“Raising the Dead”

(Ephesians 2:1-10)

Series: Christ and the Church [on screen]

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida

January 24, 2021

The Passage

Ephesians 2:1-10

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

Introductory Comments:

Welcome back to the book of Ephesians. Thus far, we have learned of the power of God in choosing, adopting, and sealing His children; we’ve learned about the power of God seen in the authority of Jesus over all things, including the Church; and today we will learn about the power and grace of God in our salvation. 

If you haven’t already, find your way to Ephesians 2:1-10, which is page 1036 in the pew Bible. Let’s pray together before we begin. 

(prayer)

In the next two passages that we study, Paul is going to remind the Ephesian believers who God is and what He has done. 

In today’s passage, we will see discover three ways that mark the life of a follower of Jesus. 

Are you ready? First, we see . . .

I. The way of sin (vv. 1-3) [on screen]

As we did the last couple of weeks, we’re going to take a few sneak peeks at a verse before we cover it in totality. Peek with me at the beginning of verse 1. Paul says, “And you were dead . . .”

Very simply, the way of sin leads to death. 

As a pastor, I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies. I don’t mean to be too callous or light-hearted about this, but I can tell you very quickly that I’ve never seen a dead person do anything to help themselves. This truth is at the heart of what Paul is saying. As we study today’s passage, keep that in mind. 

Let’s first look at verses 1-3:

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

Paul says that those of us who are followers of Jesus were once (in the past) dead. Why were we dead? Because of their trespasses and sins. 

Rather than living as those who were in Christ, we were dead as those who were in sin. 

The Apostle Paul says elsewhere in Romans 6:23, “For the wages [or payment] of sin is death . . .” [on screen]

The Old Testament proverbs teach us in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.” [on screen]

So, the way of sin is death. 

Paul goes on to describe the characteristics of being in sins and trespasses. 

Paul says in verse 2 that we walked in these ways and that these ways were“according to the ways of this world . . .” These are not the ways of the heavenly kingdom; they are not the ways of God. 

He says these ways are also “according to the ruler of the power of the air . . .” It is generally accepted that Paul is speaking here a