EPHESIANS 2:1And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
I’ve never been good at land navigation. Topographical maps are a challenge for me. I do know that it is critical to identify your starting location and your ultimate objective. An awareness of your starting point is critical to reaching the destination. Many in this world toil and fret over how to overcome obstacles and achieve success. It is tempting to rely on one’s strength and explore various ways to discover happiness, or escape pain. The reality is that we are dead men walking!
We must be aware of the reality of our current state of separation from God. Of this, Wuest wrote, ” It should be kept clearly in mind that death is not extinction of being or inactivity. Spiritual death is the state of separation from God and His life. Death itself is a separation, whether physical, the separation of the person from his body, or spiritual, the separation of the person from God.” We are hopeless and unable to find life and purpose, apart from in Christ.
In Ephesians 2:1, Paul writes of our dead state and condition. This is a result of our trespasses and sins. While these two words are synonymous, the word “trespass” carries with it a connotation of legal judgment and condemnation. In fact, John 3:18 teaches us that we are “condemned already”. Having been condemned to eternal separation from God because of our sin nature, there is no hope apart from that legal transaction being resolved.
Thankfully God provided a way, through the gift of His Son, Jesus. He paid the price for our sin by dying on a cross and spilling His blood, so that we can be “justified”. This is another legal term that declares that we are right with God because of what Jesus did, and not because of anything we have done.
An awareness of your starting point is critical to reaching the destination. We all hope to find peace in this life and hope in the life to come. Begin now by recognizing your need for someone to rescue you from you current dead state, and provide a way to life. Follow this link to find out how you can make this decision now: http://www.findithere.com/hope.php
- Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament: for the English reader (Eph 2:1). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
- The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Eph 2:1–2). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
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