Six Feet Deep in Sin

Ephesians 2:1-10

 

If you are not a Christian, please don’t get the impression that you are living; you’re not. And please don’t get the impression that you are dying; you’re not. According to Paul, you’re dead (v. 1). You see, sin doesn’t make people unhealthy or sick. Sin kills.  

That may explain why you are so cold toward God and everything holy. Now you know why you are so stiff-necked, refusing to yield to God’s will. No wonder you feel so hopeless—all you have to look forward to is further decay. There’s no need to ask why the rankness of your rotten life nauseates everyone but you. The reason is clear: you’re dead. 

See if Paul’s description of life in sin’s graveyard isn’t dead on (vv. 2-3). According to Paul, people in the clutches of sin’s grip live by the world’s degrading standards, enjoy the world’s twisted pleasures, and reach for the world’s deceitful dreams. In sin’s graveyard dead people are continuously being pressed into the world’s grave-shaped mold. 

As if that weren’t bad enough, notice who’s in charge of sin’s cemetery. Not God, that’s for sure! God doesn’t reign over a graveyard. The graveyard is Satan’s domain—his kingdom. The graveyard is where Satan wields his power over his lifeless subjects. It’s where Satan ruins people like he ruined himself. The graveyard is Satan’s palace; his throne is a tombstone; his scepter is a shovel; and his delight is to reward his devotees with their very own graves.

 Has Paul said too much already? Just one more descriptive of life in the graveyard and then Paul will leave the cemetery. After all, it’s getting dark. What may be the most amazing thing about life in the graveyard is that the dead people have one faculty still functioning. Those dead in sin are still able to hear the cries of their decaying bodies, ever seeking to be satisfied. And in vain the dead seek to satisfy their rotting flesh.

 Have you ever wondered why there’s no fence around sin’s graveyard—no wall protecting Satan’s palace? The reason is simple, really: dead people don’t walk out of graveyards on their own power. Therefore, no fence is necessary to keep the dead inside.

 And no wall is sufficient to keep God out! The reality is that many people who once lived in Satan’s cemetery have, like Christ (1:19-21), been made alive, been raised, and been made to sit in the heavenly places (vv. 5-6). But don’t think these people experienced this miraculous transformation as a result of their own efforts. They didn’t get out of the graveyard by trying to do it themselves; they got out by trusting God to do it for them (vv. 8-10). The good news is that you can get out the very same way—by God’s amazing grace.

 So, if you’re reading this article in the graveyard, there are two things you desperately need to know. One, you’re dead—that’s why you’re where you are. And two, you can be made alive by accepting God’s grace—that’s right, you don’t have to stay where you are.                         

~Daniel Hope