Amazing GraceSample

A Sad Litany

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 (Ephesians 2:3, ESV).

It is never comfortable talking about sin. But it must be faced. Unless we are aware of the seriousness of our sin, we cannot comprehend the greatness of God’s grace. 

The past tense is used here: ‘We once lived…’. Thank God that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and to deliver us from sin (1 John 3:8) and we no longer live in it.  If we do, something is seriously wrong and we need to repent. While we may still accidentally sin, we are no longer slaves to sin (Rom 6:17-18) and it is a betrayal of our faith if we are.  

Passions of the flesh. The same phrase is used in 1 John 2:16 to describe a major form of worldliness. In both cases, the word ‘flesh’ means not just the body, but human nature generally, body, mind and spirit. It is as if everything we do is grounded in sin. The flesh strives against the Spirit (Gal 2:17). It always will.

Body (literally flesh) and mind. This means both physical life and cognitive life; both actions and thoughts. In fact, our thoughts are more pernicious. So Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that hatred is as sinister as murder, lust as adultery (Matt 5:21-28).

By nature. Here is the real problem. This is how we are. We have an inbuilt propensity to satisfy ungodly and unholy desires. We are prone to sin. 

Children of wrath. The terrifying outcome is the wrath of God. This is scary. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31).

What a sad litany of the human condition and what a tragic end. This is the depiction of a world without the grace of God. Thank God it is not the end of the story.

What next?

1. People tend to brush aside such language nowadays and to dismiss the concept of sin as simplistic or fanciful. Which ones of the following teach us otherwise? Life experience, human behaviour, the Scriptures, the entertainment industry, creation, history, infant behaviour, nature, music. If you can, give examples. 

2. What did Jesus say about God’s wrath? See Matt 8:12; 10:15; 11:22, 24; 13:42, 50; Luke 13:28; 21:23; John 3:16, 36.