Ephesians 2:1-4
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· 5 viewsBelievers condition before the grace of God.
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Deceptive Titles
Deceptive Titles
I went to pick up furniture one time from a craiglist add with a good friend of mine
As we arrived we realized something wasnt quite adding up
It only was a 3-4 hours of round trip riding might I add
When I walked in and I saw the furniture- the pictures didnt quite match up
The finish had sand and dust all over it, handles were spray painted gold
After telling them, I wasnt interested, we left and needless to say we have a good laugh now
But item was deceptive- it was not as it seems
Many people are deceived about themselves and their spiritual condition
Many people think they are good as they are- im a good person thats got to amount for something
Now the world is selling this deceptive idea as truth- “Live your truth”
You do you, no one can tell you whats right or whats wrong
Only God can judge- you are right and he will and that should scare you and I to death
People continue with false ideas and deceptive lies as if God hasnt spoken on this already
Im not sure there is more clearer 10 verses in the bible on state of man before Christ than this
Im not sure there is a more clearer statement in the bible on the present work of God in a believer
And also Im not sure there is more clearer statement in the bible to how the regenerated believer should now live
Beloved God has spoken- He has spoken clearly and His word is definitive and declarative
So Paul after reminding the Ephesians of what God did before time and without their knowledge in salvation reminds them of what they were when God called them
We are going to take these verses in pieces in hopes to better understand them today
1. You were dead in your sins you once walked in
-When we even read the first word we are left with the primary source of our problems and that is you and I
-We are the cause of our spiritual death and sin
-Man has always sought to redirect and deflect his due responsibility for sin to others
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
In the garden, Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the snake but God judges rightly and assigns judgement to all
Its out of their own desire they sinned and so did and at times do we still
But Paul, writing to the church- God willing filled with genuine believers says there was a time “You lived your own truth” and “You did you”
And you were dead in your sin in trespasses
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Here all men still sit or once sat
this our condition to which we are born into
Why does an infant need no one to teach them how to sin- its their nature
Born with a desire to sin and gratify ourselves
JMac- said it this way
“One doesnt become a liar because he lied, but he lies because he is a liar. One doesnt become a thief because stole, but steals because he is a thief. Same adultery, murder, coveting, anger and every other sin.”
“Commiting sinful acts does not make us sinners, we commit sinful acts because we are sinners.”
The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
So here we are by our nature missing the mark and going the wrong direction
All people born dead
“We may have a battlefield full of corpses, with 20 different stages of decay but they are uniformily dead”
We may have varying degrees of goodness and wickedness being lived out by people around us but when applied to Gods standard of holiness and perfection
Every person, man or woman, boy or girl- each are failures and dead in their sin before God
The most moral of individuals to most vile and wicked person on the planet each need Jesus just as desperate as the next
Dead is dead
One commentator made mention of the rushing to a nearby house after a young boy banged on his church office door for help
As he got to the home- a mother was screaming “He is dead, He is dead” in regards to her 3 month old baby
After he and her trying all they could to revive the baby - the paramedics arrived and they to were unable to revive the baby
No amount of specialized help, no amount of desire, no amount of care could bring the little one back- not even the love of its mother
Dead is dead- that is how everyone of us sits or sat spiritually
When the HS inspired Pauls letter here, he really meant dead- not slightly impaired but meant unable and with no desire to do anything to remedy our souls
There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
Thats were we all sat and many still do
Doing what our hearts desire
But not only is our desire naturally against God
2. The World is following its leader
-The natural course of the world is against God himself because Satan has organized a system of traps and sin
-He has twisted Gods truth and flat out promoted bold face lies to which the world and use bought into
-Its the trinity of depravity and death
-Myself, the World and Satan who deceives both
When you look around- you see exactly that playing out in the world around us
JMac- said three 3 things describe this world
humanism- places ourselves above everything- Man is the measure of truth and you like, you believe it, just do it- Man is the boss and there is no need for God
Materialism- uncontrollable pursuit of more and more stuff- especially money
Sexual Perversion- dominates the Western World in ways of rival the lowest point in Greek and Roman societies
This world in which Satan rules- we see played out in the hearts of unsaved men and women
So when people describe their free will to choose Christ- i will agree that exist but we can only do what our nature allows
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
But this where we were or are even today
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
So what we see before Jesus our will is bound in our nature and desire
We did what our heart and world said was good
But after God calls and regenerates mans dead heart there is real freedom now
Now we have freedom to choose sin or be obedient
And the absolutely scary part for many today is that they are continuing to be whatever their heart desires and think that God is ok with it because they have prayed a prayer or are sitting in a pew, these pews today
But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The church long lived on the motto- “Comes as you are” “God is Love”
Be has flat out dropped the ball and substituted the worlds philosophy of truth as therfore there no necessity of
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
English Standard Version Chapter 1
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Long are the days were sin requires repentance- has been replaced with- “Be the real you” “God is love”
Made me sick yesterday as I scrolled through the Facebook as outside of Trinity Lutheran Church in Greenville SC
Has multicolored signs which read- “God’s door are open to all.” promoting the LGBTQ
I expect to see this from our world but not from the church
There is not light in that Gospel- for it the persons entire identity is wrapped in their sin not in Christ
The title gay christian is not anymore scriptural than the pedophile Christian or to lessen the sting- a lusting Christian
As I sat in my office on Friday, I had a random call from some guy who wanted to ask me a question
Asked first if we had a school at our church and then asked if I would allow a student in with gay parents?
After our brief conversation, he disgustedly said- thank you sir and hung up.
This is the world that we are left to be light in
But we will never be the light of Gospel if the church doesnt start saying- the same one who says come as you are also says if you anyone wants to follow me, he must take up his cross and die to himself and follow me
The Gospel- the precious of my Jesus can save the vilest of sinners of which I am one
But we have been saved from sin- to no longer indentify with it- but now with Christ
The most telling thing for the professing Christians today is our lives are more identified to our sin and little to no desire to be “holy for I am holy” but all the while toss the grace around like they actually possess it
Thats the pattern of the world around us
But that is not to be the Ephesian church- thats how once identified ourselves but not anymore
Which is why the following verses are so important
Had God not been merciful to us, loved us even while we hated him, called us to him and made us alive in Christ by grace and grace alone- we never would come to him
Grace, Grace, Gods Grace,
Grace that can pardon and cleanse within
Grace, Grace, Gods Grace
Grace that is greater than all our sin
Somebody say Amen
Paul says- that is who you used to be before Grace got you
Application
Every person needs Jesus equally
-every persons total depravity could be compared to people standing on the bank of a wide river
-Little children and older people only can jump a short distance
-More agile older kids and adults can jump farther and athletes can jump the farthest
-But none can reach the other side
-No matter what their distance was or degree of success, no one can make the jump
-Same for all people- no matter the personal effort or even good works- they all come short of Gods perfection
That’s a really helpful starting point in sharing the Gospel
-We we are all in the same boat
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
2. Once we are called, we are to live like we have been redeemded
-Paul went to great lenghts for us to understand the severity of sin
-We had no hope and we didnt want any
But that was the old life
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
It doesnt mean the struggle against sin isnt real
After declaring the struggle Paul has between right and wrong he says
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
However, the Ephesians and every other believer has been called to a new life and given all we need to live it out in Christ
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
Lets walk as new creations, no longer deceived by ourselves, the world and Satan