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Dead Men Walking, Made Alive!
Ephesians 2:1-5
"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and
sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by
nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),"
(Eph. 2:1-5, NKJV).
I believe any study of this passage needs to begin back in Ephesians chapter
one, the last paragraph in particular. In that context Paul writes about God's
power as exercised in the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and His
exaltation to the right hand of God. It will do us spiritual good to reverently
consider "... what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who
believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ
when He raised Him from the
dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places," (Eph. 1:19,20,
NKJV). This paves the way for the affirmations in chapter two. There are really
TWO RESURRECTIONS in this context: (1) the literal resurrection of Christ from
the dead, and (2) the spiritual resurrection of the dead sinner to life in
Christ. Behind both resurrections there is the same power: God!
"And you He made alive,
who were dead
in trespasses and sins."
Trespasses (paraptomasin) are deviations from the line of moral truth. The word
originally implied stumbling aside, making a false step, or getting into
territory where one does not belong. It came to refer to a transgression, fault,
or offense. When one wanders aside or lapses into misdeeds, he falls away from
the true path of righteousness. He goes onto spiritual property where he does
not belong. He takes the wrong road whether by deliberate decision, by
misreading the signs, or by inattention.
Sins (hamartiais) are failures to hit the target at which life is aimed. To sin
is to commit error. One misses his mark by failing to fulfill his purposes in
life. Our purposes in life are to act, think, and speak like God who created us,
thus glorify ing him. When one sins, he does not imitate his maker and he does
not obey the directives of his master. The glory of God is the target at which
our lives are aimed. When we miss or when we fall short, we sin (Rom. 3:23). Too
many of us
measure ourselves by a short sin list (murder, adultery, theft, etc.), or by
others who, in our opinions, do not live as well as we do. We must instead
strive to measure ourselves by God's word. We should attempt to be all we can be
in God's service by accom modating our lives exactly to his will." {Truth
Commentaries, Ephesians, Colly Caldwell, p.#69}
Paul is writing to the members of the church in Ephesus, described in the
opening of the epistle as the "faithful in Christ Jesus." These are people who
had obeyed the gospel (Acts 19); they had been baptized into Christ (the "one
baptism," Eph. 4:5), and that act of obedience is described here as God making
dead people alive! Before their response to the gospel they had been "dead in
trespasses and sins." When these sinners heard, believed and obeyed the gospel -
they were raised from the death of sin, and "made alive" by the power of God
(see also, Rom. 6:1-4).
"... in which you once walked
according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power
of the air, the spirit who now works
in the sons of disobedience."
Before responding to the gospel, these dead people had been walking "according
to the course of this world," and "according to the prince of the power of the
air." They just did what everybody else was doing, conforming to the fashions,
practices and sinful habits of the society they lived in. They were, at that
time, obeying the devil instead of God; and the devil's influence is described
here as "the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience." This is why,
though walking, they were
dead. If you just live the way everybody else lives; if you walking according to
the course of this world, and follow the impulses of the flesh, YOU ARE DEAD
SPIRITUALLY.
And it is noteworthy, they became spiritually dead by their own choice and
practice of sin! They were not born in this condition. Genesis 8:21 says that
"man's heart is evil from his youth," not from his birth. Ecclesiastes 8:11
explains that "the hearts of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil,"
and Ezekiel 18 demonstrates that sin is a matter of choice, not genetics or
inheritance. Likewise, here in Ephesians two, it is apparent: they became
spiritually dead by their own choice and practice of sin. The American Standard
reads: "when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins." They were dead
until their faith caused them to obey the gospel, which is the power of God to
save (Rom. 1:16,17).
"...among whom also we all once
conducted ourselves in the lusts
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children
of wrath, just as the others."
The Ephesians were not the only ones who had followed the path of sin. So it
says here: "among whom also WE ALL once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, just as the others." As Paul said in another place: "All have
sinned, and do fall short of the glory of God," (Rom. 3:23). In talking about
their previous life of sin and the resulting spiritual death, Paul broadens the
indictment to include "all."
In verse three, there are further descriptions of one's condition before obeying
the gospel:
"THE LUSTS OF OUR FLESH"
Before obeying the gospel, this is what our lives are about: living without
divine restraint, therefore engaging in "the lusts of our flesh." This is why
Paul taught: "Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the
flesh," (Gal. 5:16).
"FULFILLING THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH AND OF THE MIND"
In other words, at that time, they did whatever they wanted to do; and this
life-style or conduct caused their spiritual death.
"AND WERE BY NATURE CHILDREN OF WRATH"
Those with a theological tradition that involves the influence of Calvinism may
try to see in this the tenet of TOTAL HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY; that babies are born
in sin. "Nature" doesn't necessarily mean - something you receive through birth.
After years of practice, we drive cars naturally but we were not born driving.
Likewise, people commit sin and after years of practice - that's what they do by
nature. "The Calvinist sees too much in this verse when he insists that 'nature'
always
refers to the natural state at birth and that man is born totally depraved by
heredity. In another place Paul argued that the Gentiles did 'by nature' that
which was good (Rom. 2:14). How could they do by heredity that which is good if
man is born totally depraved?" (Truth Commentaries, Ephesians, Colly Caldwell,
p.#73).
This is the bad news about sin: You "were dead in trespasses and sins, in which
you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children
of wrath, just as the others." This is the awful condition we put ourselves in
through the choice and
continued practice of sin.
"But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of His great love with
which He loved us, even when
we were dead in trespasses,
made us alive together with
Christ (by grace you have been
saved), and raised us up together,
and made us sit together in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
For the lost sinner, there is no such thing as a DO-IT-YOURSELF PLAN OF
SALVATION! If you are dead in trespasses and sins, there just isn't any way you
can raise yourself from that death. It takes the exceeding mighty power of God
(that Paul described in the last part of Ephesians one). The power of God that
raised Christ from the dead; that's the power it takes to raise sinners from
spiritual death. It is God's power to saves, through His plan, the gospel (Rom.
1:16,17). So forget about doing this on your own!
Why did God express this power in the gospel? He is rich in mercy and great in
love! Verse 4 assigns two reasons why God exercised His power to raise sinners
from spiritual death. Why was the gospel given, that contains the power of God
to save us? Because God is rich in mercy and great in love!
This means the bottom line is: "by grace you have been saved!" I cannot do it
myself. But I can hear, believe and obey the gospel, which is the power of God
to save. Dead men and women who walk according to the course of this world can
be saved. Jesus made that possible, and God offers to raise us; to make us
alive. When does that happen?
Read this, and answer to God: "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism
into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6:4, NKJV).
By Warren E. Berkley
From Expository Files 3.6; June 1996
