Ephesians 2, Part 1
True follower of Jesus, did you know you used to be dead?
In Ephesians 2, verses 1–3, Paul writes:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”
Okay, let’s pause right there. Are you thinking, “Who is he talking about?” because there’s almost no one like he is describing. The vast majority of people are simply not that bad. There are people that bad, no doubt. But doesn’t it seem like Paul is exaggerating here?
What Paul is describing is the state of people before they became followers of Jesus. In a word: dead.
My guess is that many people do not feel dead before they start following Jesus. Some might. Every now and then you hear someone who is really struggling say “I feel dead inside.” My dog’s breath smells like dying, rotten flesh. It’s horrific. It’s not just dog breath. It’s death breath. He sure seems to be doing fine, though. Paul, however, is not talking about literal death.
Paul describes people who are separated from Jesus. They are dead, they are under the rule of sin. They are not under the rule of Jesus. They aren’t truly alive.
You might point out that you know some Christians who seem to act like the are still under the rule of sin. They are supposed to no longer be dead, no longer under the rule of sin, but still seem to be, because of their behavior. That is a key point, because it reminds us that, as James will point out, faith without works is dead. (James 2:17) There is such a thing as dead faith. Dead faith is when you talk a good Christian game, show up for church gatherings, go through the rituals of worship, but you live a very non-Jesus way of life in other parts of your life. Simply put, Jesus and his ways are not ruling your heart.
This is precisely what Jesus pointed out about the religious leaders in his day. Their church game was unparalleled. They had all the religious lingo, ritual practices, laws on top of laws. But their hearts were corrupt, jealous, greedy, power-hungry, and they couldn’t even see the Messiah when he did miracles right before their eyes.
These are the people Jesus talks about when he says in Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
These are the goats in Jesus’ Sheep and Goats parable (Matthew 25), who do not actively reach out to the hungry, impoverished, imprisoned, unhoused, marginalized: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
But there is hope for those who are dead.
Back in Ephesians 1, look at verse 4–10,
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Praise God, he has love and mercy and grace for us! He so loved us that we who used to be dead have the opportunity to be alive. No longer dead under the rule of sin, but alive under the rule of Jesus. He did it.
And he did it so that we can be made alive, to do good works. Our good works don’t save us. Only Jesus could do that work. But our grateful, loving response to his saving work is to do good works.
Thus in verses 1 through 10, Paul describes how people can move from death, to life, because of God’s love for us in Jesus.
And with that deeply meaningful theological principle in hand, now Paul applies the principle to what was likely the most difficult problem in the Christians in his day. We learn about that problem in the next post.
Photo by Daniel Jensen on Unsplash
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