“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,” (Eph. 2:1–2a ESV).

Paul does not say that we were spiritually sick. He does not say we were weak, wounded, confused, or merely in need of a little assistance. He says we were dead. And what can a dead man do to make himself alive? Nothing. The dead can only stink!

That is Paul’s devastating description of our natural spiritual condition. We are born in sin, spiritually dead and incapable of choosing God, coming to Christ, or producing faith within ourselves. A corpse cannot decide to live. It cannot reach toward the physician. It cannot cooperate in its resurrection.

Neither can the sinner. That is why two of the most beautiful words in Scripture appear in verse 4: “But God.”

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ,” (Eph. 2:4a ESV).

Notice who is doing the verbs. God loved. God made alive. God raised. God seated us with Christ. Salvation is not God doing His part while we do ours. Salvation is God doing for sinners what sinners could never do for themselves. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” (Eph. 2:8 ESV).

Faith is not our contribution to salvation. Faith is not the one little work God leaves for us to accomplish. Faith receives. It is passive, like an empty hand receiving a gift. Even the faith by which we cling to Christ comes through God’s gracious working through His Word and Sacraments. God gives. We receive.

And then, having made us alive, God sets us to work: “created in Christ Jesus for good works,” (Eph. 2:10b ESV). Good works do not make dead sinners alive. Living Christians do good works because God has already made them alive.

Christianity, therefore, is not the story of dead sinners deciding to find God. It is the story of a merciful God who walks into the graveyard and says to the dead: “Live!” And by grace, they do.

Prayer: Gracious Father, we confess that apart from Christ we are dead in our trespasses and sins and cannot save ourselves. Thank You for Your rich mercy by which You have made us alive together with Christ. Keep us from trusting in our decisions, works, or strength. Grant and preserve in us the faith that receives Christ and all His gifts. Having raised us to new life, lead us in the good works You have prepared for us, that our lives may proclaim Your grace alone. In Jesus’ name. Amen.