“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—” (Ephesians 2:1–2, ESV)
Anyone who has owned a car will realize that it has a life expectancy. All machinery wears out. It is a function of a world in which things move from order to disorder. People have a similar problem, our bodies are wasting away, we have a life expectancy. Unfortunately, due to living in this fallen world, some people are born with chronic ailments often inherited that will reduce their life expectancy, without medical care.
Similarly, all people are born with a spiritual defect. We are born with an inherited propensity towards satisfying our fleshly desires in a corrupted way. This is the problem of the sin nature. We inherited this propensity from the fall of Adam in the Garden, when they transgressed God’s command by partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. On that day their eyes were opened and this desire was born. As a result of us having this sinful nature, we cave to the lure of sin in an attempt to satisfy our fleshly desires.
The end result of transgression is death. This is what God told Adam, that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die. Thus, death entered in and all humanity was subjected to this fate. It is a fact that all are sinners by nature and thus, all people have sin, and the wages of sin is death.
This death penalty has three aspects. Unless the Lord returns first, we will all die physically.
There is an eternal aspect of death. It is the eternal judgment and punishment of people for their sins. Paul wrote to the Romans in this regard saying that, “the wages of sin is death.” In Revelation we read of the Lord’s judgment and destiny of unbelievers, which is the Lake of Fire.
Yet there is also a spiritual aspect. Paul wrote to the saints in Ephesus, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.” Note that this is written to believers who obviously are living, and it is written in the past tense, “you were dead.” Here we see that these believers were once dead, but something happened to change this state. They were made alive. Look at Paul’s words on this.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” (Ephesians 2:4–5, ESV)
All people have sinned and thus, are spiritually sick, that is spiritually dead, and need a spiritual healing which brings life. They need the Lord’s salvation. How did the Ephesian believers experience spiritual healing? It was by faith in Jesus Christ alone and His finished work on the cross. On the cross He died to pay the penalty of sin for us and offers us a place in heaven as a free gift (Rom 6:23). It is the only remedy for this spiritual disease. It is faith in Christ, which saves one from sin’s power and its death sentence.
This is why we preach the gospel. The church is a spiritual hospital and believers are all spiritual physicians carrying the one true remedy that heals the fallen. All believers carry the message of the gospel in them and by sharing it we offer to others the opportunity to experience spiritual healing. With this they may escape the power and death penalty of sin.
Renewing the Heart 