“And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as were the others.”
Ephesians 2:1-3
No other chapter in the Bible describes our salvation as completely as does Ephesians 2. In this chapter, Paul reminds us what we have been saved from (vv. 1-3), how we have been saved (vv. 4-9), and why we have been saved (vv. 10-22). It is important to remember that Paul is not speaking here to non-believers but to Christians. His words serve as a constant reminder to all believers that salvation is completely a work of God. There is nothing in us that would make us choose Him. Indeed, Paul emphasizes that we are unable to make such a choice.
It is essential that we understand this doctrine of total depravity. To lessen our sinfulness is to lessen God’s glory in providing salvation. To suggest that we have an ability to choose God is to make man a partner with God in justification—something the Scriptures do not permit.
This doctrine is all essential to understanding salvation. Our understanding of it not only affects our view of salvation, but also every aspect of the Christian life. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones once stated the same: “I am convinced that our failure to properly understand all God has done in salvation greatly affects our lives as believers in every way.”
How so? Consider three examples. First, our understanding of our sinfulness affects our service for the Lord. Those who recognize the greatness of the debt from which God has released them stand continually ready to do whatever He desires. Those who see their sin as less are often tempted to question why God does not do more for them since they have served Him so much or so long. Consider, for example, the comparison that Jesus makes between Simon the Pharisee and the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50. Jesus makes it clear to Simon that the woman loves Him more because she was forgiven more (vs. 47). Those who recognize the depths of their sin have a deeper love for the Lord than those who do not recognize how much Jesus has forgiven them.
In the passage at hand, Paul provides for us a three-fold description of the sinner. We might summarize and analyze his description with three words—we were dead, disobedient, and doomed. Let’s look at each.
Dead
In verse 1, Paul provides his description of our condition spiritually. This description differs radically from the way most evangelicals today describe man. Rather than speaking of man as sick or dying, Paul bluntly asserts that man in sin is “dead.” It is essential that we understand man’s condition properly—a wrong diagnosis of the problem only results in inadequate cures. The common diagnosis today of man as sick or dying fails acknowledge the seriousness, indeed the hopelessness, of man’ condition apart from a sovereign work of God. To minimize the seriousness of our situation is to minimize the glory of God in salvation.
Consider for a moment the common description of salvation—Man is sick even unto death. There is only one medicine that will cure the man if he would but take it. The medicine is in the bottle; it will cure him forever. But…all depends on the man. Will he take the medicine and live or will he fail to take it and die? Such is the man-centered approach to evangelism. A better illustration is that the man has died. The disease has taken his life-breath away. All hope is lost. Then, into the room of the dead man, walks Jesus. With one touch, the man is restored to life! Here the focus is on what Jesus has done, not on what man has done.
Likewise, consider another commonly used illustration—a man is drowning in the ocean. He is going down for the “third time.” At just that moment, a boat arrives and a life preserver is tossed to the drowning man. He can be saved…if only he would reach out and take hold of the preserver. Again, notice who is ultimately responsible for salvation—it is the man who makes the decision that determines his salvation. Instead, consider a more biblical illustration—the body of a man is washed up onto the shore. People rush to his side, but quickly they realize that he is dead. A few futile attempts are made to revive him, but all are in vain—he is dead; nothing more can be done for him. Then a man named Jesus comes walking down the beach. He walks over to the man, takes his hand, and says, “Arise.” To the amazement of all around, the man rises. Again, the focus is on Jesus and what He has done.
But why have I taken so long to describe these pictures? Because these two illustrations sound so right, but they do not provide a biblical picture of man’s predicament. People without Christ are not just lost and in need of someone to show them the right direction, confused and in need of understand, or unhappy and in need of cheering. If so, then education and persuasion would be sufficient. But if man is truly dead in sins and trespasses, then only a work of God can bring him back to life. This is why salvation must be of God alone—man can do nothing to earn his salvation, not even to “assist” God or even cooperate with Him. Dead men cannot do anything for themselves! Only once we understand how seriously desperate man’s condition is will we recognize how much salvation is a work of God alone.
But what does it mean for man to be dead? When we speak of man as dead spiritually, we are referring to his inability to respond to spiritual things. Just as a physically dead man does not respond to physical stimuli, so a spiritually dead man does not respond to spiritual stimuli. This is why the things of God do not move the natural man—he is spiritually dead. He does not need instruction, persuasion, or even a good example to follow. He needs life which God alone can give.
Finally, we must recognize that although all are dead spiritually, all are “not in the same state of decay.” Some are outwardly more sinful than others. In short, some corpses stink more than others, but they are all dead. Thus it is with man. He is not sick or drowning and in need of help. He is dead in sins and trespasses and in need of life. That is why the apostle reminds us, “But God…even while we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:4-5). He has raised us. He has given us life. He has saved us. To God alone be the glory for the salvation He has given us!
Disobedient
While the word “dead” describes man’s condition, the word “disobedience” describes the evidences and effects of that condition. Three words in particular describe that condition.
First, Paul uses the word “trespasses” in verses one and five. This word indicates the illegal crossing of a boundary. It also contains the idea of going down a forbidden path or even the wrong road. Thus, Proverbs 14:12 reminds us: “There is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is death.” One evidence of man’s spiritual death is that he travels down the wrong road—he chooses the broad way that leads unto destruction rather than the narrow way that leads unto life. Not only this, but he continually crosses the boundary line of God’s law.
Second, the apostle also speaks of “sins” as evidence of man’s spiritual death. The word “sins” indicates a “missing the mark.” What is that mark? Romans 3:23 tells us, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God’s glory, his perfections, and His holiness are that mark. Most men do not consider themselves sinners because they change the “mark” and lower the crossbar to the standards of men rather than measuring themselves by the standards of God. Compared to other men, they consider their moral lifestyle to be quite good. But compared to the measure of God’s holiness, they completely miss the mark. They fall far short of God’s righteous standard.
Third, in verse 3, Paul speaks of conducting ourselves according to the “lusts and desires” of the flesh. Another evidence of man’s spiritual death is that his God-given desires are out of control rather than under the control of God. There is nothing sinful about desires for food, sleep, or even sexual relations—provided the under the control of our Creator and within the bounds of His law. For example, a desire for food is not sinful, but gluttony is. Neither is the desire for sleep—but sloth and laziness are. Thus we see that our desires are out of control and are according to the desires of the flesh rather than according to what pleases God.
Additionally, these two words remind us that sin is not merely the outward act, but also the inward “lusting.” Thus, Jesus reminds us in Matthew 5 that lustful and murderous thoughts are judged as sinful just as are the actual deeds. The Evidence of our sinfulness is not only in our actions but also in the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Many who do not consider themselves as “sinners” because they live basically moral lives have failed to consider that God’s definition of sin extends to the heart attitude. The evidence of our spiritual deadness is found, not only in what we do, but also in our lusts and desires that are clearly contrary to the will of God.
Doomed
“Dead in trespasses and sins” shows us what our condition is. Our “disobedience” provides the evidence that we are indeed dead spiritually. The word “doomed” indicates our destiny apart from the work of God in salvation. Paul calls us “by nature, children of wrath.” By this, he emphasizes the hopeless condition into which each of us is born. Unless God in His mercy intervenes, we are all doomed to an eternal hell.
Most today want to avoid the idea of God’s wrath. Yet the Bible is replete with references to the wrath of God. In the Old Testament, God’s wrath is mentioned over 600 times. It continues to be a dominant theme in the New Testament. Through Christ, we are “saved from the wrath to come.” In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked that “this cup” would pass from Him. The cup that He referred to was the cup of God’s wrath spoken of in the Old Testament. Jesus knew that, on the cross, He would drink that cup that was rightly deserved by all mankind.
We must be especially careful here. Today many attempt to place the focus on God’s love and ignore God’s wrath. But whenever we “waterdown” the reality of the wrath of God, we “waterdown” the love of God. God’s love is greatly magnified when we see the greatness of the wrath from which He has saved us. Salvation is deliverance from that wrath. Jesus, on the cross, satisfied the wrath of God and drank the cup completely for us. But apart from that deliverance, we remain in spiritual death, living according to the disobedient desires of our flesh, doomed under the wrath of God which will one day be poured out upon us.
What God Did
“But God….” Verse 4 begins Paul’s emphasis on a God-centered, rather than a man-centered salvation. What God did made the difference, not what man does! He made us alive; He raised us up; He caused us to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And He did so, not because of anything in us, but because of His “great love wherein He loved us,” because He is “rich in mercy,” because He wanted to show “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness in Christ Jesus” for all ages. Salvation is a work of God alone who alone deserves to be praised.
To have an adequate view of salvation, we must understand our condition—we must realize the hopelessness and impossibility of our doing anything to save ourselves. We were dead—He made us alive!
Yet this does not rule out any call for repentance. The same apostle who wrote Ephesians told the Athenians that God “commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). We must do the same. But we must remember that, when people respond to Christ, they cannot claim any credit for their new life—dead men cannot bring themselves back to life…. But God can!
Jesus’ healing of the man with the withered hand forms an interesting parallel to salvation. Jesus says to him, “Stretch forth thine hand.” But he can’t—but he must—and, as he does, his hand is made whole. Such is the mystery of salvation and evangelism—we must call dead men to repent. They can’t—they must—and, as they do, they are made whole. Perhaps the best illustration is Lazarus dead in the tomb. Jesus calls, “Lazarus, come forth.” He can’t—he must—he does. Could Lazarus claim any credit for coming forth? Would he tell listeners years later that he heard Jesus and his choice to get up and walk out made the difference? Never—throughout all eternity, he would proclaim, “He did it all, all to Him I owe, Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”
Copyright Jim Ehrhard, 1999. You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author; (2) any modifications are clearly marked; (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction; and (4) you do not make more than 100 copies without permission. If you would like to post this material to your web site or make any use other than as defined above, please contact Teaching Resources International
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