Ephesians 2:1–3 (ESV) —
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.
NOTE: I am not sure
we appreciate our former standing. We were dead, not physically, but
spiritually. No one is born a Christian. All of us followed the prince of the
power of the air, Satan. All of us lived for our passions. All of us were
opposed to God's rule. All of us were condemned to physical death, children of
wrath. We were not good people who just needed a little direction and
help--that idea is pelagianism. We need to understand our total helplessness to
truly grasp our unbelievable salvation. We need to understand the depth of our
sin and hopelessness, in order to truly appreciate the heights of our salvation
and our hope. As long as we see ourselves as good people, in some sly way
deserving life, we will be categorically wrong about salvation. Paul recognized
his sinfulness. He calls himself the least of the apostles, later in life he
calls himself the least of the saints, and near death he writes to Timothy that
he was worse of all sinners (my Pastor noted this in a recent sermon). But he
never gave up, he fought sin until he died -- "I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race." We need to recognize our rebellion in
order to appreciate our salvation.
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