Ephesians 2:1-3, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” (Eph 2:1-3).
In Chapter two of Ephesians Paul directs attention toward remembering blessings, (2:11). By noticing sins work against us, or what we were actually in Adam, Paul glories in God’s work for us and in us or what we are legally and vitally in Christ. Ephesians two, verses one to three, describes all mankind as being irrecoverably dead in trespasses and in sins until God quickens or makes one alive. It is God alone who gives life in Christ. This is not a diagnosis of all as spiritually sick, but an autopsy of the spiritually dead. By nature we are all in the latter category. This is not a figure of speech; but a factual description of the inability of anyone to naturally respond to the gospel or the things of God and become alive in Christ. Anyone who loves the things of God has had a mighty work miraculously wrought in his heart, “you hath he quickened.”
One may be more or less evidently dead in sins, but never more or less actually dead in sins. Just as there may be twenty corpses on a battle field in different stages of decay, yet all are equally dead; so twenty individuals in society may be in different stages of sin, yet without God all are equally dead in sin. “Dead in sins” is describing one’s natural opposing disposition and absence of ability to seek after or understand the things of God. To be dead in sins is to be as non responsive to spiritual things as one dead in the grave is non responsive to natural things. DNA defines and determines every feature of an individual naturally. Even so being “dead in trespasses and in sins” defines every feature of an individual soul not graced by God. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Ro 8:5). “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor 2:14).
One may have the vigorous body of an athlete, the productive mind of a scholar, or the magnetic personality of a film star and yet be dead in trespasses and in sins. Trespasses are the positive evils, the inherent rebellions, the crossing of God’s boundaries and the deviation from right paths. Sins are the negative evils, the failures of pursuit, the marks that are missed, and the high standards not reached. This passage tells us that without God’s intervention we all walk in this way. To walk is to live or be in company. “Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them” (Ps 39:6). |
If not made alive in the Spirit all live “according to the course of this world.” Intrinsic to human nature worldliness is a captivating animating emotion; it is a consuming mental habitual attitudinal spirit. It is an ordered system that fashions, dominates, and controls life. Worldliness is a lifestyle unmindful of God and lived without experiencing the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. This may be a life dominated by immorality and materialism but it can just as well be a life dominated by social issues, political causes, psychological needs, technological advancements, respectable employments, family involvements, religious causes, or denominational distinctives. We must ask more than if an individual does good or evil, we must ask whether in his soul, instead of the fruit of the Spirit and fellowship with God, there is something else for which he eats, lives, breathes, and dies.
Next, without the indwelling influence of the Holy Spirit all live “according to the prince of the power of the air.” Oh to be sure, we claim to be free. We may even claim to be able to change at will, but as a prince Satan rules and controls all persons not possessed by the Spirit of God. The arch enemy of God may rule them by bitter envying and strife (Ja 3:14), or by lies (Jn 8:44) snares (II Tim 2:26) and pride (I Tim 3:6), or by the spirit (I Cor 2:2) wisdom (I Cor 3:19) and desires (Titus 2:12) of this world. In this spirit of disobedience we presently live, or would have all continued to live if God had not quickened us.
By nature we all have our conversation “in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh.” The individual works of the flesh that either would have or perhaps even yet possess us are: “Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like” (Gal 5:19-21). Without God’s intervention we also all have a lifestyle fulfilling the desires “of the mind.” By nature we mind earthly things (Ph 3:18-19), are enemies to God in our minds by wicked works (Col 1:21), and do not understand the things of God (I Cor 2:14).
All of us by nature are “the children of wrath, even as others” and Paul declares that God alone can change us. You and I are either ruled by Satan and live according to this world, or we are not ruled by Satan and do not live according to the world. What camp are we in? If we have a desire to live for Christ let us be diligent to worship him. It is by eternal life he has given us that we have this desire. Blessed be God who unconditionally elected, and now irresistibly gives this new life to the elect! |
