Alive In Christ Series

Ephesians 2:1-10 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

Recent public mass gatherings have concerned government and public health authorities. With the onset of good weather, many people being cooped up inside have gone out en-mass. Governments are worried with the possibility of a second wave to COVID-19, like they have discovered in China, that people will not obey directives, and live their lives as they please. Many people have expressed that this recent time outdoors is like being brought back to life.

The reality of life, truly being alive, ultimately relates to the reality of life beyond death. The point of all of history is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Father's bringing Christ back from the dead that first Resurrection Sunday, inaugurated a new era. Through faith in this resurrected Christ, God transforms the previously spiritually dead, to spiritually living.

Clearly, physical death ends a previous experience of physical life and in that sense is an event, while spiritual death is a state in which all human beings exist unless given spiritual life. Furthermore, according to Jesus, a believer who dies physically will live forever spiritually and will also participate in the future resurrection; an unbeliever who dies physically while still in a state of spiritual death remains in that state and has no hope of resurrection to life. We are all dying physically and cannot by simple choice reverse that direction; we have all been dead spiritually, but some, by receiving God’s grace in Christ, can turn from death to life (Liefeld, W. L. (1997). Ephesians (Vol. 10, Eph 2:1). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

In Ephesians 2:1-10, the Apostle Paul presents the past, present, and future of the Christian: what a believer was (vv. 1–3), what they are (vv. 4–6, 8–9), and what they will be (vv. 7, 10). Put another way, we can see how people are: 1) Before being alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-3) 2) Being alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-6, 8-9), and 3) After being alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:7,10).

To be truly alive, we must understand what life was:

1) Before being alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Ephesians 2:1-3 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (ESV)

The natural state of every person who has not repented of sin, and trusted in Christ for salvation is one who is dead in … trespasses and sins. This indicates the sphere, or realm, in which something or someone exists (The Greek case is the locative of sphere). We were not dead because we had committed sin but because, prior to salvation, we were in sin. A ‘trespasses’ (paraptoma) is a false step, involving either the crossing of a known boundary or a deviation from the right path. A ‘sins’ (hamartia), however, means rather a missing of the mark, a falling short of a standard. Together the two words cover the positive and negative, or active and passive, aspects of human wrongdoing, that is to say, our sins of commission and of omission (Stott, J. R. W. (1979). God’s new society: the message of Ephesians (p. 71). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

In this context trespasses and sins do not refer simply to acts but first of all to the sphere of existence of the person apart from God. One does not become a liar when they tell a lie; one tells a lie because they are already is a liar. One does not become a thief when one steals; One steals because they already are a thief. And so with murder, adultery, covetousness, and every other sin. Committing sinful acts do not make us sinners; we commit sinful acts because we are sinners. Jesus confirmed this when He said, “The evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil” (Matt. 12:35) and “the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders” (Matt. 15:18–19). Paraptoma (trespasses) means to slip, fall, stumble, deviate, or go the wrong direction. Hamartia (sins) originally carried the idea of missing the mark, as when hunting with a bow and arrow. It then came to represent missing or falling short of any goal, standard, or purpose. In the spiritual realm it refers to missing and falling short of God’s standard of holiness. Paul does not use the two terms here to point up different kinds of wrongdoing but simply to emphasize the breadth of the sinfulness that results from spiritual deadness. The apostle’s description is not that of some particularly decadent tribe or degraded segment of society, or even of the extremely corrupt paganism of his own day. Rather, it is the biblical diagnosis of fallen humanity in fallen society everywhere (O’Brien, P. T. (1999). The letter to the Ephesians (p. 156). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).