You were dead in your transgressions and sins. Ephesians 2:1 (NIV)
Many church people have bought into a view of sin that goes like this: We all mess up in various ways, and nobody is perfect. But God is gracious and kind. If we are sorry and want to do better, God will forgive us and help us, and it was Jesus who made all this possible.
If this is the size and the scale of the problem, Jesus will not seem to you like a very great savior. But the wrong things we do are only the tip of the iceberg. Once you understand the Bible’s doctrine of sin, it will provide the building blocks to understanding the nature of salvation.
The Word of God teaches that, by nature, we are sinners from birth. By nature, we are children of wrath. By nature, we can’t change our position. And, by nature, we are completely hopeless. This is the inside story of human life, according to the Bible.
Someone might object, “Wait a minute… I have a question. You say that I’m dead in my sins, but I’ve already taken some steps toward God—I repented, I believed, and I’m following Christ. How did I do all that if I was dead in my sins?”
Here is the Bible’s answer: When you were dead in your sins, God made you alive with Christ! After Paul lays out the inside story of human life in verses 1 to 3, he says in verse 4: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ” (2:4-5).
This is what Paul says to all his Christian readers, and this is what he is saying to you, if you’re a believer today.
When you think about your own salvation, do you tend to emphasize how good of a person you’ve been or how great of a salvation Jesus earned for you?
