Born Dead
And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him having forgiven us all our trespasses.
- Colossians 2:13
The phrase "born dead" is an oxymoron. How can one be alive and dead at the same time? Well, that is the way all mankind is born due to Adam and Eve's original sin in the Garden of Eden. Man is physically alive, but spiritually dead. He has no life inside of him - a zombie, a corpse - seriously living on borrowed time.
Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day, "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which appear beautiful, but within (italics added) are full of dead people's bones and all uncleaness. So you outwardly appear righteous, but within (italics added) you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matt 23:27-28).
This is a vivid description of the living dead.
The prophet Isaiah 59:1-17 sums up the sinner's predicament perfectly.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
Ephesians 2:1-6, says, "And you who were dead in trespasses and sins (italics added) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air (the devil, italics added), the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature (i.e. our Adamic nature) children of wrath even as the others. But God (not us) who is rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses (italics added) made us alive (italics added) together with Christ - by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
Very rich and powerful revelation from the apostle Paul. He clearly explains fallen man's condition before divine intervention. Only God has the power to raise the dead. God is aggressive in the regeneration process. Man is a sole benefactor and adds nothing to this process for he is dead prior to God commanding him to rise from his deadness so that he can have of newness life.
In the final analysis, all those that are forgiven of sin are those who are alive to God and dead to sin. The role has been reversed for us - we're no longer living for sin and dead to God. We must understand this truth.
Those who refuse to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ are just the like religious leaders Jesus rebuked in Matthew 23:27-28 - their appearance is beautiful on the outside, but inside their dead rotteness bones who's sinful stench reaches up to heaven which is an affront to a holy God.
Their damnation is wide awake now unless they repent, otherwise they will die eternally (2 Peter 2:3).
- Colossians 2:13
The phrase "born dead" is an oxymoron. How can one be alive and dead at the same time? Well, that is the way all mankind is born due to Adam and Eve's original sin in the Garden of Eden. Man is physically alive, but spiritually dead. He has no life inside of him - a zombie, a corpse - seriously living on borrowed time.
Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day, "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which appear beautiful, but within (italics added) are full of dead people's bones and all uncleaness. So you outwardly appear righteous, but within (italics added) you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matt 23:27-28).
This is a vivid description of the living dead.
The prophet Isaiah 59:1-17 sums up the sinner's predicament perfectly.
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.
3
For your hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue has muttered perversity.
4
No one calls for justice,
Nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in empty words and speak lies;
They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
5
They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.
6
Their webs will not become garments,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And the act of violence is in their hands.
7
Their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
Wasting and destruction are in their paths.
8
The way of peace they have not known,
And there is no justice in their ways;
They have made themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace
9
Therefore justice is far from us,
Nor does righteousness overtake us;
We look for light, but there is darkness!
For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
10
We grope for the wall like the blind,
And we grope as if we had no eyes;
We stumble at noonday as at twilight;
We are as dead men in desolate places.
11
We all growl like bears,
And moan sadly like doves;
We look for justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12
For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And as for our iniquities, we know them:
13
In transgressing and lying against the Lord,
And departing from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14
Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands afar off;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
15
So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him
That there was no justice.
16
He saw that there was no man,
And wondered that there was no intercessor;
Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
17
For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
With this clearly speaks of is man's inability and unwillingness to come to the Lord on his own. There isn't a vestige of virtue in man to do that. Why? Because man loves his sin and continually walks in darkness. Unregenerate man never runs to God, he runs away from God, lest he comes to the light of the gospel truth and his sins are exposed (John 3:20). God alone is the one who HAS the power save us or else no one can ever be saved.
In Romans 8:6-8 we read, "For to set the mind on the flesh is death (the state of the unbeliever), but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not submit to the law of God; indeed it can not. Those who are in the flesh can not please God."
The carnal man that is devoid of the Spirit can do nothing no matter how philanthropic, benevolent, or noble to please his maker because it comes from a wicked heart; it's self righteousness. Man's righteousness the bible says is a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6)
Proverbs 15:8 says, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight."
Proverbs 21:27 says, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more he when brings it with evil intent."
God despises the wicked's sacrifices and gifts. They do not glorify Him at all.
The sinners works are just as dead as they are.
Realizing that man is totally impotent due to his deadness in his sins is there a cure? Can man somehow be resurrected from spiritual dead unto spiritual life? Here's the answer:
"How can a young man (or woman) keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word."
(Psalm 119:9).
The first thing the sinner has to do is expose themselves to the power of God's word for it saves all those who believe [italics added for emphasis (Romans 1:16)].
The preaching of the gospel will convict all of sin so that their evil deeds are exposed so that upon receiving positively the gospel message, one is granted repentance and faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation (2 Tim 2:25; Eph 2:8,9). This is all God's doing. Since a dead man can not do anything but be dead, God has to bring him back to life.
Romans 6:5 says, "For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His."
When Jesus died for our sins on the cross, the above passage says we died with Him; obviously not literally, but spiritually by faith. When he rose from the grave, that power raised us from our spiritual graves. We were infused with life on the inside. Our spirits were made alive by his resurrection when we believed. This speaks of our identity with him in death and life.
In Romans 8:6-8 we read, "For to set the mind on the flesh is death (the state of the unbeliever), but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not submit to the law of God; indeed it can not. Those who are in the flesh can not please God."
The carnal man that is devoid of the Spirit can do nothing no matter how philanthropic, benevolent, or noble to please his maker because it comes from a wicked heart; it's self righteousness. Man's righteousness the bible says is a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6)
Proverbs 15:8 says, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight."
Proverbs 21:27 says, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more he when brings it with evil intent."
God despises the wicked's sacrifices and gifts. They do not glorify Him at all.
The sinners works are just as dead as they are.
Realizing that man is totally impotent due to his deadness in his sins is there a cure? Can man somehow be resurrected from spiritual dead unto spiritual life? Here's the answer:
"How can a young man (or woman) keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word."
(Psalm 119:9).
The first thing the sinner has to do is expose themselves to the power of God's word for it saves all those who believe [italics added for emphasis (Romans 1:16)].
The preaching of the gospel will convict all of sin so that their evil deeds are exposed so that upon receiving positively the gospel message, one is granted repentance and faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation (2 Tim 2:25; Eph 2:8,9). This is all God's doing. Since a dead man can not do anything but be dead, God has to bring him back to life.
Romans 6:5 says, "For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His."
When Jesus died for our sins on the cross, the above passage says we died with Him; obviously not literally, but spiritually by faith. When he rose from the grave, that power raised us from our spiritual graves. We were infused with life on the inside. Our spirits were made alive by his resurrection when we believed. This speaks of our identity with him in death and life.
Ephesians 2:1-6, says, "And you who were dead in trespasses and sins (italics added) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air (the devil, italics added), the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature (i.e. our Adamic nature) children of wrath even as the others. But God (not us) who is rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses (italics added) made us alive (italics added) together with Christ - by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
Very rich and powerful revelation from the apostle Paul. He clearly explains fallen man's condition before divine intervention. Only God has the power to raise the dead. God is aggressive in the regeneration process. Man is a sole benefactor and adds nothing to this process for he is dead prior to God commanding him to rise from his deadness so that he can have of newness life.
In the final analysis, all those that are forgiven of sin are those who are alive to God and dead to sin. The role has been reversed for us - we're no longer living for sin and dead to God. We must understand this truth.
Those who refuse to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ are just the like religious leaders Jesus rebuked in Matthew 23:27-28 - their appearance is beautiful on the outside, but inside their dead rotteness bones who's sinful stench reaches up to heaven which is an affront to a holy God.
Their damnation is wide awake now unless they repent, otherwise they will die eternally (2 Peter 2:3).
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