The word Change is one of the most repulsive terms in the English Dictionary for some who disavow any revolutions to their current life. They are especially sickened by the thought of any alterations of the dramatic kind. But change is a reality that we as people go through whether we like it or not. We are always forced to encounter life adjustments, and they come to us in various degrees. None of which are necessarily easy to maneuver yet some are more natural and positive than others. Some are changes we desire to bring about while others are unfortunately forced upon us. For instance, as people, we generally enter into different phases in our lives where we go from living with mom and dad, to marrying and sometimes becoming mom and dad. We move from this type of chapter to the next until death finally does us part from this world and our loved ones. These are all stages of life that require us to adapt to change and prepare others for it.
When someone becomes a Christian, they undergo something similar to this. They experience a revolution, a transformation to their lives which turns it upside down and in some circumstances changes the relationships with their family and friends. Another change that they encounter is a spiritual transformation. Instead of experiencing the natural cycle of life then death, a believer in Jesus Christ experiences a supernatural spiritual transformation from death to life. The first 10 verses of Ephesians chapter 2 explain this contrast between the old and the new. It is a dichotomic description explaining our former state prior to salvation (which was deadness), to our post-salvation experience where we are made alive in Jesus Christ in the form of a new birth. Paul then describes the purpose of this spiritual resurrection by laying out our response to this new birth. In this first segment, we’ll be examining the pre-Christian condition that every man experiences in his life.
The Text
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 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 lusts 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)
Dead Men Walking
While we may think of death in terms of non-existence, Paul lays out in this first verse, the definition of that deadness as both a separation and an inability. In this case, he is not referring to physical death but a spiritual partition from God and an incapacity to please Him. What does it mean to be separated from the living God? What does it mean to be a part of the kingdom of darkness rather than the kingdom of the Son (Colossians 1:13)? Prior to an individual’s conversion, men and women are dead to God. While the pronoun “you’ implies the Gentiles, it can be applied to all who have not been made alive in Christ including Paul and his countrymen (v.3a). It also includes the majority of people living in the 21st century and if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, this includes you. Men are born in sin and dead to the Holy One. This spiritual necromancy is the result of being in your trespasses and sins. We are separated from God because we are sinners. The idea of trespasses in our text is the action of sinning, and the term “sins” is probably denoting the state they are in where they are locked in their sinful mindset to go against that which is from God. It is how they live and their situation in this world. Paul doesn’t pen this to remind them of their sins or as a means to get them to feel bad about their trespasses and sins all over again, but to contrast their current life with the old one and to accent the beauty of the mercies of God through Jesus Christ.
Paul furthers the description of these trespasses and sins by asserting that this was the condition in how they formerly walked. They lived their lives in contrast to the ways of God and in sync with their societal trends. They lived according to the course (age) of this world. They were engulfed in a society that focused upon polytheism, emperor worship and all the sexual debaucheries that came with this false adoration. In this type of society, you had a responsibility to adhere to its rituals which meant taking part in temple worship and sexual sins. You were also expected to proclaim Caesar as Lord of the lands and to neglect any of these social responsibilities meant you were an outcast. What we must remember is that nobody was twisting their arm, and they happily followed the practices of this world. Paul is taking aim at this very fact in focusing upon their former lifestyle.
The Devil’s Air
Behind the curtain that is this world, there is a spiritual power that drives these practices. Paul refers to this as the prince of the power of the air. The prince or ruler of these powers is none other than the devil himself (Ephesians 4:27; 6:11). The idea of Satan as a ruler of this world is found extensively throughout the scriptures[1]. The devil’s reign is over the powers or kingdoms of the air. The idea of the air here is probably referring to that which is over or above this world in influencing it.
Paul refers to those being ruled over as the sons of disobedience. This ruler of the sons of disobedience is reigning or working through power in them. Truly the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4). As we noted earlier, the expression “son of” may take on an indicative reference of who has trained an individual or a reference to their master (Son of the devil). the term “son of” can also determine the heir of a promise. These are lead by their master and will receive the same inheritance as he does, mainly being thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10, 15). The defeat of this ruler has already been established at the cross of Christ (Colossian 2:14-15). This strong man has already been bound, and his house is being plundered (Matthew 12:28-29; Mark 3:27) and at the proclamation of the Messiah, this devil fell (Luke 10:18). So, those who don’t follow Christ, are doing the works that are against Christ, and in return the very works of those spiritual powers behind the curtain.
The Fleshly Man
In the 3rd verse, Paul continues the description of the former state of believers. Paul now associates himself with their former lifestyle or spiritual state. But Paul’s connection is probably meant to communicate that it was not the Gentiles alone who were in this spiritual state but also the Jews. This was nothing new in Paul’s epistle since he focused a large segment of his letter to the Romans on this fact (Romans 1-3). This began with the lusts of the flesh where the unbelieving Jews would indulge in the desires of the flesh and of the mind. This was the same for both Jews and Gentiles. Paul gives us an explicit overview of what the lust of the flesh looks like in his letter to the Galatians in chapter 5 verses 16-24 where he describes it in such terms as: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness and carousing,
The pre-converted man lives for his own gratification and is so blinded by these pleasures that he doesn’t realize his state before God, mainly that of a child of wrath. They were born under the wrath of God because they were naturally sinners who inherited from Adam the sin nature. They were by nature (or born this way) children of wrath clearly associating the Jews with the Gentiles who were the sons of disobedience. They were as much sons of Adam as the Gentiles. This is precisely why a man requires to be born again. He can’t see or enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3-5) because he is born into the kingdom of darkness and remains there until he experiences this new birth.
Christian, consider the person that you were prior to your conversion and to what extent you have been changed. Look to Christ in gratitude for his death, burial and resurrection that has moved you from being a child of wrath to a child of God. Cherish it every day!
[1] i.e. see John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4
The Moncton Herald 