5. Before and After
•You’ve seen all the marketing stuff
about miraculous changes before
and after using a certain product
•This is better– Before Jesus you
were dead. Now you are alive!
•Obviously we’re talking spiritually
•Lets see what Paul has for us on this
6. “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the
course of this world, according to the prince of
the power of the air, of the spirit that is now
working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among
them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of
our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in
mercy, because of His great love with which He
7. loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our
transgressions, made us alive together with
Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and
raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that
in the ages to come He might show the
surpassing riches of His grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you
have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result
of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are
8. His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand
so that we would walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:1-10, NASB
9. Before, we were dead in sin…
•V1- the cause of death is sin– missing God’s
mark of perfection– from our sin-
ful nature inherited from Adam
•We are not sinners because we sin
•We sin because we are sinners
•Biblically, death is separation from God
•The Spirit separated…
10. “…But your iniquities have separated you
from your God; And your sins have hidden
His face from you, So that He will not
hear…”
Isaiah 59:2, NASB
11. Before…
•So, the Unbeliever is not sick, but spiritually
is dead
•He cannot be resuscitated, only
resurrected
•The main point of corpses is this:
•They are Completely Dead
•This world is filled with dead people
12. We walked in Satan’s ways…
•Vv 2-3a, in the invisible spiritual
realm, there are only 2 ways
•God’s way or Satan’s, no middle
•Either for God or against Him
13. “…He who is not with Me is against Me…”
Matthew 20:30a, NASB
14. We walked in Satan’s ways…
•Vv 2-3a, in the invisible spiritual
realm, there are only 2 ways
•God’s way or Satan’s, no middle
•Either for God or against Him
•How shocking to find out that
apart from Him we were actually
walking in step with the Devil!
15. Walked in Satan’s ways…
3 forces that encourage our
disobedience to God
•The world system puts pressure on
each person to try to get us to
conform to ungodly lifestyles
•The devil and his hosts of demons
•The Flesh…
16. We stood condemned…
•V 3 b, this doesn’t mean that all
things the unbeliever does
•However, all their “good” is no-
thing compared to God’s Holi-
ness Standard
17. “But we are all like an unclean thing , And all
our righteousnesses are like filthy rags...”
Isaiah 64:6a, NASB
18. We stood condemned…
•V 3 b, this doesn’t mean that all
things the unbeliever does
•However, all their “good” is no-
thing compared to God’s Holi-
ness Standard
•Think of this– if our good is as
filthy rags, what must our SIN
look like to Him?!?!! (Game Over?)
19. After! (But God Loves Us…)
•V 4, hundreds of times in the
Bible it says, “But God…”
•These 2 words show a stark
contrast between what we were
before and what we are after
•Thought we were; dead, walking
with Satan, condemned– He
loved us anyway– Grace for
Deserved judgment
20. But God raised us up…
•And we will sit together, V6
•As God raised Jesus up from the
grave, so He raises us up to New
Life– which became available
the moment we believed
•We not only look forward, but
participate in the Glory now!
21. But God keeps us…
•Vv 7-9, God’s purpose in our
redemption was not a simple
rescue from Hell
•It was that we might glorify Him
for all eternity!
•Nothing we can do to achieve
either Salvation nor His Glory
on our own
22. We are His workmanship…
•V10, God really shows His
omnipresence that transcends
above time with His sovereignty
and omniscience in this verse
•Let me try one more time to
explain this thought of
predestination and Free Will
•Case in point– are you doing good?
23. “…For as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead also…”
James 2:26, NASB
24. Take Home!
•God has to work in us before He
can work through us
•The will of God for us comes
from the loving heart of God for
us