January 22, 1992
We don’t like to think of ourselves as spiritually dead. It’s more palatable to consider ourselves, at worst, spiritually sick. After all, sick people can be cured, usually through doing good, healthy things. The Bible, however, is clear: without Christ, we are all dead. As Alistair Begg explains, all of our good works and generosity do not change this fact. Only Jesus has the power to resurrect our souls—and so we must cry out to Him in order to be made alive.
1jAnd you were kdead in the trespasses and sins 2lin which you once walked, following the course of this world, following mthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in nthe sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in othe passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body1 and the mind, and pwere by nature qchildren of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 4But3 God, being rrich in mercy, sbecause of the great love with which he loved us, 5even twhen we were dead in our trespasses, umade us alive together with Christ—vby grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and wseated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable xriches of his grace in ykindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For zby grace you have been saved athrough faith. And this is bnot your own doing; cit is the gift of God, 9dnot a result of works, eso that no one may boast. 10For fwe are his workmanship, gcreated in Christ Jesus hfor good works, iwhich God prepared beforehand, jthat we should walk in them.
Copyright © 2024, Alistair Begg. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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