Trinity 11 August 20, 2023
Ephesians 2:1-10
You're Dead!
v.1-4 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 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.
Dear friends in Christ, our epistle serves as the great reformation text Lutherans love and cherish so much. For it emphasizes not one, but THREE, of the great solas of the Reformation: grace alone, faith alone, and Christ alone. Herein St. Paul clearly writes that human beings are not saved by our works, but by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone. This is the bedrock of the Christian faith—this is what we are all about! "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." What sweet words of the Gospel for us to cling to! For here we have it from the Lord Himself in His Word that our salvation—our redemption—our forgiveness—our life—is dependent not upon us and our good works, but rather solely granted to us as a gift through faith in Christ Jesus alone. What comfort for terror stricken consciences! What consolation for burdened souls. What peace and joy we sinners find in these words when wracked with guilt and shame over our sin.
And yet, these sweet and wonderful words of Gospel proclamation make no sense without the verses that come before them. "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…" You heard right. Dead. Not sick. Not weak. You were not in a situation from which you could help yourself by just putting in a little more work—a little more effort—a little more love. No. You. Were. Dead. End of story. Your sin equals death.
Now if the good news of the free forgiveness of sins by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ is hard to believe—so also is our fallen state—this teaching on our sinful natures. Even though we have hordes of evidence regarding mankind's sinful condition—hard evidence of the doctrine of sin is easily viewed each day on the news—and in our own lives too—as human beings exhibit hatred and anger and impatience and greed and lust and murder and so on. And yet, we tend to get all wishy washy with this teaching on sin when thinking of ourselves or those whom we love. "I'm not that bad." "I'm not as sinful as those wicked people on the news." "I may not be perfect, but I just need a little cleaning up is all."
When it comes to the sins of others we can clearly see it all (and relish in pointing it out) like the Pharisee did to the tax collector in our Gospel text. "That person is a real jerk. They deserve to be punished." But we tend to shy away from such harsh truth when it comes to someone we know and love and care about. We refer to them as simply making some "mistakes" or being "misguided," but certainly not "sinners." No, no, no. We reserve that term for the truly wicked and impenitent: the Adolf Hitlers of the world—the Charles Mansons—the cheating spouse—the rude coworker.
If you ask an ordinary person on the street whether or not they will go to heaven when they die (if they even believe in heaven), what will they most likely say? "YES!" Why? "Because I'm a good person." We see this at funerals –indeed, we have been guilty of saying such things ourselves, at times. When someone we know and love dies (especially if they are not Christian—or haven't really exhibited any sort of Christian faith for years) we still tend to think and talk like maybe, just maybe, they will still go to heaven, because after all, they were a good person—they had a good heart.
And yet, beloved, this is NOT what the Scriptures clearly point out to us regarding our sinful nature. In the O.T. reading in Genesis 4 regarding the first murder wherein Abel is killed by his brother Cain, and then again in the Gospel reading about the prayers of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the temple, we see clear examples of human depravity and sinfulness—and our epistle reading drives this point clearly home—"You are DEAD in your trespasses and sins."
By nature, the sinful flesh inherited from Adam and Eve is dead—and so we are children of God's wrath (His great and just anger against our sin)—wherein we have lived in the passions of our flesh—disobeyed God's clear Word and commands—trespassing against His Law—so that we could live and behave how WE want to—when we want to.
So then, if the Scriptures are clear that we are by nature dead in our trespasses and sins, what are we to do? For make no mistake, dear friends, dead people can't help themselves. You are not infected with a sin bacteria or virus that merely makes you sick and weak—and all you need is some Gospel medicine to help you be better and get better so that you can help yourself out once more. Dead people can't help themselves. A corpse is incapable of making a waffle, let alone doing something to raise itself from the dead.
"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—by grace you have been saved…"
As Christians, we are led by God's Holy Spirit to repent of our sin and look not to ourselves or anyone else to save us, but rather only to Christ Jesus. "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Like the Tax Collector, we beat our hearts in the Confession of our sins each week and every day—acknowledging our total depravity—our state of spiritual death before God. And we pray the same prayer, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner." Because of God's great love with which He loved you He DOES shower you with mercy in Christ—forgiving your sin by the blood of Jesus which cries out to God from the ground of the cross—speaking a better word than the blood of Abel. As stanza 4 of the great Lenten hymn, Glory Be to Jesus (LSB 433), puts it, "Abel's blood for vengeance Pleaded to the skies; But the blood of Jesus For our pardon cries."
You, who are dead in trespasses and sins have been made alive by God—who through Christ's death and resurrection has set you free from sin and death and the power of the devil, and raised you to new and everlasting life so you may do good works according to His Word and Will, even as you walk your Christian life in the Good Work of Jesus for you on the cross. You serve your neighbor in love—and worship God in joy and thanksgiving—not because it earns you heaven, but because heaven is already yours. You have been seated in the heavenly places for, by virtue of your Baptism, you have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection, and now you live with Him.
And the Father continues to shower you with the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness in Christ Jesus in the Lord's Supper. When you are given to clearly see your sin and guilt, you flee to the Lord's Table for strength and sustenance—for mercy and life. Fed and nourished by the crucified and risen body and blood of Jesus we confess with the hymn writer for the hymn of the day (LSB 559), "Oh, how great is Your compassion, Faithful Father, God of grace, That with all our fallen race In our depth of degradation You had mercy so that we Might be saved eternally." Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Ephesians 2:1-10
You're Dead!
v.1-4 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 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.
Dear friends in Christ, our epistle serves as the great reformation text Lutherans love and cherish so much. For it emphasizes not one, but THREE, of the great solas of the Reformation: grace alone, faith alone, and Christ alone. Herein St. Paul clearly writes that human beings are not saved by our works, but by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone. This is the bedrock of the Christian faith—this is what we are all about! "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." What sweet words of the Gospel for us to cling to! For here we have it from the Lord Himself in His Word that our salvation—our redemption—our forgiveness—our life—is dependent not upon us and our good works, but rather solely granted to us as a gift through faith in Christ Jesus alone. What comfort for terror stricken consciences! What consolation for burdened souls. What peace and joy we sinners find in these words when wracked with guilt and shame over our sin.
And yet, these sweet and wonderful words of Gospel proclamation make no sense without the verses that come before them. "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…" You heard right. Dead. Not sick. Not weak. You were not in a situation from which you could help yourself by just putting in a little more work—a little more effort—a little more love. No. You. Were. Dead. End of story. Your sin equals death.
Now if the good news of the free forgiveness of sins by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ is hard to believe—so also is our fallen state—this teaching on our sinful natures. Even though we have hordes of evidence regarding mankind's sinful condition—hard evidence of the doctrine of sin is easily viewed each day on the news—and in our own lives too—as human beings exhibit hatred and anger and impatience and greed and lust and murder and so on. And yet, we tend to get all wishy washy with this teaching on sin when thinking of ourselves or those whom we love. "I'm not that bad." "I'm not as sinful as those wicked people on the news." "I may not be perfect, but I just need a little cleaning up is all."
When it comes to the sins of others we can clearly see it all (and relish in pointing it out) like the Pharisee did to the tax collector in our Gospel text. "That person is a real jerk. They deserve to be punished." But we tend to shy away from such harsh truth when it comes to someone we know and love and care about. We refer to them as simply making some "mistakes" or being "misguided," but certainly not "sinners." No, no, no. We reserve that term for the truly wicked and impenitent: the Adolf Hitlers of the world—the Charles Mansons—the cheating spouse—the rude coworker.
If you ask an ordinary person on the street whether or not they will go to heaven when they die (if they even believe in heaven), what will they most likely say? "YES!" Why? "Because I'm a good person." We see this at funerals –indeed, we have been guilty of saying such things ourselves, at times. When someone we know and love dies (especially if they are not Christian—or haven't really exhibited any sort of Christian faith for years) we still tend to think and talk like maybe, just maybe, they will still go to heaven, because after all, they were a good person—they had a good heart.
And yet, beloved, this is NOT what the Scriptures clearly point out to us regarding our sinful nature. In the O.T. reading in Genesis 4 regarding the first murder wherein Abel is killed by his brother Cain, and then again in the Gospel reading about the prayers of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the temple, we see clear examples of human depravity and sinfulness—and our epistle reading drives this point clearly home—"You are DEAD in your trespasses and sins."
By nature, the sinful flesh inherited from Adam and Eve is dead—and so we are children of God's wrath (His great and just anger against our sin)—wherein we have lived in the passions of our flesh—disobeyed God's clear Word and commands—trespassing against His Law—so that we could live and behave how WE want to—when we want to.
So then, if the Scriptures are clear that we are by nature dead in our trespasses and sins, what are we to do? For make no mistake, dear friends, dead people can't help themselves. You are not infected with a sin bacteria or virus that merely makes you sick and weak—and all you need is some Gospel medicine to help you be better and get better so that you can help yourself out once more. Dead people can't help themselves. A corpse is incapable of making a waffle, let alone doing something to raise itself from the dead.
"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—by grace you have been saved…"
As Christians, we are led by God's Holy Spirit to repent of our sin and look not to ourselves or anyone else to save us, but rather only to Christ Jesus. "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Like the Tax Collector, we beat our hearts in the Confession of our sins each week and every day—acknowledging our total depravity—our state of spiritual death before God. And we pray the same prayer, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner." Because of God's great love with which He loved you He DOES shower you with mercy in Christ—forgiving your sin by the blood of Jesus which cries out to God from the ground of the cross—speaking a better word than the blood of Abel. As stanza 4 of the great Lenten hymn, Glory Be to Jesus (LSB 433), puts it, "Abel's blood for vengeance Pleaded to the skies; But the blood of Jesus For our pardon cries."
You, who are dead in trespasses and sins have been made alive by God—who through Christ's death and resurrection has set you free from sin and death and the power of the devil, and raised you to new and everlasting life so you may do good works according to His Word and Will, even as you walk your Christian life in the Good Work of Jesus for you on the cross. You serve your neighbor in love—and worship God in joy and thanksgiving—not because it earns you heaven, but because heaven is already yours. You have been seated in the heavenly places for, by virtue of your Baptism, you have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection, and now you live with Him.
And the Father continues to shower you with the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness in Christ Jesus in the Lord's Supper. When you are given to clearly see your sin and guilt, you flee to the Lord's Table for strength and sustenance—for mercy and life. Fed and nourished by the crucified and risen body and blood of Jesus we confess with the hymn writer for the hymn of the day (LSB 559), "Oh, how great is Your compassion, Faithful Father, God of grace, That with all our fallen race In our depth of degradation You had mercy so that we Might be saved eternally." Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.