Dead

My husband and I have watched all of the Lord of the Rings movies. Some of the creatures are grotesque, but there is one that makes my skin crawl. He’s sinister, sneaky, repulsive, abhorrent, heinous, wicked, ugly. It’s his looks. His voice. His mannerisms. His behavior. I close my eyes and cover my ears when he is in a scene. Even the sound of his name makes me cringe. Gollum.

There are many disgusting characters and creatures in books and movies, but for some reason, Gollum is the epitome of yuck to me. Thankfully, Gollum is fictional, and I can turn him off, but Paul wrote of something real and far surpassing the descriptions of Gollum.

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.[1]

Ephesians 2:1-10

As we did in Chapter 1, I want to include the whole passage to keep the context. Today’s verses are dark and sobering, but light and life are coming over the next two weeks. And, as we get to the good news, we want to remember who we were before Christ, so God’s grace is more and more beautiful to us.

As we work through these ten verses over the next few weeks, keep in mind that we ended Chapter 1 focusing on God’s power revealed in Jesus’ resurrection and enthronement. Jesus is above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named (vs 1:19-23). This is why we can focus with hope on our dark and sobering three verses today.

Paul leads with: “You were dead in the trespasses and sins” (vs 1). I’m sure there are some that have not seen the movie The Princess Bride (inconceivable), but there is a memorable quote (one among many) that fits our passage. Wesley, the hero, appears to be dead. His companions take him to Miracle Max who instructs them: “It just so happens that your friend here is only mostly dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive.” Paul isn’t stating that we are mostly dead with still have some life in us, some chance to rise again.

No, Paul clearly says that we are spiritually dead. We have zero power – none – to save ourselves. We are dead to the things of God. We have absolutely no inclination for God. Paul phrases it another way later in his letter: “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (vs 4:18).

We are utterly hopeless, utterly helpless. What Paul is describing is our total depravity – our sin nature from birth that affects our whole person. R.C. Sproul stated: “Classical Reformed theology is insistent that man is so fallen that he has no disposition, inclination, or bent toward the things of Christ, and would never respond to the call of the gospel unless the Holy Spirit first changed the disposition of the heart through regeneration.”[2]

We are dead, dead, dead. We are dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked. John MacArthur teaches that in is our sphere of existence. He explains with illustrations of thieves and liars. They don’t become such by their actions, but because of who they are – thieves and liars – they steal and lie. Our sin comes out of who we already are (Matthew 12:34).

Trespasses and sins are meant to underscore the breadth of our sin state not necessarily to show different kinds. Trespasses means to stumble, deviate, or go the wrong direction. We trespass when we deviate from God’s law. Sin was generally understood as missing the mark. Biblically, it means we fall “short of God’s standard of holiness” (MacArthur).

We see this truth in Scripture:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin is falling short of God’s glory and falling short of God’s glory is sin.

“Since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:16).

Sin manifests in many different forms and degrees – slandering my neighbor or committing adultery – but they all are the same state of death. A little white lie or just being frustrated doesn’t put us in the mostly dead category instead of all dead. We are still completely, spiritually dead. We can think of this in the reverse in terms of our holiness. If our righteous acts are depicted by how far we can swim across a lake to reach the other side, and one swims 10 feet, another 50 feet, and yet another 200 feet, but the lake is 300 feet across, all have failed. They are in the lake and not on the shore. Their state is the same.

We were dead in our 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 (vs 2). We see two glimmers of hope in verses 1 and 2 amidst the darkness: were and once. As we look at the ugliness, the heinousness, hopelessness, and helplessness of our condition apart from Jesus, we are reminded that this is not who we are now (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Also, note the word walked. This encompasses our conduct and behavior. This was our whole life.

Next, Paul tells us the three things we were following: 1) the world (external), 2) Satan (supernatural), and 3) our flesh (internal). Following means we were willingly being influenced or persuaded by each of these three things (Romans 6:16). The world means we embrace the values, thinking, and priorities of culture and society. Timothy Keller divides the world into traditional (duties, good works, family, etc.) and emergent (self, many paths to god, no absolute standards). Today, these worldly influences are bombarding us through humanism, self-centeredness, materialism, and rampant sinful sex.

David Wells aptly assesses the world: “You can recognize ‘the ways of the world’ wherever sin seems acceptable and righteousness seems strange.”[3] Familiar today?

John warned in his first letter: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life – is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16).

“The prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” – this is Satan. He is a spirit. He has power and authority but limited. He has a plan, and he is actively working. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (1 Corinthians 4:4). Satan is in rebellion against God, and those who follow Satan are also in rebellion against God (characterized as disobedient).

Next, Paul makes an inclusive statement: “among whom we all once lived” (vs 3a). Paul uses all. There is no one who has ever lived, is living, or will live that is excluded. All are born in this sinful, spiritually dead state. Contrary to the contemporary view that we are born basically good, Paul lays down the truth. This was and is everyone’s state apart from Christ. Second, Paul switched pronouns from you (vs 1-2) to we. He numbers himself with everyone else.

“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 (vs 3). Flesh is our fallen, sinful nature. It is seen in our bodies and minds. Again, our sinful state affects our whole selves.

Like trespasses and sins, passions and desires underscore the breadth not necessarily different types. Passionsare strong desires of all kinds. Desires means we diligently want or seek something. It is also translated as lust. Body indicates doing what feels good. Mind indicates a deliberate choice to defy God.

“by nature we were children of wrath” – Our condition at birth destined us for God’s wrath. God’s wrath, His condemning judgment is what we deserved because God is just and holy. Many don’t like to talk about sin, God’s wrath, judgment, or hell, but Scripture teaches these truths. We cannot truly understand God’s amazing grace and mercy if we do not truly understand our “all” dead state apart from Jesus.

Reflection

1.    Paul wants us to understand the seriousness of sin and our hopeless, helpless state apart from Jesus. Was there any part of his description that shocked you or you tend to dismiss as that wasn’t you? You weren’t really THAT bad? Explain in your own words why you really are included in Paul’s description of all.

2.    We are often surprised when unbelievers sin especially in blatant or perverse ways. We can unconsciously (or consciously) expect people to behave in right ways. How does Paul’s description of our unregenerate state challenge that thinking? What should we expect?

3.    In light of question 2, what do people need? An attack on their politics? Condemnation of their lifestyle? Unbelievers need the Gospel. What can you change in how you respond to unbelievers who sin? Be specific.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eph 2:1–10.

[2] Sproul, R.C. Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary. Sanford, Ligonier Ministries, 2023.

[3] Wells, David. Losing Our Virtue. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Pub Co., 1998.