"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins"
- Ephesians 2:1
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"
- Ephesians 2:5
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses"
- Colossians 2:13
What does "dead in sin" mean?
Notice that in all three of the above Biblical references to the phrase "dead in sin" that the solution to spiritual death is God's quickening (or regeneration). This means the concept refers to man's natural state in original sin, apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. To be unspiritual, dead in sin or "of the flesh", then, refers to man's natural fallen condition of bondage to corruption prior to the intervention of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthinans 2, it teaches us that persons in this state cannot understand spiritual truths when spoken to them, until the Spirit renews them and gives them understanding.
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in 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. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
I would think that this Scripture is CLEAR ENOUGH and in No Need of such a Long Explanation.
Dead in sin is just that
"you are Dead Spiritually"
The only way "out" is Resurrection...to be Born Again...to be Baptised in the Name of The Father...The Son...amd The Holy Spirit.
Ella says: :ROFL:..I know that's right PJ!!!:laugh::yay::dancingp:
Arch, what you said was in few words, but you still didn't get it all right!
And if you have the answer, so what was the purpose of your question? The Holy Spirit is the regenerator, or as PJ said generator, He jumped started us in the right direction, and only through and by HIs power and works on the inside of us are we BORN AGAIN, which means converted! Again, water baptism does not make us BORN AGAIN nor does it convert us nor does water wash away our sin, it is symbolic of our burial of our sins..
Plus, this topic is about being dead in sin, which means a sinner in sin without Christ in your life. Which again, means being spritually DEAD, unable to see the light of God's truth, in sin, un-Chirst-like values, no thoughts for God, opposing the things of God, hostile toward God, because as a sinner we walked according to our own ways and were influenced by the devil and the things of the world obeying satan as Paul points out in verses 2-10...
We are regenrated by the power and might of the Holy Spirit, not by water. I think if you sit and read Ephesians chapters 1-2, and not try and figure out for yourself what God is saying trying to mix your truth and doctrine with God's WORD OF TRUTH, and allow the Holy Spirit to REVEAL to you what God is saying you will see and understand... it was God through Jesus Christ who gave us spiritual life AFTER we said YES Lord, I am a sinner, save me, I receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Then the Holy Spiirt comes on the inside of us, and makes us ALIVE IN CHIRST DEAD TO SIN...
Yes, the Holy Spirit resurrect us, but this cannot be done until AFTER a person has received Jesus Christ into his/her life faith to believe, and THEN the Holy Spirit comes into our life AFTER we have confess our faith in believing in Chirst. saving faith is our response to God in the salvation experience as in Romasn chapter 10, faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing the gospel about Jesus Christ, not denominational doctrine or theology , BUT FROM HEARING THE GOSPEL DOCTRINE OF JESUS CHRIST do we increase our faith to believe...
James is �alluding� to the Calvinist belief that man�s nature is so depraved that man CANNOT Respond to God�s Word and so then God has to Force His Word down man�s throat (but only the ones God Chooses).
I wanted to point out that through Baptism God gives us a �Rebirth��a New Beginning�a Regenerated Soul.
Calvinist Have to Repute this because their New Gospel will not work if this is True.
What is also Interesting are
(your words) �Yes, the Holy Spirit resurrect us, but this cannot be done until AFTER a person has received Jesus Christ��
��THEN the Holy Spirit comes into our life AFTER we have confess(ed) our faith ��
��is our response to God�� (end quote)
There seems to be a lot of �Responding� going on here. Quite a bit of�waiting for Man to do some kind of Act before� It appears that The Holy Spirit Moves �after� man makes a decision.
If man has no Free Will as some of you believe�then How Can Man RESPOND?
Arch, My only question is when you were in your sins, BEFORE you came to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, what was the turning point of you making the decision to repent of your wicked ways and trun your life around.
See, the deciding factor to whether or not man can hear the voice of God while being dead in his/her sins, is the point of your OWN salvation. What brought you to know that you were lost and needed a savior?
If God is severign, and has all power, and can speak those things that be not as though they were, then one should know that although man was/ is dead meaning has no understanding of the things of God BEFORE he is born again, then what is your testimony of your salvation.
If a person doesn't have a breaking point that led to thier salvation, then the person has not experienced the born again expereince.
God makes dry/dead bones to wakeup and hear the voice of God. Warning and close calls God sends our way when we are in the world, is the drawing of the Lord calling out to us to repent and come to Him.
Man hears everything no matter how depraved he is, because God is God and has the power over everything He has created, so ever hwen you were lost dead in your sins God always sent circumstance or situstion to let you know you were lost and needed to turn your life around.
This is why I say, if you're not READING the word with spiritual understanding then you will miss what God is saying. Paul tells us in this passage that when we were int he world walking in darkness, blinded by satan, God pointed out our wicked ways and this is what brought the change in our life to receive the invitation of Christ to come to Him.
There are people who hear the voice of God pleading with them to repent of their sins and turn around, but they never do and are therefore, lost and die living in their sins, and are hell bound.
Man hears God no matter whatmm but man as scripture teaches us, loves sin, and refuses to HEAR the voice of God, this is the only reason why man does not trun out of his wicked sinful ways to God. A rock hears God, and will move wherevr God tells it to move. Man has no power, God is the only one who has power, and is in his sins because man is rebellious and refuses to obey God unto salvation.... this is what the Bibles teaches us as to why man is depraved of salvation because man loves darkness and sin.
Did Baptism Regenerate your "Dead to Sin" life and make you Capable of "Hearing" God's Word and thereby being able to "Make" that decision to "Follow" Jesus...to "Accept" Jesus into your Heart?
