WE WERE - DEAD. Ephesians 2:1-3 The first verses of Ephesians chapter 2 are still connected to the subject of the resurrection power that raised Christ up from among the dead. The same principle has worked in us who were spiritually separated from God. The calling of the Church is a heavenly calling by God of those who were dead and now have been made alive in Christ. Not only the Ephesian believers, but we also may not be aware of the awfulness of trespasses and sins before a holy God because we have become so used to them.
Not everyone with a heavenly calling will find themselves in a local church. The word "in" is found often in chapter 1, indicating we are called with a heavenly calling and are "in" heavenly places "in Christ." We are "in Him," "in love" that has been demonstrated to us. We are accepted "in the beloved" because we have redemption "in Him." We find our position established by following the path of those words in the first chapter. In Chapter 2, we now take a look at ourselves and see where we have come from and where we are now.
Paul was writing as an evangelist, not an expositor or teacher. His soul burned with thanksgiving for the evidence of grace among the Ephesian believers as he prayed intently that they would understand what it means to be joined to Christ as the Head of the church. In order to get them to really see what that meant, they had to take a look at where they had been. In order to appreciate the sunlight of grace, we need to consider the darkness and deadness of sin. Real repentance means a total rejection of any self-righteousness we thought we had and a true evaluation and acknowledgment of our guilt before God, who is infinite in holiness.
We were in the place of death - separation from God, not because of the circumstances in which we were found, but because of who we are in ourselves. Trespasses are acts of defiance against what is right. It is in the nature of fallen man to challenge authority and demand his own way in spite of what we know within ourselves is right. Why do people do what is wrong even though they know it is wrong? Self-centeredness, self-will, and selfishness are all part of the independence man wants. He does not want God or anyone else telling him what he can or cannot do, regardless if it is right or wrong. Sin is in our fallen nature. "Sin" is any form of wrong, whether inward or outward.
It is not uncommon for people who are still in their sins to say what they think God ought to do. “Why doesn’t God do something about the natural disasters that are happening?” “Why doesn’t He stop wars from happening if He is a God of love?” Such attitudes show the thoughts of those who have very little conception of sin, its causes, and its results. The word “sin” describes the whole problem that separates mankind from God. "Wherefore as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so, death passed upon all men, for all have sinned." Trespasses are obvious and public, but that does not excuse those who consider themselves "good people." There are physical sins, intellectual sins, and religious sins. Each one is a reason for our separation from God - death.
We do not like to hear the word “dead.” There is something about it that creates mortal fear because we all know its shadow is over us, and it is near every one of us. “There is only a step between me and death.” Whether we realized it or not, we were dead, separated from God by sin. Death's claim is on everyone because all have sinned. There is no way around it, even if today we begin to try to please God because, by nature, we go back again to sin, and we are separated from God by sin.
When a person is “quickened,” they are made alive spiritually. Spiritual death is the separation of a soul from God. This is the condition of every person until they trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. A sinner is not just spiritually sick; they are dead – separated from God by their trespasses and sins. Christ’s resurrection power becomes real to us when we realize our past moral and spiritual condition. We were lost to God in the depths of our sins. It is important to remember our past condition and position and God’s great mercy that lifted us out of that into our present place. Here, we are being prepared for the future role we will fill.
Paul reminded the Ephesians of their past and the grace and mercy that brought them to life. In God’s view, that happened when Christ was raised from the dead, but from our viewpoint, it happened when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. We had no spiritual and eternal life and were not able to make it happen because we were dead to God. In fact, we walked in trespasses and sins under the power of the devil. We were alienated from God because that was our preference.
Self-centered life is like that. We do what we want, think what we want, and imagine what we hope to be and do under the control of our sinful nature. These were not accidents or because of bad examples or pressure from others. These were our own willing choices by our sinful nature as “children of wrath.” By that nature, we act on “I will” instead of “I ought to.” That darkness of sin does not want to be reminded of the God of holiness and the holiness of God. The self-inflicted consequences of our sinful nature are our own fault.
The immoral person who lives openly in defiance of God's moral law is condemned to death (separation from God) because of who he is and what he does. The one who questions God, and even His existence, and why an Almighty God, if there is one, doesn't do things the way he thinks is right from his perspective is condemned to death (separation from God). His limited thoughts are restricted by what he has experienced or been taught by others who think like him. God says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways." Religious people who have taken some teachings from morality, some from humanity, and some from their own baseless thoughts and adapted them into a religious belief are perhaps the darkest sinners of all because of willful blindness and are condemned to death (separation from God).
The Gentile believers in Ephesus were those who had openly walked in the ways of the world in ungodly and immoral practices. The first of seven references to "walk" in this book indicates the worldly person doesn't just occasionally do something inconsistent with the righteousness of God, but this is their continual way of living. The devil is the governing authority of the world system and the moral darkness associated with that system. There is a power behind evil that is greater than man's power.
Satan uses whatever method he can to keep people in the place of death. He seeks to deny the blessing of eternal life to those whose nature is to disobey divine authority. He is the temporary ruler of those who "love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil." He does not have the power to keep a person from facing the problem of "trespasses and sins" and in faith, turning from sin in repentance to God and putting personal faith in Christ for salvation. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom whose whole objective is to keep people in the blackness of darkness forever.
“The lust of our flesh” binds us to the old depraved nature so that there is no way we can please God. The second birth is necessary. An unsaved person must trust Christ as Savior in order to please God. When that happens, the Spirit of God regenerates a person with a new nature. Before that, everyone was dominated by the ways of the world (cosmos) and had no connection with God. The world system is dominated by Satan, who is the “god of this world” who blinds the minds of unbelievers. He works in them until some even joke about the devil and the sins they indulge in.
“Children of wrath” are people who will not believe in the Son, so the “wrath of God” abides on them. People find it easy to accept that God is love but find it hard to accept that God is also a God of righteous wrath. Justice demands consequences for sin, and people resist admitting to the seriousness of sin. “Children of wrath” make light of sin, and to them, hell is not much more than a word they use to emphasize a point. The only hope for a condemned person under God’s wrath is for them to repent of their sin and put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone – nothing else is added. God does not compromise with evil and His commitment to do justice by punishing all wrongdoing.
Paul identifies Jewish believers as well, as living in the same way under the same condemnation. He points out that the third enemy of the believer infects Jews who had fleshly lusts that pollute their bodies and minds as well. Without exception, everyone commits sin, and by nature, everyone is without Christ and dead to God. We cannot give life to ourselves. We are lost. But the same power that raised Christ from the dead has been used to give life to those of us who were "dead in trespasses and sins."
Moral living, intellectual prowess, and spiritual devotion do not give spiritual life. Man, by nature, is a runaway from God - a criminal in more ways than one. We rebel against God's authority and conspire against His revealed will so we can find reasons to excuse ourselves for doing things our own way. By resisting God and the righteousness our inward being teaches us is true, we have alienated ourselves from God and have to suffer the consequences of sin.
Death has passed on us all; there is no escape. Our trespasses have separated us from God; that is what's at stake. By nature, we are condemned, and those consequences of sin we cannot escape because we are separated from God by sin. But all is not helpless and hopeless because there is God’s power working for us. The power that raised Christ from the dead after He died on the cross is the same power that gives life when we trust in in the Lord Jesus. We do not have to remain separated from God by sin.
There really is nothing in us that would recommend us to God's grace. There is no reason for mercy to be shown to us. No human being is good enough to merit salvation or any of God's mercies toward us. We who deserve God's holy, just, and righteous wrath and should have been consigned to the consequences of death forever have been loved by God. He has shown totally undeserved mercy toward us.
It is only right for us to stop occasionally and remember who we were, where we were, and what we did when we were in our sins. Remembering "the rock from when we have been hewn, the hole of the pit from whence we were digged" makes us appreciate God's mercy, love, and grace. His great power has worked for us. By hearing the Gospel and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, His electing grace has changed everything. Resurrection power to give life is still working today, bringing life to spiritually dead men and women.