Eph 2:1–3 — Dead in Trespasses and Sins

Ephesians 2:1-10 continues the theme of the previous section, which was the power of God toward believers made manifest in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ That power was exercised for our benefit. But in particular, it is made ours not in an external manner but because we participants in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ. The central affirmation of our text is found in verse 6:

“He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” This language clearly echoes that of the previous section - 1:20.

Structure of Eph. 2:1-10

Dead in trespasses and sins (vv. 1-3) Made alive together with Christ (vv. 4-7) Saved by grace, unto good works (vv. 8-10). This morning we will examine the first section - verses 1-3.

Dead in trespasses and sins (vv. 1-3)

My sermon outline has three points, one for each of the three verses Verse 1 is the thesis statement: man’s condition is one of spiritual death on account of sin In verses 2-3 Paul explains the two reasons for this spiritual condition Man’s bondage to Satan’s rulership of this age (v. 2) Man’s bondage to his own sinful nature (v. 3)

Verse 1

Existence outside of Christ is characterized fundamentally as a state of death “Death” must be defined - in Scripture there are at least three ways in which this term can be used:

The death of the physical body Eternal death that awaits unbelievers in hell - “the second death” Spiritual death - the spiritual condition of being in an unregenerate state - the absence of spiritual life, the deadness of the soul to the things of God. The third meaning obviously is what Paul has in view in this text. However, we cannot separate the third meaning from the other two. Why not?

Because the physical death of man’s body and the second death in hell are both the righteous consequence of man’s spiritual problem “In the day that you eat from the tree you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17) “Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin” (Rom. 5:12) “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Therefore, “dead in trespasses and sin” cannot be interpreted merely as a reference to the state of being unregenerate Though all of that is certainly included, we must look deeper to the judicial overtones behind this term “Dead in trespasses and sins” - could be translated “dead on account of trespasses and sins” It is a state of judicial condemnation on account of sin. It primarily involves alienation from God lying helpless under the heavy hand of God’s righteous sentence of judgment against us for our sin “by nature children of wrath” (v. 3) Only secondarily does it mean to be without spiritual life to have no desires to spiritual things not even the slightest stirrings of a soul seeking after God To this secondary aspect, Paul now turns in verse 2 …

Verse 2

In which [trespasses and sins] you formerly walked according to the course of this present evil age which is under the authority of that evil ruler, Satan himself Gal. 1:4 - see bulletin Our previous life was characterized by “walking in accordance with the age of this world” That is, we lived only for this passing world rather than for eternity Our ultimate priorities and aspirations were all tied to the temporal realm of money, pleasure, power, or fame. We did not aspire to the heavenly and eternal values of eternal fellowship with God of ceaseless communion with our Creator who made us to glorify him and to enjoy him. The life of the age to come was totally unknown to us. It isn’t merely that we chose to live for the present age instead of the age to come. We didn’t even think about any age to come Heaven was not on our minds even for a microsecond. All we knew was this life, this present age which, although we did not want to admit it, we knew was fleeting and marred by death Happiness was defined in purely self-oriented and man-centered terms. We would be happy if only we had these earthly pleasures and comforts. Not realizing that God made us in his image and therefore he made us in such a way that our deepest longings could only be met our highest happiness could only be achieved by fellowship with Himself God made us for this very purpose that we would be like him and in being like him, that we would respond to him and life for him and in covenant with him “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee” (Augustine). Now why does man live only for the present age?

Because he is in bondage to Satan, the ruler of this present age 2 Cor. 4:4 “the god of this age” John 12:31 “the ruler of this world” “The prince of the power of the air” Not the literal atmosphere, but in the ancient view of the world the space between earth and heaven. The air was the dwelling place of evil spirits. The lower reaches of the heavenly realm that therefore were in close proximity to the earth where man lives - thus exercising a direct influence on the affairs of men To what extent is Satan responsible for the sin in this world?

For all of his power, Satan is a finite creature. He cannot coerce anyone to do anything against his will. However, he is the master tempter. He tempts unbelievers to evil by his seduction and his lies Bible teaches that Satan’s role in stirring up sin in the world is primarily through his craftiness and deception. He lied about God in the garden. He lies now through the false man-centered ideologies of this world that are opposed to God Satan’s grand goal is to exalt himself above God himself and he has sought from the very beginning to draw mankind into his devilish scheme promising liberation from an oppressive deity Autonomy. You don’t need to submit to God to glorify and enjoy him is slavery Live for yourself, satisfy your own needs be self-sufficient don’t bow the knee like a subservient slave to God “It is better to reign in hell than to serve God in heaven” (Milton). The irony is that in seeking deliverance from the authority and rule and kingdom of God man ends up enslaved to his own lusts To be free to serve oneself is not true freedom but the most fearful bondage.

Verse 3

Having explained the first cause of man’s spiritual state of being dead in sin, namely, the deceptive rule of Satan over this present age, Paul now turns from the external factor to the internal - to the corruption of man’s own heart which causes him to be willfully enslaved to Satan and to sin Bondage to sinful desires - “the desires of the flesh” Our former life outside of Christ was not one of freedom. Even though it seemed like freedom to be able to live unrestrained by the will of God, we were really enslaved to our lusts, our sinful cravings Illustration:

When someone is deeply involved in the self-destructive patterns associated with drug abuse they feel free - they love being high, being free from the world, free from the pain of life. But they are in fact enslaved to the narcotics a slavery that will surely end gruesomely when they die one day from a drug overdose. Does your heart sometimes wish you could be free like the world - free to do whatever you want?

Do you sometimes envy the unbeliever?

Not being a Christian, he has no compunction about giving himself over to hedonism and the lusts of the flesh. He is free to indulge without guilt in anything his heart desires. And frequently he gets away with it, at least in this life!

He seems to have everything he wants His life is one of perfect self-satisfaction Brothers and sisters, it is only an illusion. Could you but peel off the outward veneer of happiness and look inside the sinner’s heart you would see the empty shell of a soul withered up by its constant cravings and years of self-centered living. You would see a slave reduced to the filthy rags of defilement and dehumanization. And the saddest part of all is that this poor soul thinks he is free “Indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind” Literally, “doing the will of the flesh and of the thoughts” This raises the whole question of free will Man’s will is free in the sense that it is not coerced. But it is not free, apart from the miracle of regeneration, since it is in bondage to the sinful desires of the flesh Our thoughts and actions do not arise in a vacuum but arise from the matrix of our deepest desires, our nature Since our nature is utterly corrupted by sin our will is not free to choose anything that is spiritual or pleasing to God. We can only choose that which is evil in God’s sight not necessarily evil in man’s sight but evil in God’s sight - i.e., self rather than God’s glory Westminster Confession of Faith, chap. 9 (p. 854). Having described the external and the internal factors behind man’s state of spiritual death, Paul now returns to the thesis statement and shows that man’s being dead in trespasses and sins is a judicial state of condemnation. The consequence of man’s sin is that he is legally subject to the eschatological wrath of God a wrath that presently abides upon him but which will be let loose in full fury at the day of judgment “By nature” Means “from birth” Compare with Gal. 2:15 Literally “children by nature of wrath” The word order here is significant “By nature” is sandwiched within the phrase “children of wrath” This shows that the inheritance of corruption and guilt from Adam is something that is given to us from the moment of our existence as an inescapable part of who were are Reference here to original sin. It isn’t as though each individual is born morally neutral and then chooses a sinful way of life. No were born sinners From birth we inherited Adam’s sinful nature and the guilt of his sin condemned us from the outset.

Exhortation

In the midst of this bleak picture of man’s state of spiritual death under the wrath of God, a ray of gospel hope shines through in the grammar of the passage. The passage is in the PAST tense!

1 - “You were dead” 2 - “In which you formerly walked” 3 - “Among them we too all formerly lived” Paul makes a sharp contrast between our pre-Christian life in sin and our present Christian existence in Christ. This has some very definite implications Our self-image, and the language we use to describe ourselves should never give priority to our sin but to our status as those who have died to sin and have been spiritually raised with Christ. How do we speak of remaining sin in the Christian life?

The flesh is not totally annihilated so long as we live in mortal bodies. We must not deny the reality of the flesh and thus fall prey to the gnostic view that believers are free from sin (First John) Union with Christ - the judgment of the old man on the cross - does not mean we are “off the hook” as if you were not responsible for your sinful actions. You must truly confess your sin to the Lord and seek the restoration of fellowship through cleansing from sin in Christ’s blood. Having said this, however, we must not allow the reality of the flesh to dominate our self-perception When you sin, you are not be true to who you are in Christ. You are acting in accordance with that which has been judged and fundamentally abolished on the cross Paul constantly uses this language. He never speaks of Christians as totally depraved, as dead in trespasses and sins as now walking according to the present age or fulfilling the lusts of the flesh 1 Cor. 6:9-11.