Grow With Pastor Joe

Do you remember every Christian family’s obsession with Duck Dynasty? Everyone loved to watch their antics and appreciated their conservative views. They were real. They were relatable. But, like all trends they faded out. You will rarely hear them talked about anymore. I remember the next show that took the Christian world by storm. Fixer Upper. Chip and Joanna Gaines bought fixer uppers and then, you guessed it…fixed them up. Joanna was the brains and Chip was the brawn without the brains. The two were a conservative family that owned and operated a successful business. The show has since ended but you can still see their impact in retail stores. Every wife, including my own, obsessed over each episode. After an evening of watching the newest episode of Fixer Upper, wives would go to sleep and dream of shiplap and exposed wooden beams. Many husbands, including myself, tolerated the show outwardly but inwardly were just as hooked. For us guys, “demo day” was our favorite. I enjoyed the time in each episode where Chip and his crew would tear stuff apart. That’s every guy’s dream job. We’re good at breaking stuff. Each episode was pretty much the same. Chip and Joanna would find a dead, broken-down, and busted-up home and within thirty minutes would turn it into a dream home for a family (who had the money of course). When we think about our salvation in Christ, sadly we equate it to Fixer Upper. We think, “Oh, God had to tear down a little and fix me up; but my foundation was good, and I had some things for Him to work with.” Wrong. Dead wrong. Our salvation is not like an episode of Fixer Upper. We need more than shiplap, rustic décor, and exposed wooden beams to save us from Hell and our sinful nature. We can’t fix ourselves up. A remodel won’t do. Those without Christ don’t need a remodel, they need to be reborn. I didn’t just need Jesus to fix me up. No. I needed to be completely demolished and totally rebuilt. The moment of conversion (regeneration, being born again, or salvation etc.) God demolished me and made me new in Christ. All by grace. All for His glory.

As Ephesians 1 leads into Ephesians 2, Paul continues to expound on the wealth and walk of the believer who is in Christ. Ephesians 2:1-7 is what we’ll be looking at today. It reads, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; ² Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: ³ Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” This is more than a home makeover. This is God’s grace giving life to the lifeless. This is God’s grace making slaves into sons. This is God’s grace delivering us from rags to riches in Christ.

My wealth in Christ is a present reality that I can experience today by grace through faith. It is also a promised reward that I can expect to enjoy throughout eternity because of the faithfulness and kindness of God. My walk in Christ is my present response to my past redemption and my future reward in Christ. Both are already and not yet realities. They are both experienced now, and one day later throughout the ages to come. For us to see that we are more than a fixer upper we must see our past condition (Eph. 2:1-3) and appreciate our present condition (Eph. 2:4-7). Think of it this way. If an episode of Fixer Upper was just the last five minutes giving us the finished product without ever seeing the previous condition of the home, we wouldn’t understand the magnitude of the work that went into it. This is why we must see what and who we used to be. I’ll only see how rich I am when I remember how poor I was. I’ll only see how rich life is when I remember that I was dead, blind, deaf, and dumb. I believe that our spiritual walk in Christ suffers when we don’t see our wealth in Christ. The beginning of our wealth in Christ is seeing what He saved us from. Our wealth is truly known in understanding our past condition and present condition so that in our present condition we can enjoy God’s grace in our walk in Christ.

In today’s episode, let us look at our past condition. Eph. 2:1-3 says, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; ² Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: ³ Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” For us to understand our past condition we first need to see that man is body, soul, and spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Emphasis added]  Man is much like the Tabernacle or Temple in the OT. The NT even says that the believer is now the “temple of the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 6). We have our body (outer courts), soul (holy place) and spirit (holy of holies). Our spirit deals with our relationship to God. We either have a dead spirit separated from God (we will deal with this shortly) or it is alive in Christ (hang on, we are getting there). Our soul is also a part of our inner man. This is our mind, emotions, and will. The soul of man is his thinker, feeler, and chooser. Then, man has a body. This is our outer man. Our body is the vessel and tool of our inner man (soul and spirit). It is the outward conduit of our inward character. If we are still thinking about Fixer Upper, let’s say that the foundation is our spirit, the inside of the house (walls, rooms, paint decorations etc.) is our soul, and everything outside that can be seen from the sidewalk is our body.

Our past condition is seen in having a dead spirit. Ephesians 2:1 makes this clear. To be “dead in trespasses and sins” is to be disconnected from the life and light of God. We don’t know Him. We don’t love Him. We don’t have life within ourselves. There are three kinds of death in the Bible. One, there is spiritual death as described here, which is the separation of man’s spirit from God’s Spirit. Two, there is physical death which is the separation of man’s soul and spirit from his body (Heb. 9:27). Thirdly, there is eternal death which is the eternal separation of the soul and spirit of man from God (Rev. 20:14). If you remain spiritually dead, then you will eternally die after your physical death. This is why we need to be born again. Death is one of many different descriptions of the unsaved, unbelieving, or unregenerate. Unbelievers who have a dead spirit who have not been born again into the family of God are described in the Bible as blind (2 Cor. 4:3-4), slaves to sin (Rom. 6:17), lovers of darkness (John 3:19-20), sick (Mark 2:17), lost (Luke 15) among other things. This description in Eph. 2:1 of our past condition is bleak. It shows that we were guilty and in the grave. Each person without Christ is unregenerate through unbelief. This is a result of our first birth. In our physical birth we are born in Adam and must be born again to be placed in Christ. Those who remain in Adam live continuously as unregenerate unbelievers. Before our salvation we were spiritual zombies. Our bodies lived and so did our souls. We moved, thought, felt, and made decisions. Yet, we did so with a dead spirit without the life of God inside of us. We were living dead men. Notice that we “were dead in trespasses and sins.” Trespasses are seen in the Bible as open and outright unbelieving rebellion. The word for sins is generic signifying all types of sins, including those we don’t recognize or know about. Unbelief is the cause and consequence of being unregenerate, without life.

In our past condition we not only had a dead spirit but a depraved soul. Eph. 2:2 says, “² Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” Unfortunately, the word depraved has been stolen by the “reformed” crowd and makes the average Christian nervous. Depraved simply means to be corrupted with evil, wickedness, or perversion. This is a perfect way to describe our soul. Our thoughts, emotions, and decisions were depraved. Perverted. Not what they should be. The natural man doesn’t think, feel, or decide as God intended. Since the fall of mankind in Adam, everyone is born with a dead spirit without life being separated in relationship to God and lives with a depraved soul that is perverse in all things. Man has a freewill, that’s not up for debate. We can freely think, feel, and choose. That’s what it means to have a soul. However, in our past condition, because we have a dead spirit and a depraved soul our freewill is bound and bent toward sinful perversion. Our freewill is held hostage by the lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life (1 John 2:15-17). Through unbelief, those who are unregenerate live as hostages. Our depraved soul is held at gunpoint and is moved by perversion, sinfulness, and evil. Unbelievers who are held hostage develop spiritual “Stockholm syndrome.” This is where they are not only held hostage but begin to enjoy the sin that holds them at captive. Depraved souls are captivated by their captors. We fall in love with the one who keeps us bound as slaves of sin. The lost and depraved soul marches to the devil’s drumbeat walking in the way of the world which is only that of unbelief and unlawful behavior toward God’s rule. Each depraved soul without the life of Christ is directed by deathly desires. To the depraved soul, death tastes good. In our past condition we love that which is dark (John 3:18-21). We walked in darkness as Paul will later explain. The living dead with depraved souls walk according to the way of the world, will of the Devil, and outright disobedience toward God.

Our past condition without Christ is described as having a dead spirit, depraved souls, and as well a defiled body. Eph. 2:3 says, “³ Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” Our inward character was corrupted by our dead spirit and depraved soul. Without Christ, our body is the conduit of our perverse character and is expressed through evil conduct. It is defiled and deteriorating. Our bodies can be used for good or evil. However, with dead spirits and depraved souls we defiled our bodies. We can bring in and send out much evil through our bodies. The desires of our outer man (body) are directed by the inner man (soul/spirit). This leads to a life of perversion. Our past condition can be summed up as being guilty and living in the grave. We were wicked from the inside-out. From head to toe. There is no part of anyone without Christ that is good (Rom. 3). Because of this life of being entirely wicked and guilty, we lived under the wrath of God. God’s wrath is just, righteous, and holy. Every unregenerated unbeliever will face the unbridled eternal wrath of God. On our own, we can’t change our past condition.

But. But God. My present condition in Christ is not one of death but of deliverance. I’ve been delivered from death and destruction. Eph. 2:4-7 shows us our present condition of being alive by grace while awaiting glory. These verses declare that the dead don’t have to stay dead. The depraved don’t have to stay depraved. The defiled will one day put on incorruption. Hallelujah, what a savior! All of the incredible truths of our present condition are also a result of birth. The new birth. Being born again, adopted by God through the work of Christ the Son and witness of the Holy Spirit we have everlasting life. I am more than a fixer upper. I am brand new. Back from the dead.

Grow with me as we study the believer’s wealth and walk in Christ.

Grow deeper.

Grow higher.

Grow wider.