Dead Men Walking

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, 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 children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Eph 2:1–3
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Dead Men Walking
            Most of us have been to a funeral. We know what death looks like. We have experienced its sting. There is a reality that confronts us that can’t be denied. That person who died is dead. They can do nothing in their physical bodies. They can’t decide that they no longer want to be dead. It is their reality. This is the reality that Paul describes here. Though in our physical bodies, we are very much alive, moving, and making decisions, before the Holy Spirit works faith, we are dead. Unable to move. Unable to reach out for Jesus. Unable to grasp Him. Our minds are dead, there is no decision we can make to believe. No more than the dead man in the grave can decide not to be dead; can we spiritually dead decide to be alive in Christ. This is solely a doing of God. We are passive in our salvation. The Holy Spirit comes to us and enlightens us by the Gospel, making us alive in Christ Jesus. We are turned from children of wrath to children of light and love. Thanks be to God that He has given us this great and merciful gift of life. May He continue to sustain us in it.