Dead Man Walking

Good morning and welcome in.  Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from Ephesians chapter 2.

1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

To quicken means to make alive.  For example of this, Jesus raised Lazarus from the death of the grave. Because we are all dead in our sins, this is the reason that Christ came to the Earth, to revive us and to lift us up out of the death of our own sinful condition.  As Jesus taught, we must be born again.  As the parable of the prodigal Son teaches, this my son was dead but is alive again. Each of us can be saved and truly become a dead man walking.  

2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

The Bible clearly teaches us that all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All of us are in the need of Jesus as our Savior because He is the only access point to God the Father in heaven.  We have to go through Him in order to get there.

We must remember that when we look upon our neighbor, that God cares for them and wants to save them just like others who have come to Christ in the church. At one time we lived just the way the world does, in rebellion and disobedience. But as God forgives us of our past, He wants to forgive them too.  What they need is the grace of God just like people in the church in order to overcome their sinful conditions. He wants all men to come to repentance and to call upon His Son Jesus.

3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

So once again, all of us have sinned. All of us have come short of the glory of God. We are all in the same boat together here on planet Earth, and each of us are in need of Jesus.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

God is rich in mercy, and when someone is rich it means that they have something in great abundance and have a lot of it. God is very very merciful and we see that in Him sending His Son Jesus to die for us. Even when we were dead our sins He makes us alive again through Christ. If Jesus hadn’t came we would all die in our sinful condition and be eternally condemned.

We have to understand that each of us are equally sinners in the eyes of God. Each of us need God’s grace. Remember that there is only one access point to God the Father. There is only one name by which you can be saved and enter into heaven someday, it’s through Christ Jesus, God’s only begotten son.

Certain people feel that if they do enough good works that they will someday be able to enter into heaven. They may feel like they are a decent person who does a lot of great things for their community. The Bible clearly teaches us that it’s by God’s grace that we are saved.  None of us are good no not one. People need to accept that in their hearts .We are all sinners. 

To try to attain heaven by your own works Is simply a form of self-righteousness.  Those are things that the Apostle Paul shunned in his own life.  We can’t get to heaven unless we come to Jesus and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour. Those who don’t are going to be condemned in their sinful condition.

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

When you become a Christian, God forgives you for your sins and then raises you up in the church from a different level that the world is still living in.  It’s a Heavenly place a divine love.

But remember that Jesus came down from the heavens above to rescue each of us down below.  In the church we need to reach out to people who are not saved. We have to reach out to people and tell them the gospel so that they too can be redeemed from their sinful condition as we have been in the church through God’s grace.

Like I said, it doesn’t make us any better then others because in my viewpoint there are only two classes of people living in the world today, sinners:  and forgiven sinners who are walking in faith towards Jesus Christ.

7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Don’t get me wrong, God wants us to do good deeds. He wants us to be filled with good works but in and of themselves they are not enough to attain heaven.  If they were, God would never have sent his Son to save us and be a propitiation for our sins.  Any good works we do need to be credited to God’s grace and mercy working in our hearts.

Some people may think that they are going to get to heaven because they did so many works in their lives, but without Christ they are only crediting themselves.  They really feel like they’re good enough or righteous enough and therein lies the problem. It’s the sin issue in our lives that needs to be forgiven through Jesus.  You can’t work your way to heaven. We attain heaven through the works of Christ at the cross, and then living an active faith towards Him.

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

If you remember, the Apostle Paul had said that he had done a lot more things than many of the other apostles but what was motivating his works was God’s forgiveness in His heart.  He had been given a lot of forgiveness in his past and he took advantage of it.  He was starting churches and preaching God’s word. He was helping others  to grow in their faith, but it was God that was doing the work through him. Paul would not take credit for what God had made happen in his life but would credit it to Christ.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Once again we want to be filled up with as many good works as possible but they do not get us to heaven, faith in Christ does.  As a Christian whatever good things you may do or be a part of are supposed to be credited to Christ Jesus. We are His workmanship which means He’s doing the work through us by his grace.

In my life I have seen a lot of beautiful things that people have created out of a piece of wood but I would never presume to take credit of that work. There’s a carpenter in heaven who is working on our hearts in the church.  He’s molding and shaping us into what he wants us to become.

Again, anything we do in the Christian Life is to be credited to Christ because of all that he does for us each day and the blood that He shed for us at the cross. He’s molding our hearts to perform and to do His will day by day.

There are many people who didn’t even know what the Apostle Paul looked like but the people were glorifying God in him for the things that Christ was doing in his life.

We can’t enter heaven by going to judgment day and boasting about our own deeds and activities.  We are simply unprofitable servants doing that which is our duty to do, to serve and love the God who laid down his own life for the Salvation of a world of wretched sinners.

Praise God for His grace.  Praise God that He creates light out of darkness, and Praise God for making a dead man walking.

Let’s think about those things for today and Lord willing I’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye-bye everybody💖

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