Excuse me. My heart is still beating. How can You say I am dead when I am alive? This devotion explores how the spiritual meaning of being dead and how we can become truly alive.
Nuggets
- Many times, the sinful state is referred to as being dead.
- All mankind, at birth, are spiritually dead because Adam and Eve’s original sin condemned mankind to spiritual death.
- We are bondslaves of Satan because Satan rules this world.
- Because mankind chose to not follow God’s laws and commandments, mankind is the subject of divine wrath.
- When we ask God to take control of our lives, we pass from eternal death into eternal life.
- We need Jesus to be our Savior.
Devotions in the The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians series
There are some concepts in the Bible that can make non-believers scratch their heads. Case in point: Ephesians 2: 1.
Hello! We are still very much alive. How can we be dead?
The problem is that we look at this from a physical viewpoint. God, on the other hand, is looking at this from a spiritual viewpoint.
Let’s look at the different lenses.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
How Does the Bible Refer to the Sinful State?
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2: 1 ESV)
The Bible uses several words to describe man’s sinful state. First Thessalonians 5: 6 says, “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober” (ESV). This can tie into the concept of death as sometimes it is said that a dead person looks like they are just sleeping.
The sinful state has also been likened to a tree that is not producing. “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit” (Mt. 7: 18 ESV). A poor, sickly tree can be dying.
Darkness has also been uses to describe the sinful state. “But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief” (I Thess. 5: 4 NLT). There will be lights out when we die.
Why Dead?
Many times, however, the sinful state is referred to as being dead.
“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins” (Col. 2: 13 NLT).
To me, dead seems like a good description. When we don’t have Christ in our lives, we are filled with a suffocating presence that sucks the life out of us.
We have no hope. Our joy is gone.
Oh, the worldview people may argue that they have wonderful lives that do contain hope and joy. But they don’t.
They are talking physical lives again. We are talking spiritual lives.
The spiritual life is the one that is important. It will be for eternity.
We can be walking around enjoying our physical life without knowing that we are spiritually dead. We don’t have a clue.
We understand the concept of death, so it is easy to equate not believing in God as bringing death to us. But physical death also brings consequences to our spiritual condition.
There is a finality to it. Non-believers no longer have the opportunity to become believers — their future is set.
Death makes the body useless. There will be no more passion or enjoyment. We can’t visit with family and friends.
Many people fear death. Spiritual death should be feared. Hopefully, it will be feared enough to encourage non-believers to start searching for God.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Who Is Dead?
Spiritually Dead
All mankind, at birth, are spiritually dead because Adam and Eve’s original sin condemned mankind to spiritual dea
What does spiritual death mean? Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- The consequences of sin are spiritual death and separation from God.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
When God was giving Adam and Eve instructions, He said that they could eat from any of the trees except one.
“But the Lord God warned him, ‘You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden — except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die’” (Gen. 2: 16-17 NLT).
Unfortunately, they did eat from the tree. No, they did not physically die (toward which Satan was trying to steer the conversation). They did die spiritually and were separated from God.
Bondslaves of Satan
We are bondslaves of Satan because Satan rules this world.
That we are bondslaves of Satan may be a little harder for some to recognize. That is especially true since we talked several devotions ago that even believers do not believe Satan exists.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Satan rules this world. When we follow him, we walk in sin.
Let’s look again at the verse in Ephesians 2, but go on a little farther. Remember, Paul was writing to the church who no longer was following Satan. He was telling them what they no longer were.
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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 — 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” (Eph. 2: 1-3 ESV).
Let’s get a list going. Followers of Satan
- Are spiritually dead.
- Are disobedient to God.
- Allow our fleshly desires to be unchecked.
- Have an angry disposition.
Satan eventually will be defeated by God. Scriptures prophesy that.
- “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out” (Jn. 12: 31 ESV).
- “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20: 10 ESV).
Satan is ruling this world — right now. He will not always be in charge. The day is coming where God’s army will defeat him and sin. The consequences of sin — death, disease, hunger, poverty — will go away.
Subjects of Divine Wrath
Because mankind chose to not follow God’s laws and commandments, mankind is the subject of divine wrath.
We have to deal with the consequences of the original sin. That sin placed us under the wrath of God; the sins we commit just add to the load.
Ephesians 2: 1 describes our sinful nature as being “… dead in the the trespasses and sins” (ESV). That, to me, implies that the corruption caused by the breaking of the laws and commandments invites God’s wrath.
Sin has caused God’s peace and love to leave us. So we don’t even have that to help comfort us.
Coming Back to Life
When we ask God to take control of our lives, we pass from eternal death into eternal life.
We have to remember that what we have been talking about describes the Ephesians — and us — before conversion. Then conversion happens when the Ephesians — and us — admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord.
When we ask God to take control of our lives, it is said that we are passing from death into life. We no longer have eternal death but eternal life.
How can this happen? The how is one of the things we will not be able to totally understand.
That doesn’t mean it can’t happen. God did raise Jesus from the grave and bring Him back to life, didn’t He? He is raising us back to life.
Don’t worry. God’s got this.
Again, there are several different terms that are used to describe this. Here it says, “And you hath he quickened …” (Eph. 2: 1 KJV). Let’s look at some of the others.
- “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God'” (Jn. 3: 3 ESV).
- “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Cor. 4: 6 ESV).
- “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31: 33 ESV).
We will have to take it on faith that God will do what He says. Faith is a gift from God that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives and distinguishes us from others.
Glossary
Through Whom and By Whom?
We need Jesus to be our Savior.
No, Paul didn’t think the laws could save us. In fact, he knew that all the laws did was show us how they could not save us.
Salvation only comes through belief that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart.
- Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
Glossary
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
We’ve talked about this in depth in the past several devotions.
Because of God’s infinite grace, He devised the Plan of Salvation that made Jesus, through propitiation, our Redeemer in order to forgive us of our sins. Becoming saints when we accept the gift of salvation, we are set apart to be holy through being justified. Justification is the act of sanctification. Jesus is the substitute (propitiation) so that His blood can justify and sanctify us.
To read devotions in the Forgiveness of Sins through Grace by Redemption series, click the appropriate button below.
To read devotions in the Churchy Words series, click the appropriate button below.
God is the source. God devised the plan through which mankind would be restored. He did this because of His great grace, mercy, and love.
Making the Connections
We have to remember the living-in-my-sins lifestyle came before the God-has-redeemed-justified-and-forgiven me state. We have to remember the contract all we can thank God for what He has done for us.
But we also have to get on with our eternal lives. We can’t keep reliving the sinful past.
We have to concentrate on living the life He has called us as children and heirs of God. We have to accomplish the mission to which He has called us.
How Do We Apply This?
The change from eternal death to eternal life has to come at the initiation and completion of God working in our lives. We can do nothing in and of ourselves.
God just wants us to sit back and accept those things. He doesn’t want us to make it about us — it has to be about Him and His plan.
So, we have to make Him Sovereign God do our lives. We have to keep the focus on Him and His power.
Loving Heavenly Father. We thank You that You did have a plan. You created us and raised us from eternal death to eternal life. We thank You for Your love, grace, and mercy. Help us to live for You. Amen.
What do you think?
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