the same thing, so some of the blame should probably go to Paul.
No no the same
Ephesians 2:1-10 explains a transition from a state of spiritual death in sin to new life in Christ through God's grace. It details that people were once spiritually dead, following the world and their sinful desires, subject to God's wrath. However, God, in His mercy and love, made them alive with Christ through faith, which is a gift from Him, not earned by works. This salvation means believers are God's "workmanship" or "masterpiece," created to do good works that were prepared in advance.
Spiritual deadness is a condition which finds its source in Satan. He was the first to fall, and his deceptive influence contributed to the fall of Man in the Garden. Today, he rules the hearts of those bound in spiritual deadness, and he exerts his controlling influence through the fear of death (see Heb 2:14-15). In short, all unbelievers are spiritually dead sons and slaves of the devil.
4. We were once among them, following after our flesh and living according to this dead nature.
Every Christian should understand their former state to be the same as every other unbeliever. No one is "born" a Christian. Every human being is a sinner, dead in their trespasses from birth. All humanity shares the same starting point as children of (God's) wrath.
From this opening, Paul sets the stage to explain why and how we were saved from this state of spiritual deadness. In the process, his gives us the Biblical definition of grace itself. See verses 4-7:
Eph. 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
Eph. 2:5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),
Eph. 2:6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Eph. 2:7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
In verse 4, Paul now presents why we were rescued from this state of deadness: because God was rich in mercy and had a great love for us, He acted to save us. By itself, this statement negates any consideration of works. God's reason for saving us was entirely His own. Being rich in mercy and having a great love, God determined to save us. We did not merit His mercy, nor did we earn our salvation.