The second chapter of the great Rabbi�s letter to the congregation at Ephesus is very important. It contains some foundational doctrines: the doctrine of the Total Depravity of man; the doctrine of salvation by grace alone; the relationship between Messianic Jews and Messianic Gentiles. May the Lord help each one of us to understand and embrace and apply these important truths!
The doctrine of Total Depravity doesn�t mean that each individual is totally depraved - that they are as bad as they can possibly get. It means that sin has affected every human being, and sin has touched every aspect of humanity - body, soul, mind, spirit, will, your relationship to G-d, your relationship to life, your relationship to salvation.
Notice that little phrase, �in your trespasses and sins�, that this master teacher of Messiah�s New Covenant Community uses. Just as believers are �in Messiah�, so those who are out outside of Messiah, those who are unbelievers are �in something� - not in Messiah, but in their trespasses and sins. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, trespassed, and by doing so, they joined us to sin.
When we are in our trespasses and sins; when we cross boundaries that the King of the universe has commanded not to be crossed; when we miss the mark and fail to do what is right and fall short of doing what the Lord G-d requires of us, the result is awful. We certainly are not OK. We most certainly are not good. We assuredly are not acceptable to, and will not be welcomed by an infinitely holy and pure G-d. In fact, we are not even alive! Humanity - we are dead!
Something essential about us has died. Our sins and trespasses don�t just hurt us a little bit. Our sins and trespasses don�t merely injure us. We are not merely wounded with a slight wound from which we can recover. We have been killed! We are dead!
It is only those human beings who are joined to Messiah, and who are indwelt by the promised Holy Spirit, who are the sons and daughters of G-d who are acceptable to Him, and who will be welcome in the Father�s eternal home.
Don�t think that because you are part of the chosen nation, chosen to accomplish the Lord�s purposes, that you are exempt from the corruption of human nature. This spiritual disaster that has devastated humanity applies not to Gentiles, but to Jews as well. But due to our supremely merciful Creator, we were not left in that horrible situation. But G-d, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Messiah (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua. Not only did our kind Maker grant us mercy; not only did He abundantly forgive and pardon all of our transgressions and sins; not only did He love us, not only did He save us, not only did He give us new life, a new quality of life that is in tune with G-d�s life, eternal life, but He highly exalted us. He raised us up from our extremely low condition, not just a little - not just raising us up back to life on Earth, but He raised us up higher, much much higher, all the way past this Earth, past the air and the lower heavens and all the up to Heaven and the Highest Heavens. There, in the Highest Heavens He didn�t put us off to one side (that would be good enough for us) but in the Highest Heavens G-d the Father caused us to be seated with the Son of G-d in the place of highest honest, next to the very throne of G-d the Father! That is where those are in Messiah will most certainly wind up!
So, from a starting point, a beginning condition of being dead in trespasses and sins, enemies of G-d, disobedient children, yielding to sinful lusts of body and mind, abominable to a holy G-d, children worthy of the righteous indignation and wrath of G-d Almighty, we have been forgiven; we have been saved; we have been enlivened, we have been raised up, we have exalted, we have been empowered and we have been eternally enriched!
Why? Why would the Supreme Being do all this? What motivated this great activity on the part of the Infinite One? The Creator was motivated by His mercy, by His desire to not give to His sinful, erring sons and daughters what we deserve, to punish us the way we merit, but because He is rich in mercy - not stingy with His mercy, but rich in mercy like the man who is forgiven a huge debt that he could never pay off; rich in mercy like the man who embezzle from his employer and gets caught and is facing years in jail and the destruction of his life is forgiven; and also motivated by His love for us - not just a little love for us, but great affection for us; a huge desire to do exceedingly much good for us, to restore us, and elevate us and bless us, the Lord intervened to save us. He worked so as to give us life, new life, the kind of life we need - real life, Messiah�s life, G-d�s life, eternal life, life with Messiah, life with G-d!
The Lord also did all these wonderful things for us for another reason. So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Messiah Yeshua. Those who are in Messiah, those who have been joined to the Son of G-d, will, from age to age to age to age, ages stretching on throughout eternity, be a demonstration of the amazing grace and the exceedingly great kindness of this wonderful G-d.
Think about this: It is the Master of the Universe�s intention that we be an eternal display of the kindness that He has extended to us, and His grace - His unmerited favor, His unearned goodness. And, that we show forth not just a little bit the grace He gives to us, but the riches of His grace. And not just the riches of His grace, but the surpassing riches, the overabundant, the superlative, the exceedingly generous, the way beyond nature of His grace toward those of us who are in Messiah Yeshua.
The bottom line what are we doing to bring the world in? if a person does not know the Messiah no matter what race they are the will die in there sin.
