“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:1-7 NLT
Paul starts this passage by noting an interesting thing about us. We were dead. Now when he speaks of our deadness, it isn’t a lifeless death. In fact it is a deadness that has actions and pursuits. According to Paul, even in our dead state, we still follow and live. So this deadness lives. It is a description of the quality of being alive rather than the state of being alive. Humans were created as mere creatures to a God on a higher level of existence. By nature , they are lifeless, but he imbued upon them his breath of life. When we chose to rebel from this input and replace it with demonic wisdom, we essentially became a type of living dead or lifeless living. It is not merely important to follow God out of a sense of morality. Doing so is essential to a life-like state wherein, we come alive though we are mere creatures. Not doing so is isn’t merely wrong, it condemns us to being flat, inanimate illustrations who can sense that they were destined for more. We cannot force, create or attain that power to bring us into the depth we know that we are capable of. We can only accept it. It is an act of grace.
JOSH McGARY. COM 