The Most Misquoted Verse in the Bible.

 

Eph 2:1-3

"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 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: 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."

 

 BORN, BORN, BORN, and BORN. The most common phrase heard or read is that all of us are "born dead in trespasses and sins." Some will say that we are "spiritually stillborn." Calvinism comes right out and says, "All men, infants included, are born dead in trespasses and sins." We have heard the word born added to Ephesians 2:1 so often that one would think Ephesians 2:1 actually reads, "And you hath he quickened, who were born dead in trespasses and sins."

When this was brought to my attention, I actually thought the preacher was so mistaken that I went and looked up the verse. I thought for sure it would say, "born in trespasses and sins." It didn't. There is not one verse of Scripture in either the Old or New Testament that says all men are "born dead in trespasses and sins," not one verse.

Very shortly in this article, when we read the verse in its context, one is going to see the difference between someone's idea, and what the Bible actually teaches.

There is a theology out there that teaches man is born spiritually dead and that system in read into a few portions of Scripture, when, if read in its context, simply does not teach. It is a very misleading term.

Supposedly, what is meant by "born in trespasses and sins," is that one is born spiritually dead. It is important to understand exactly what is meant by 'spiritual death'. If we take the term literally, it can only reasonably mean that the spirit of a non-believer is dead. That is the way I understood it. But all one has to do is look up the word 'spirit' in a concordance and he will find scores of Scripture where every unregenerate, depraved person has a spirit and it's anything but dead. Notice these few examples:

Just these few examples alone show that man is not born with a dead spirit!

Now, some may argue that what they really mean by a dead spirit is that they are separated from God. Well? Why single out the spirit? Is the spirit more separated from God than the body? Is the spirit more separated from God than the soul, in the mind, will, and in the emotions? Why did someone feel it necessary to single out the human spirit? For some reason these questions are avoided.

When it comes right down to it, every aspect of our being is separated from God. There would be no point in singling out the spirit and say the spirit is dead but my body is alive. Every part of our being is separated from God as the result of our own trespasses and sins.

It is through Adam death entered the world. ".....as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.." and the Bible says this "death passed upon all men,..." The Webster dictionary defines "pass" as to move, in almost any manner, to go, to proceed from one place to another. Passed is a process of passing. The word passed is like one who travels though town. Physical death will pass upon every human being alive. Adam's one act of disobedience introduced death, but each individual died in his own time as death passed his way. The human race was without death until the first member, Adam, disobeyed God. That disobedience resulted in the curse of death on Adam and all his descendents and why death came into our world and why it reigns. The Bible is clear that the penalty for Adam's sin is physical death. God told Adam that "in the day ye eat thereof ye shall surely die (Gen. 2:1)." The death that Adam was threatened was the death that passed on all men. In fact, the entire human race became subject to death that day, though none, not even Adam, immediately expired.

As one author states, "Adam's death was physical as seen by the fact that the Bible repeatedly represents the cure for Adam's death as yet future for all believers. 'For since by man came death by, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all died, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15:21-22).' It is a physical death that anticipates a future resurrection. If the death incurred in Adam was something spiritual, then those now in Christ would already be delivered from it. But the Scripture is emphatic; the cure for our corporate death in Adam is yet future. The new birth is not the cure, the new body is."

No where does the Bible speak of a dead spirit, or a spirit that is spiritually dead. Yes, there is such a condition as being dead in trespasses and sins, estranged from God, but depravity is not "spiritual death." And if you approach some Christians, they'll even admit the term is not there, but then offer the excuse that the word "trinity" is not in the Bible, but we use that term. I will admit that there are words not used in Scripture, e.g. Trinity, to describe a complex but vital doctrine clearly taught in the Bible, but the word 'Trinity' conveys accurately what is meant (three Persons in one God), while the term 'spiritual death' is misleading.

I have been doing extensive study over someone's idea of 'spiritual death'. Read the following pitiful, unbiblical explanation you'll ever hear. When you do read it, notice how the terms 'original sin/sinful nature' and 'born in trespasses and sins' play into use here. It is used to teach an unbiblical doctrine. What is underlined and in bold are my emphasis.

 The parent has a disabled child and asks this preacher:

How pitiful! Now, there are scores of people who believe in the "sinful nature" teaching. The term sinful nature is not once mentioned in the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible does it say everybody is born with a sinful nature. The term sinful nature is Calvinistic. The words sinful nature and born in trespasses and sins are foreign in the Bible. Oh, you can find it in the perverted bible like your handy dandy NIV, but I don't find it in my Bible (Authorized Bible). The term 'sinful nature' was substituted for the word 'flesh'. There is only one meaning for the word sarx (Greek) and that is FLESH. One does not need to read or understand Greek to know that. Just look up all the verses with the word flesh in the Bible and see how it is used. That has to do with your skin, flesh! Nowhere, absolutely nowhere, does it mean anything else, especially 'sinful nature'.

I used to have an article on my webpage and have since taken it down. It was titled, "Right-wing Flesh: Unmasking a Seldom Suspected Culprit." It was written by Harold Vaughn. Brackets are my emphasis. The first paragraph began like this:

Notice that not once did he give any Scriptural support to prove his idea. Flesh does not mean "sinful nature," nor does it refer to a number of things. As said above, there is only one Biblical definition for the word flesh, and that has to do with your body.

I believe we should avoid using unbiblical terms. It is better to write a few extra sentences which explain precisely what we mean. In theology, precision is essential, and if we use Biblical terms then it should minimize the amount of wooly thinking and, possible, even heretical ideas.

It is also interesting that I would be shun by a few distant 'Christian friends' and accused of walking away from the faith because I dare to question an established doctrine that I do not find in the Bible. It's simply a teaching that began with Augustine and sharpened by Calvin (Matt. 16:6-12). I simply desire to stay with Biblical terminology, and if I am shun because of that, so be it. I am thankful to my pastor who encouraged me to just stand for the truth in a spirit of love and leave the rest with God, God will take care of it in his time. He had me to read 2 Tim. 1:15. I am thankful for his encouragement.

No matter how you slice it, sinful nature/original sin all boils down to the same thing...that man has inherited something from Adam that necessitates him to sin. He has inherited something that is not his own fault. It's amazing how some Christians refuse to test these teachings. We are so used to reading commentaries and taking some of them at face value without actually searching and studying the Scriptures for ourselves. We let other people do our homework for us.

Where it concerns sinful/nature/original sin or inherited sin, the fact is; Inherited sin demands that babies are born lost and destined for Hell

Even Luther erred concerning this. He said, "Hereditary sin is truly sin and condemns to the eternal wrath of God all those who are not born again through baptism (infant baptism) and the Holy Spirit."

There are some denominations such as some Baptists, Nazarine, Pentecostal, Assemblies of God, Alliance who do not believe inherited sin has any effect upon the soul of a new born infant, but still believe in inherited sin or inherited sinful nature.

I will have to say that I never did have full understanding of the implications until I studied further. Then there are some who do understand the implications of inherited sin, but instead of rejecting the false teaching, they continue to believe in hereditary depravity, but yet in the same breath will deny that infants are born destined for Hell. To me this is not being intellectually honest, it just proves one is having a conflict between their heart and mind.

This position of inherited sin/sinful nature fails any kind of defense intellectually or Biblically, because it is inconsistent and contradictory within itself and the Holy Scriptures. One would have to either admit that all infants inherit the guilt and sin of Adam at birth and therefore are lost, destined for Hell, or infants are born innocent as Adam was before his fall. This whole doctrine of hereditary depravity is simply false. By their own definition, if they want to say man is 'born spiritually dead,' then the infant is nothing but a lost soul and destined for Hell should he die a premature death, where there was no chance to hear the gospel for salvation. How can they apply this term 'born spiritually dead,' to newborns and yet maintain newborns are saved? This just doesn't make sense!

This doctrine of "inherited sin" is Calvin's starting point in his 5 point 'TULIP' system of false doctrines. If one believes only one point, he must believe it all, for there is no in-between. The 5 point TULIP system is Satan's masterpiece. It is a heresy created by Satan to deceive believers and to put a stumbling block between the sinner and Christ.

If one is interested in doing a study concerning these issues I have presented here, he may go to my main page under "Time to Compare" (www.dividingword.net) where this topic is covered in more detail. From there, and from your own personal study, you can come to your own conclusions.

I had one person write to me and say, "What's next on the agenda...teaching against a trinity just because Augustine believed in it?" I'm thankful I have fellow Christian brothers and sisters who do not carry this type of attitude. My only response to that is, "If what Augustine teaches is Biblical, then I accept it. Every denomination has some basis of truth."

There are some correct Biblical based teachings concerning these issues. Charles Finney did an excellent study. I don't believe everything Charles Finney taught, but as far as his study on the sinful nature doctrine that is commonly taught, I believe he is Biblically on target. There are Christians out there who do not believe in the "original sin/sinful nature" doctrine, and for good reason when one actually does a closer examination of Bible truth. Until proven otherwise, my only course is to side with the Bible.

I am one of those guilty of holding fast to the concept of "sinful nature/spiritual death" until it was brought to my attention. I began to study and search the Scriptures with closer examination as I read passages in their context. When the Bible is read in its context, a lot of things begin to make more sense.

Let's take Ephesians 2:1 for starters where it is commonly taught that all men are "born in trespasses and sins," If one were to be totally honest, he would have to admit that is how the verse is commonly presented, whether the word "born" is added before quoting the verse or in the verse itself as the gentleman above did in his reply to the parent with the disabled child. If you think I am mistaken, just look up your favorite commentator.

Let's read Eph 2:1-3, in its context, without adding the word "born."

It is clear from reading the verses that before we were saved, we were "dead in trespasses and sins." As said above, people will continually say that all of us were "born dead in trespasses and sins." That's not what the Bible says.

Notice how the words trespasses and sins is in the plural. If one wants to say everyone is born that way, please tell me, what infant is born into this world guilty of trespasses and sins? How does an infant do that? Where does the passage say all infants are born in trespasses and sins? You know it doesn't. So why do we contend that everyone is born in trespasses and sins? Why do we insist in making God's word say what it does not say?

Trespasses and sins are in the plural form. Now some will say it refers back to Adam. How does that refer to Adam's trespass? (singular) Where in the passage does that refer us back to the time of Adam's sin? You say, "Well, it refers to spiritual death, because when Adam sinned, he died spiritually and we have all inherited his sinful nature; therefore, we are all born in trespasses and sins." Well, where in Ephesians 2:1 does it tell you all that? Whose method of interpretation is this? Where does the Bible tell us Adam spiritually died? Where in the Bible does it tell us his nature changed? Define what you mean by 'nature'. How does all this relate to Ephesians 2:1? Why add the word "born" when the word is not in Ephesians 2:1?

You see folks, no one can come up with any Scriptural proof texts for all this. All one can do is "infer" his own idea because of a certain belief that was invented, and then that belief is read into a few verses. Augustine started it, and Calvin sharpened and finished it. The Mormons, the Jehovah Witnesses, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Catholicism, and some Baptists, they all followed the idea of those two men. They have certain theology that is foreign to Scripture, and so they must pick verses here and there to prove their theological idea. People can make the Bible say anything they want it to say.

My pastor gave a teaching on "False Teachers" this past year with some good advice. He gave some guiding principles how to rightly divide the word of God and here are two of them.

  1. You must carefully examine who God is addressing.

  2. You must always place Scripture in its proper context.

I agree with him. One can take a Scripture and use it to validate almost any theological argument, unless it is taken in context, then the Bible interprets itself. We are commanded to study the word of God rather than accepting logical-sounding arguments out of context at face value.

When it comes to Ephesians 2, we should apply the same principles. We must examine who God is addressing and place Scripture in its proper context.

Who or what is the passage aimed? Obviously it is aimed at the Christians in Ephesus, which we can apply personal application since we are Christians and Paul's epistles are to the Body of Christ. He told them how they were once dead in trespasses and sins. He speaks of this in "past tense". In verses two and and three, he describes how they were dead in trespasses and sins.

As said above, man has taken this verse and have added the word "born" to it. This is to prove a doctrine, made up by a man, to mean everyone is born with a dead spirit, he is born spiritually dead. That is not what the passage teaches. Nowhere in the Bible does it teach this concept.

The question might be asked, "Then how does one get to be dead in sins? "Through Adam," you say? Where does the verse say you are dead in trespasses and sins through Adam? You say it means you were born spiritually dead. Where in verse one were you told that?

Let's go back to the text. How does one get to be dead in trespasses and sins? The answer is simply by trespassing and sinning. Can an infant trespass? Can an infant sin? If you say he can't, then why would we insist in reading the passage as "all are born in trespasses and sins?" To say we are all "born in trespasses and sins," is to charge God with making us sinners before we ever trespassed and sinned.

Nowhere does verses 1-3 describe our state of birth! We are responsible for our own trespasses and sins. We are the ones who sinned voluntarily. Verses 2 and 3 describes those trespasses. It describes the way we once walked (past tense). That's what it means to be dead in trespasses and sins. It had to do with you and I WALKING according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. This cannot be charged to infants who cannot do these things. It is aimed at those who trespassed and sinned. It had to with our lifestyle, not with some false teaching about a condition contributed to us at birth. That is private interpretation.

The sinners in those passages are found blameworthy. When you and I walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, we became blameworthy. No one can be blameworthy for something that happened before he was born.

This verse describes the condition, the state of everyone of us before we were saved. "Wherein in time past ye walked..."

In the past there were two ways we walked and at the same time. The first way we walk is "according to the course of this world." This walk is totally natural. The second way is "according to the prince of the power of the air," this is supernatural.

The first way we walked is:

1) "...according to the course of this world." John defines the course of this world in 1 John 2:15,16. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world...." Then he sums up all that it's in the world,

is not of the Father, but is of the world." With these things alone, there needs to be no satanic influence involved. That is to say that we don't have to have the devil tempt us in those three areas, for we are prone to them apart from the devil. This is part of the natural world that we live in. We have a body that lusts after the fulfillment of passion. We have such things as sexual drives, that is natural. We have intellectual drives, emotional drives, we have ambitions, we have a desire to eat, desire to survive, a desire to rest and sleep. These are natural. We have sensations in this body where we desire to listen to music, to feel things with our hands, to look at things that are lovely and enjoy them. The body is full of natural drives, and in themselves are not sinful, it's just of the world. It's this temporary scene that we live in. The Bible says these things pass away. We live in a body that relates to this world with appetites and passion that relate to this world, and all is temporary. Yet, at the same time it is a background of testing, to build character, something for us to overcome. Like Adam and Eve, we have a chance to say no or to say yes. We can choose to love or choose to hate, to live selfishly or we can give. This body is here in this world and we can choose to live totally selfish lives or live giving lives. Without the body and without its drives and without the world that is around us, we wouldn't have the opportunity to be tried and to be tested, for character is only built where there's trials and testings. We are being tested by the body within, and the world without, and that's natural. There's nothing divine about it. It's totally worldly, and totally natural. It's neither good, nor neither bad. There is nothing satanic about it. It's just there. It forms the basis of our daily trials. It forms the basis of whether or not we will be found worthy or unworthy. This same type of testing will be seen in the Millennium except Satan will be bound for a thousand years (Rev. 20:2). People will be left with what is natural, what is of this world. They will be left to deal with the body and its passions without satanic influences. It will be a chance for them to love or to hate, to live selfishly or to give, to be a taker or a receiver. Those people won't be able to blame the devil for their sins. They won't be able to blame Adam. They won't be able to blame it on 'hereditary depravity'. In other words, they won't be able to blame it on a "sinful nature."

So in time past we walked according to the course of this world. That is just the natural course.

The second way we walked is:

2) "according to the prince of the power of the air." This is supernatural here. This is not allegorically speaking, this is real. There are evil spirits out there. They are created entities. They are created beings and are of a different nature, a different form. They do not have human flesh. They are a different species. There is a species called angels and a species called humans, and the species of animals. Spirits come and go but they can't be in two places at one time. In the Bible we are told there are good spirits God created and then there are spirits that were created good, but like man, chose to act selfishly and wickedly. They decided to follow Lucifer , a very powerful cherub, in a rebellion against God. These spirits are ruled over by Lucifer, also known as Satan, who rules over these evil spirits. We are told in the Bible that surrounding this planet earth, in our atmosphere, there are principalities, powers, rulers of darkness. It's a power system. The Bible says in Eph. 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

These spirits interfere with man's activities. These spirits enter into sayances and speak through a medium that causes them to babble out supernatural things. These spirits work and enter into psychics, soothsayers, palm readers, involved in Ouija boards, tarot cards, those who practice witchcraft sorceries, making spells. Satan's biggest lure today is Harry Potter. Satan's devils are active today. These spirits, these satanic, demonic, evil, wicked godless spirits are in this atmosphere wanting to influence us to evil, and Satan is the head of them.

Before we were saved, we walked according to the prince of the power of the air, that now is working in the children of disobedience. Before we were saved, those spirits worked in us. However, as terrible as all this is, we can't blame these spirits for all evil, because we are independently evil. We are independently selfish and self-centered. Through this flesh, as mentioned in the first part of how we walked, we have the opportunity and the history of sin, but the devil comes along and can take what is natural and make it unnatural. For instance, a satanic spirit comes along and enters in and causes a person to become a glutton. Just this past week I watched a program on the Discovery Health Channel of this "Half Ton Man." This man weighed 1,072 pounds. In order to get him out of the house they had to take the outside wall down from his bedroom that he lived in for years. He could not lay on his back, for to do so made it impossible for him to breathe. There was a woman who topped him at 1, 178 pounds. They called this problem of gluttony a "disease." When it comes to sin like drunkenness, gluttony, gambling, etc., it's labeled as a "disease," rather than sin. What happened is that what was natural, like eating, was given over to lust. A satanic, devilish spirit took over. Sometimes a person will give themselves over to lust, give themselves over to pornography, and before you know it they are consumed with lust. They lust in order to lust, not to have it fulfilled. It's an itch that will never get scratched, it just becomes a deeper itch. It's a satisfaction that never gets satisfied, it wants more. It's not natural, it's not God-given. People turn themselves over to homosexuality and pedophile activity, and all these different sins that are not natural. Satan has entered in and the devils are doing something crude and vulgar. All the vile things we read and see coming out of Hollywood are things brought about by the spirit that's in this world. There are spirits that preach false doctrine, they have entered the Vatican. There are spirits in the Protestant denominations that lead TV and radio preachers in greed and lust. There are religious spirits that espouse doctrine that end up as Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, or some of the other cultist doctrines. All of these different doctrines have entered in and come from evil spirits. The Bible calls it, "Doctrines of devils" (1 Tim. 4:1). They bring about religious doctrines to cause confusion.

Before we got saved we walked "according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."

But praise God we have someone who overcame these spirits so we can overcome these spirits through him. The Bible says that Jesus came "that he might destroy the works of the devil." Jesus Christ, in his death, through his shed blood, has defeated Satan. When you have Christ, you have all you need. We do not have to walk according to the prince of the power of the air, greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

"...the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" Paul attributes this being dead in trespasses and sin to the act of disobedience. The act of disobedience did not occur at the time of birth, the act of disobedience was occurring at that time. "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" It wasn't in some earlier disobedience in Adam that causes us to be dead in trespasses and sins, it's our own disobedience that causes us to be dead in trespasses and sins!

Now, if you believe I am twisting these Scriptures, I am willing to listen to any argument if you say it means something else.

Okay, so what is dead? I'm alive and walking around, so my body is not dead yet. My mind, will, and emotions are not dead, and my spirit certainly is not dead. So what is dead? I am dead. I am separated from God, I have the death sentence on my head. I am alienated and estranged from God, and all this is classified as being dead as the Bible describes it. Before I was saved I was dead in trespasses and sins by my own act of disobedience, the way I once walked. I was doomed for Hell. Once I crossed that line where I trespassed, when within my soul I came to know the difference between good and evil, it was then my iniquities separated me from God, my sins hid his face from me. I was no longer innocent, I was dead in trespasses and sins. Isaiah 59:1-2 says, "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."

Paul says in Romans 7:9, "For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." We know Paul doesn't mean alive in the sense of regenerated, but alive in the sense of not being "dead in trespasses and sins." He was not yet accounted as a sinner, just as an infant or small child or the mentally retarded who are not yet aware of the difference between good and evil, having no consciousness of their fault, are not yet accounted as a sinner. They are alive, not in the sense of regenerated, but alive in the sense of not being "dead in trespasses and sins." You and I know one cannot be dead in trespasses and sins until one sins against a divine prohibition. To trespass is to pass over a defined boundary. The Law defines boundaries. Until the Law makes itself known, there can be no trespass, "...for sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4)." Paul said in the previous verse, "For without the law sin was dead."

In the beginning of Romans Paul deals with all of us to prove how we are all sinners, those who had the written law, and those who had the law of their conscience, who sinned against their conscience. When an infant is born into this world, he is not accounted as a sinner. He is innocent. An infant or small child does not have the intellectual capacity to understand duty, the child does not feel guilt and therefore is not held accountable. Sin is not imputed when there is no law. (Rom. 5:13), and "For without the law sin was dead." I agree there is no question that young children sin. It isn't until that child begins to grow into knowledge of good and evil that sin revives and the child becomes dead in trespasses and sins.

Paul says in Romans 7:9, "....when the commandment came..." The commandment comes to Paul as it does to all of us at some point in our life, when we grew into a knowledge of good and evil, what we could call moral maturity. Paul says, "...but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." The coming of the commandment to his consciousness did not produce sin in an original sense; it revived sin already present. He died in the sense that he came under condemnation....dead in trespasses and sins.

In Ephesians 2:1-3 they were separated from God by their deviations from truth (trespasses) and violations of divine law (sins). We were under the same conditions before we were saved, "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."

Paul reminded them how they once walked, "our conversation in times past." We know the word "conversation" does not only mean in terms of speaking, but also means a general course of manners, our behavior, how we live our life. Their whole manner of life was according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (just as ours used to be before we were saved). They were disobedient to God. As the result, they were "by nature the children of wrath." Nowhere does the Bible say Adam's nature changed when he sinned and therefore we were born with an inherently sinful nature, that in Adam we all sinned and therefore are guilty because of Adam's sin. Paul doesn't say they were "children of sin." Again, this is man's private interpretation, using non-Biblical terms. He said they were "children of wath," i.e., they were condemned to the wrath of God. If one wants to keep saying we are all "born in trespasses and sins," or use the word "born" before quoting the verse, which is commonly done both ways, then the only conclusion is that this is describing babies at birth, and if that's the case, then all little children are condemned to receive the wrath of God. Those who defend such a position are contending that babies who die in infancy are consigned to the horrors of hell. That is not what God's word teaches us!

"By nature" does not describe a condition given at birth, something given to him that necessitates him to sin, that he can't help but do anything but sin because that is the way God made him. This is not about hereditary depravity, this is not Bible doctrine. (To read further about this, go to "Proof Texts" [Are All Men Born Sinners] for further explanation.)

They "were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." The context shows Paul was not speaking about their state of birth, but they were by nature the children of wrath because of their voluntary wickedness, the way they walked, their conversation, their whole manner of living. In verse three he said how their former life with other sinners was in fulfilling the "lusts of the flesh" and "the desires of the flesh and of the mind." The point is that both Jew and Gentile had given themselves over to sinful lives and by long, established custom of life deserved the wrath of God.

To sum it up:

"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;" "Quickened means "made alive." Before I was saved, the whole me, my whole being, was under the death sentence. I was dead in trespasses and sins. The only cure for the condition of being dead in trespasses and sins is to be crucified with Christ and then raised (quickened) together with Christ. (see Ephesians 2:5-6; Rom. 6:4; Gal. 2:20).

"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:" Describes to them how they walked before they were saved. I also walked in the same manner. Verses 1-3 showed us what it meant to be dead. We were dead in trespasses and sins.

"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." Just as this applies to them, it also applies to me. I too was guilty of the same, and by nature a child of wrath. As long as I was dead in trespasses and sins, by walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the wrath of God was abiding on me. (John 3:36).

As you can see, this passage was read in its context thus far, referring to Scripture that would relate and agree, without having to use unbiblical terminology, without having to twist the verses to mean what it does not say and then read other verses in them. If this is my crime and deserving of disfellowship and friendship, so be it. With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you. (1 Cor. 4:3)

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