Notes from the Lecture:
Dead in Sin: Diagnosing the Human Condition
In Ephesians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul provides one of the clearest and most sobering descriptions of the human condition found anywhere in Scripture. He is not addressing a narrow subset of humanity, nor is he speaking only of particularly wicked people. Rather, Paul is describing mankind universally. His language is deliberately expansive, culminating in the phrase “like the rest of mankind,” leaving no room for exceptions.
Two words dominate Paul’s diagnosis in this passage: dead and nature. These terms are not incidental. They are foundational for understanding both the problem of sin and the necessity of divine grace.
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air… and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1–3, ESV)
To grasp Paul’s argument, we must take these words seriously and resist the temptation to redefine them in ways that make them more comfortable.
What Does It Mean to Be Spiritually Dead?
When Paul says that we were “dead in trespasses and sins,” he is clearly not speaking of physical death. He is using death as a metaphor to describe a spiritual condition. However, this does not mean the metaphor is weak or imprecise.
Spiritual deadness does not mean that an unbeliever lacks a soul or a spirit. Scripture never teaches that. Rather, it describes a condition of separation, alienation, and disconnection from God. Spiritual life comes from God, and to be dead in sin is to be cut off from the source of that life.
This idea is illustrated well in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. When the son returns, the father declares, “This my son was dead, and is alive again.” The son had not ceased to exist, nor had he lost his humanity. He was “dead” in the sense that the relationship was broken. He was alienated.
We use similar language today. When someone says, “You’re dead to me,” they are describing relational separation, not physical nonexistence. In the same way, spiritual death describes humanity’s alienation from God.
Alienation That Cannot Be Fixed from Within
The problem is not merely that mankind is alienated from God. The deeper issue is that this alienation is not something fallen man is able to overcome.
Paul does not present humanity as desperately seeking reconciliation but lacking the means to achieve it. Instead, Scripture consistently portrays fallen man as unwilling and unable to repair the relationship. This inability is not mechanical but moral. It flows directly from human nature.
According to Ephesians 2, fallen man does not move toward God but instead:
This is not accidental behavior. It is the expression of a corrupted nature.
By Nature Children of Wrath
This brings us to the second crucial word in Paul’s argument: nature.
Paul says that we were “by nature children of wrath.” This statement is comprehensive and unavoidable. He adds the phrase “like the rest of mankind” to make explicit what might otherwise be denied. No one is excluded from this condition.
This does not mean that God created Adam sinful. Adam was created upright. But when Adam sinned, he brought all whom he represented into a fallen condition. For us, sin is not merely something we do; it is something we are born into.
We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.
Sin is not simply a pattern learned from society. It is a birth condition. Scripture does not attribute humanity’s rebellion merely to nurture, environment, or cultural pressure. Paul locates the problem in our nature.
The Error of Denying Original Sin
When original sin is denied, the entire biblical framework begins to unravel. If human beings are not born with a corrupted nature, then each person becomes a new Adam, morally neutral and capable of perfect obedience from birth.
But Scripture does not teach that there are many Adams. It teaches that there are two.
The first Adam was created without sin and acted as the federal head of humanity. When he fell, all who were in him fell with him. The second Adam is Jesus Christ, born without sin and perfectly obedient. He represents a new humanity.
This is why the virgin conception of Christ is not a secondary doctrine. It safeguards the truth that Christ did not inherit Adam’s fallen nature. He is the sinless representative who succeeds where Adam failed.
If every person were born as a new Adam, Paul’s language in Ephesians 2 would be incomprehensible. The categories of death, wrath, and nature would collapse under that framework.
Enemies of God, Not Neutral Observers
The seriousness of our natural condition is reinforced throughout Scripture. Paul states in Romans 5 that being justified by faith results in peace with God. The necessary inference is clear: before justification, we were at war with God.
Later in the same chapter, Paul states plainly that before reconciliation, we were enemies of God.
This is one of the most offensive truths of Scripture to the modern mind. Most people do not consider themselves enemies of God. Many assume that God is neutral toward them, or even pleased with them, despite their unbelief.
But Scripture teaches the opposite. Outside of Christ, humanity stands under condemnation. There is no neutrality.
Romans 8 opens with the glorious declaration that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The necessary inference is equally clear: those who are not in Christ are condemned already.
The Mind Set on the Flesh
Paul’s argument reaches its sharpest point in Romans 8:7–8:
“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
This passage describes both hostility and inability. The unbeliever’s mind is not merely indifferent toward God. It is hostile. And this hostility results in an inability to submit to God’s law or to please Him.
This inability is not due to external restraint. God is not preventing people from coming to Him. Rather, it is what theologians have historically called moral inability. Fallen man cannot do what he does not want to do, and he does not want God.
This is why Jesus says that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him. The issue is not permission but ability.
A Changed Heart and a New Desire
When God saves a sinner, He does not merely provide information or offer encouragement. He performs heart surgery.
Scripture describes salvation as the removal of a heart of stone and the gift of a heart of flesh. This new heart brings new desires. The believer now wants what he once despised.
This does not eliminate the presence of the flesh. The Christian life is marked by conflict. But the direction has changed. The unbeliever lives in the flesh. The believer fights against it.
The difference between the two is not perfection but life.
Alive by Grace Alone
Paul’s purpose in Ephesians 2 is not to leave us in despair but to magnify grace. The depth of our deadness highlights the greatness of God’s mercy. Salvation is not a cooperative effort between a willing sinner and a helpful God. It is the resurrection of the spiritually dead.
Only God can take what we once regarded as foolishness and make it wisdom. Only God can change a heart that hates the light into one that loves it.
We were dead. We were alienated. We were children of wrath.
But God made us alive.
And that is why salvation is, from beginning to end, a work of grace.
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