We marvel at stories of someone who was at the brink of death and was brought back. In Epheisans 2:1–7, Paul tells you that something even more wonderful has happened to you, if you trust in Christ.
Remember that you were dead in sin. When you were dead, you lived in sin. Your natural state is one of death—not physically, but you are lifeless in your relationship with God, and as unable to initiate a correction of that as someone who is dead. The theological term we use to describe this is “total depravity.” When you were dead, you lived in transgression and sin. “Living in sin” is not limited to sexual immorality, but means living a life outside of the bounds of God’s will, contrary to God’s law. Paul’s language of “walking” in sin describes a life which, step by step, rebels against God, see Psalm 1. God is faithful to his covenant. But we, by nature, are covenant-breakers, rebels against God. Notice that Paul speaks not only of “you” in verse 1, but also of “all of us” in verse 3. None of us are off the hook. By nature we tend to lead misguided lives, following the ruler of the kingdom of the air (a description of Satan). There is no neutrality. You cannot simply ignore God. Total depravity does not mean absolute depravity. Not every unbeliever is a Stalin or an Adolph Hitler. Your total depravity is part of the problem of sin that affects you from birth and even before, Psalm 51:5. We come by sin naturally. The problem has a long history. It traces back to our first parents, to their first sin, the guilt of which is imputed to us, Romans 5:12, and the corruption of which permeates us. (Don’t forget that your salvation flows from the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to you.)
Your view of sin has implications for your view of Christ’s work. Praise God for his grace in Christ when you were dead in sin. Denial of total depravity leads to a denial of grace. The Reformation included an emphasis on man’s sinfulness, not just as a human theory, but recognizing that this was the teaching of Scripture (see Luther’s Bondage of the Will). The Remonstrants were among those who, in the years following the Reformation, objected to the idea of man’s innate sinfulness. Jacob Arminius formulated the position that man, though sinful, was not so corrupted by sin that he could not turn to God. The error of Arminius was a milder form of the 5th Century heresy of Pelagius, opposed by Augustine. It continues to be an influential view because its message is less offensive. The Synod of Dort, 1618 and 1619, rejected the Remonstrant errors and adopted the “Five Points.” A denial of total depravity leads to a view of Christ’s work as being that of helping someone who is already partly there. Much of the emphasis falls on what I do.
“Ephesians 2:1–10 is an extraordinarily powerful and complex passage—probably the most powerful in this rich book…. An ancient sophist would undoubtedly find many objectionable features in the language and form of he passage—it is by no means smooth and elegant—but Paul’s style overall is rugged and powerful, not elegant. To blaze a trail though Gentile pretension and pride called for a bulldozer, not an ornamental hoe.” “The grim, plodding, hopeless, long-syllabled announcement of human lostness—dead in trespasses and sins, children of wrath by nature—is shattered by a lightning bolt from heaven; not in judgment but with intervening mercy—and love beyond all reckoning.”
S. M. Baugh, Ephesians, pages 138–9, 153
It is against the background of man’s sin that Paul paints the picture of God’s grace. God has made you alive in Christ! You have been raised with Christ. God has made you alive. God is the one who is active. The Father is the specific person of the Trinity in view. He makes you alive in Christ. The Holy Spirit is the agent, see verses 18, 22. God does not simply help you. He makes you alive. The change in you is no less dramatic than that of Lazarus as he heard the command of Jesus to come out of the tomb. This change affects your whole person, including your mind (making you aware of what you once denied), and your will (making you desirous of doing what you once avoided. And it includes the resurrection of your body at the last day. Christ was raised from death to be your Savior. The resurrection is crucial to your salvation. it lies at the heart of the gospel, 1 Corinthians 15:1-3. Paul does not say that because Christ was raised you will be raised (two separate events). Rather, you have been raised with him. His resurrection is yours as well. Your salvation, your calling, means that God has united you with your risen Savior. Your justification, adoption, and sanctification flow out of your union with your risen Lord. Christ’s resurrection is the Father’s public declaration that the Second Adam (though humbled for your salvation) is not guilty! His sacrifice has been accepted, 1 Timothy 3:16. As you are united to him, you too are declared just. The resurrection constitutes Jesus Christ as “Son of God with power,” Romans 1:3,4. As you trust in that risen Lord, you too are adopted as God’s child. Christ, by his resurrection, is set free from the domain of sin. He is liberated from its power, Romans 6. As you are buried with Christ and raised with him, you too are sanctified.
“It is also because the people of God were in Christ when he gave his life a ransom and redeemed by his blood that salvation has been secured for them; they are represented as united to Christ in his death, resurrection, and exaltation to heaven (Rom. 6:2-11; Eph. 2:4-6; Col. 3:3,4). ‘In the beloved,’ Paul says, ‘we have redemption through his blood’ (Eph. 1:7). Hence we may never think of the work of redemption wrought once for all by Christ apart from the union with his people which was effected in the election of the Father before the foundation of the world.”
John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, page 162
You have been seated in the heavenly realms. The power of God has seated Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly realms, Ephesians 1:20. If you are united with Christ, if you have been made alive with the risen Lord, then you have been seated there with him. His glory belongs to you now, even though its full expression will become evident only in the coming ages, verse 7.
All of this means that you live by grace. God’s grace is a free, undeserved gift. Paul underlines that by contrasting your former way of life in transgressions and sins with the glory that is yours in Christ. You cannot earn what you have receive. You do not deserve what has happened. It is all of God’s grace. Notice the double use of the phrase “it is by grace you have been saved,” verses 5, 8. They reinforce and explain one another. Your union with Christ in his death and resurrection is a union that takes place by faith. Faith is not just trusting God for something, it is a living relationship with a person—Jesus Christ. The Catechism puts it well when it speaks of enabling you to “embrace Jesus Christ.” All boasting is removed. The glory goes to the God in whom you trust. The God whose thoughts and ways are higher than yours calls you to turn from your sins to the salvation he offers. A basic change of direction is crucial.
You were dead, but now are alive. You were lost, but have been found. God has raised you up in Christ Jesus!