SAVED… OR LOST
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Birthday gifts are received by us not because we deserve them and people have to give them to us, but they are given out of their graciousness toward us. So it is with Christmas gifts or gifts at any other time— gifts to us are undeserved favor that people bestow upon us. It is grace.
According to the passage above we who now know Jesus were once spiritual dead before we called upon His Name. We were dead man walking, shells with no spiritual life in them. That is how it is with every single person living on this planet today who have not come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ— they are dead spiritually and existing purely for the material side of life. This is true of any person in any form of religious system as well as those who claim to be atheists— they are dead in their sin as mentioned above and help captive to do Satan’s will (II Timothy 2:26).
Some time ago I was talking with a person on this very issue and they told me, “I feel like I am dead inside.” The fact of the matter is that they were and still are dead on the inside. They exist, but as God’s Word tells us that before we know Jesus we are “gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts” and that “we were by nature deserving of wrath.” This is not a good place to be! If a person dies without trusting Jesus then they will suffer the wrath of God. Why would anyone desire to rebel against Him and all His awesome goodness to follow Satan’s will and all his evil? Again, it is because Satan has held them captive to do his will (II Timothy 2:26).
We cannot become spiritually alive on our own, but it is God who “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions— it is by grace you have been saved.” This is God’s work. A work which we do not deserve, but it is a gift from Him and what a gift it is! When we understand what He saves us from, what He saves us to and the eternal relationship He calls us into… the unbelievable becomes believable!
Knowing Jesus is life. Not knowing Him is death— now and forever— a destruction of the purposes we were created for and a separation from them forever in the place of wrath called hell. But, the way is open for us to know Jesus. If you have not called on His Name with a desire to turn from your sin and follow His ways, call on Him now! Your life will never be the same…
Dear Father, thank You for the greatest Gift that a person could ever receive— salvation through Your Son Jesus. May I serve You with a grateful heart!