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Book: Ephesians
 Print ( PC Only )
Ephesians 2:1
Intro. This whole section chapters 1-3 is dealing with the spiritual
blessings that we have in Christ Jesus. One of the greatest of
all the spiritual blessings is the grace that has been bestowed
upon us through Jesus Christ. It is only through grace that any
or all of these blessings come.
I. Paul is wanting here in chapter two to talk to us about the grace of
God.
A. To see all of the beautiful facets of this grace it must be
placed upon a proper background.
1. It is as though a merchant wanted to show to you a
perfect diamond, he wants you to see each sparkling
facet, so he places the diamond on the darkest velvet
that he can find.
2. Paul wants you to see all the beautiful aspects of
the grace of God so he is going to place it on the
dark background.
3. What is that dark background?
B. "And you." What could be darker or blacker than you in your
B.C. days?
C. Paul's description.
1. "Dead in trespasses and sins."
a. The words, "Hath He quickened" you will note
are in italics, which means that they were not
in the original text, but were added by the
translators to try to bring clarity. It is in
the text in verse 5.
b. God had declared, "The soul that sinneth it
shall die."
c. God declared that the wages of sin is death.
d. This is spiritual death which is separation
from God
e. God who is holy cannot have fellowship with
sin. Fellowship is oneness, God cannot be one
with sin.
f. The cry "My God, My God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me? that came from the lips of Jesus
as He hung on the cross is answered in the 3rd
verse of Psalm 22 which begins with those very
words. "For Thou are holy, oh Thou that
inhabitest the praises of Thy people."
g. On the cross, God laid on Him the iniquities of
us all. In that moment when God made Him to be
sin for us, He experienced the separation from
God that is the inevitable consequence of sin.
h. The prophet Isaiah said, "The hand of the Lord
is not short that He cannot save, neither is
His ear heavy that He cannot hear, but your
sins have separated you from your God."
i. The difference between trespasses and sins.
1. To sin is to miss the mark.
2. The bible says that we all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God.
3. The mark is perfection, "Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father
in heaven is perfect."
4. Trespass is a deliberate or willful
disobedience.
j. I am not only guilty of sinning, but also of
trespassing against the law of God. I am guilty
of both counts.
2. "Wherein in times past you walked according to the
course of this world."
a. Our former life was influenced and guided by
the fads and fashions of this world.
b. It is amazing to me how that even the little
children in school know which jeans are in,
which shoes, their lives are controlled by the
fashions of this world.
c. They are devastated if they have to wear the
wrong labels to school.
3. Paul tells us who is behind the fashion and fads of
this world. "According to the prince of the power of
the air."
a. Satan is behind the worlds fashions, he guides
the in crowd.
b. He used to seek to be more subtle, but now he
has been emboldened to openly come out and
advocate his life of rebellion against that
which is of God. The things that are holy and
pure.
1. When you let your children watch the
filth that is on T.V. today, especially
on the M.T.V. channels, you are
allowing their minds to be programmed
by Satan.
2. When you allow them to listen to the
popular music you are giving their
minds to be influenced and controlled
by the devil.
4. Paul calls him the spirit that is now working in the
children of disobedience.
a. Promiscuous sex, live in mates, babies without
wedlock, these are all things that have been
promoted by the Hollywood set, that have been
held up to your children as stars to be
emulated.
b. Paul tells us that it is the spirit of
darkness that is working in them and in
control of their lives.
D. Paul then states that this was the manner of all of our lives
in times past.
1. This is the way of the flesh.
2. This is the life that is dominated by the fleshly
desires.
3. This is the path of death.
E. Again he describes it as living in the lusts of our flesh.
1. Paul told Titus that the grace of God teaches us to
deny ungodliness and the lusts of our flesh.
2. Paul tells us that if we live after the flesh we shall
die.
a. Paul told the Galatians that they that are
Christ's have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts.
b. In the fourth chapter that we are to put off
according to our former manner of life, the
old man who was corrupt according to his
deceitful .
L 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence
and covetousness, which is idolatry, For which things' sake the
wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. In the which
ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also
put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy filthy
communication out of your mouth.
3. So many today find their lives ruled by the lusts of
their flesh.
F. Fulfilling the desires of our flesh, and of our minds.
1. Rather than denying ourselves, to many even professing
believers are indulging themselves.
2. They live to fulfill the desires of their flesh.
3. How many people because of the present day media live
in a fantasy world. Their minds are filled with
fantasies that they are trying to fulfill.
G. By nature the children of wrath.
1. You hear of doing what comes naturally.
2. What comes naturally is coming from your nature in
rebellion against God.
3. We were born with sinful fallen natures.
4. David declared that he was born in sin, and shapen in
iniquity.
5. For this reason Jesus said that we must be born again.
6. We need the new nature that is conceived of the Holy
Spirit.
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