"And you were dead in your trespasses and sin,
in which you formerly walked according to the
course of this world, according to the prince of
the power of the air, of the spirit that is now
working in the sons of disobedience. among
them we too all formerly lived in the lust of our
flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of
the mind, and were by nature children of wrath ,
even as the rest. Ephesians 2:1-3
The final passage we want to look at today is
Ephesians 2, which both diagnosed our condition
and dispense a prescription.
If you embrace a humanistic philosophy of life,
Ephesians 2 will come as a bracing affront. Read
Our devotion verse.
Not a very flattering picture, is it? Skip down to
verse 12 and the picture gets even bleaker.
Remember that you were at that time separated
from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
Separated . . . excluded. . . Strangers. . . no hope.
What a desperate condition. Hardly something
you'd find in the Hunanist Manifesto.
God's Solution
Our condition is bad news, like doctor telling us
we have a terminal disease. But the gospel is good
News, and that's found beginning in verse 4.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His
great love with which He loved us, even when we
we're dead in our transgressions, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him,
in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order
that in the ages to come He might show the sue-
passing riches of His grace you have been saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God: not as a result of works, that no one
should boast.(vv4-9)
We are not invincible captain of our souls as
William Henley says. We cannot strut through the
"Invictus" with out heads held high. Our salvation
is a gift of God, not of works, and we have no room
to boast. Instead we should bow our heads in homage
to the One who is the true captain of our souls--
Jesus Christ.
in which you formerly walked according to the
course of this world, according to the prince of
the power of the air, of the spirit that is now
working in the sons of disobedience. among
them we too all formerly lived in the lust of our
flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of
the mind, and were by nature children of wrath ,
even as the rest. Ephesians 2:1-3
The final passage we want to look at today is
Ephesians 2, which both diagnosed our condition
and dispense a prescription.
If you embrace a humanistic philosophy of life,
Ephesians 2 will come as a bracing affront. Read
Our devotion verse.
Not a very flattering picture, is it? Skip down to
verse 12 and the picture gets even bleaker.
Remember that you were at that time separated
from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
Separated . . . excluded. . . Strangers. . . no hope.
What a desperate condition. Hardly something
you'd find in the Hunanist Manifesto.
God's Solution
Our condition is bad news, like doctor telling us
we have a terminal disease. But the gospel is good
News, and that's found beginning in verse 4.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His
great love with which He loved us, even when we
we're dead in our transgressions, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him,
in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order
that in the ages to come He might show the sue-
passing riches of His grace you have been saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God: not as a result of works, that no one
should boast.(vv4-9)
We are not invincible captain of our souls as
William Henley says. We cannot strut through the
"Invictus" with out heads held high. Our salvation
is a gift of God, not of works, and we have no room
to boast. Instead we should bow our heads in homage
to the One who is the true captain of our souls--
Jesus Christ.
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