“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,  in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, Indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead [f]in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”- {Ephesians 2:1-6}

SINNERS BY NATURE, SINNERS BY CHOICE;
Sin is who we are- sinners- Sin is missing the mark of the standard God has. Sin is not just what we do but what we Don’t do. We miss God’s mark for us-For example, We Don’t Glorify God. We are not perfectly righteous, we are not holy, we do not love God with all of our heart, we cannot , because we are spiritually “dead in sins and transgressions.”Paul says, they had been deceived by the devil who influenced their disobedience and they were dominated by the worlds system, value system, and lived pursuing, occupied with the world system dictating what was important, valuable. Sinners for centuries leading, guiding and setting the standard for other sinners, failing, falling, deviating, going the wrong way, in the various degrees of depravity, “professing to be wise they became fools,” and all the time missing the mark of God. Spewing out sin, indwelt by sin, living in sin, manifested by self-centered thinking, and living. Spiritually dead, captives, held by the devil to do his will-{2 Tim 2:15}; and all the while proclaiming our “freedom.”Unaware of the depravity, bondage of our true spiritual condition, as the Bible teaches.

Such is the environment, sphere that people- sinners who are dead spiritually- walking spiritual corpses, zombies, who have fallen, stumble, deviate from God’s way, walking in the darkness of their own heart, depraved, turning away from God. This is the condition of all people everywhere. Some sinners, may abhor us, while other sinners seem “nice” and “good people,” but they both are dead! Spiritually dead- and sin IS KNOWN BY what they are not doing, namely, They do not live to Glorify God. They do not live Loving God supremely. They do not live perfectly righteous, they are not holy. They are “dead in sins and transgressions.” It is against this horrific darkness, and depravity and deadness of the putrefaction of sin, that Paul reminds the believes of what is involved in salvation.

“YOU WERE…” v1- PAST TENSE! Paul shows the believers what condition they had been in, but no more. He said “you were dead in sins and transgressions.” The sphere they had been “in” was the sphere of sin, they were spiritually dead, alienated from God. All people outside of Jesus Christ are as Paul says, “…being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;”-{Eph 4:18}

Physically alive but their spirit was dead. They had been part of the “walking dead.” The word, “sins” is “hamartia,’ and is a hunter’s word, it means, “to miss the mark,” and then came to mean “missing the goal”, any goal, not meeting it. “Trespasses,” means “to fall, stumble, deviate, go the wrong way.” This is what “you were,” he tells them. They were sinners, had lived in the environment of sin. Like living in a sewerage, a sin sewerage, “walking dead,” and not even knowing it. Walking in the darkness and deadness and depravity of sin, stumbling, in sin, falling in sin, deviating and going the wrong way in sin, missing the mark of what God required. Hopelessly, alienated from God. No spiritual life within. Miserable, empty lives. Like a ship without a rudder.

SALVATION- FROM SIN –  V-1-3–

“You were…” how beautiful these words, “you were”… that is the believers past. “You were dead in sins and transgressions…” “YOU WERE…” DEAD….in sins and transgressions..” “YOU WERE…” Deceived by satan, and influenced by him “YOU WERE… “ Dominated by the worlds ideology BUT something happened…. two of the most beautiful words, which speak of contrast, intervention and it is God who does the intervening, for the spiritually dead, who live in the cesspool of sin, HE IS NEITHER OBLIGATED TO SAVE, yet He does and these two comforting words show His knowledge of our condition and yet we see there is Hope in Him, for there is a glorious. ...”BUT GOD…”

“BUT GOD…”
intervened, “BUT GOD…” had mercy on the miserable sinners and relieving the guilt of their sin, acted on behalf of sinners. Salvation from Sin. because of “BUT GOD…” the believer now can say to be saved means” SALVATION FROM SIN- the spiritual deadness of missing the mark that God desires and demands and which we cannot do. “But God…”delivered, rescued and saved me out of that sphere. He transferred me from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His Beloved Son.{Col 1:13}. He justified me- declared me righteous and His Son’s righteousness was placed to my account because He bore the wrath of God for me- {2 Cor 5:21.} What I was incapable of doing GOD DID!”-{Rom 8:2}. Salvation from the dominion and penalty of sin. Salvation from Sin!