SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/17/2018 7:15 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-6
“Salvation is from Sin”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
2:1-3
Message of the verses: “1 And you were
dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 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. 3 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.”
“1
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked
according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now
working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our
fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and
by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also (HCSB).”
The
Word translated prince, which speaks of Satan, is the Greek word “Archon.” This word means “a ruler, commander, chief,
leader,” according to my Greek/English dictionary that is on my Online Bible
program. He is the prince of this world
system that Paul is alluding to in verse two, and this world system headed by
Satan is made up of his demons as they move in what the HCSB version says “the
atmospheric domain.” All people who are
born are either knowingly or unknowingly a part of this world system, and the
only way to be removed from it is to understand that Jesus Christ is Lord and
then realize that you are a sinner, and the only way to be forgiven of your
sins is to accept the forgiveness that is offered through the work of Christ on
the cross.
We
mentioned about this world, the air over which Satan has controlling power as
it represents the sphere where demons move.
John MacArthur writes “The air could be used metaphorically, as we speak
of an ‘air of expectancy.’ In this
context ‘world’ and ‘air’ would be almost synonymous, both of them representing
a realm, or sphere, or influence. In
that case it would be a reference to the realm of ideas, beliefs, and
convictions over which Satan now operates as ‘prince.’ But it is not that which is in Paul’s mind
here or in 6:12. He has in mind the fact
that Satan rules the ‘power’ (demons) who occupy the air (the heavenly sphere
around the earth). Men are not free and
independent; they are totally dominated by the hosts of hell.”
What
does it mean to walk “according to the course of this world, according to the
power of the prince of the power of the air”?
After all if we can answer this question then we will have a better idea
where all believers came from before they were saved. The answer is that this means “to think and
live according to the presuppositions, ideologies, and standards over which sin
and Satan have control and to be dominated by evil supernatural beings.” Satan does not want men to do evil things as
the old nature, or the flesh will cause men to do evil things as seen in
Galatians 5:19-21 “19 Now the deeds of
the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, [hostility]
strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger,
disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things
like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those
who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Satan wants unbelievers to think and believe
evil especially about God as we can see in 2 Cor. 11:13-15 “13 For such men are
false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15
Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as
servants of righteousness, whose
end will be according to their deeds.”
We
can see from verse two that fallen man and Satan’s hosts exist in the same
spiritual realm, so then it is natural “that his spirit is the same spirit that
is now working in the sons of disobedience.”
John MacArthur explains “The prince of disobedience works in (the use of
en emphasizes the intimate
relationship) willing followers, those who have no regard for the Word and will
of God, called the sons of disobedience (a Semitic term that describes a person
characterized by disobedience), of whom he is the spiritual father (John
8:38-44). Paul makes clear this
identifying characteristic of disobedience to God when he states absolutely
that ‘you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in
death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness’ (Rom. 6:16). He then characterizes the believer as one who
obeys God: ‘you became obedient from the
heart’ (v. 17).”
Paul’s
real purpose in this section is not to show how unsaved people live even
thought that teaching is valuable for that purpose, what he wants to do is to
remind believers how they formerly walked and how they formerly lived before
they became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
“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.” We have been stating from time to time as we
take an extended look at Ephesians 2:1-3 that Paul is reminding us as believers
that this is what we once did, how we once lived, and this is not the only time
Paul does this in his letters as it is also found in his letter to the
Corinthians.
It
looks like to me that we will have to have PT-7 in our next SD. I can say that I knew that I did some sinful
things before I became a believer, but I did not realize how much that I was
affected by what Paul is talking about in this section. When you become a believer when you are
almost 27 years old you have had a lot of time to do things that are not pleasing
to the Lord. I am so happy that my kids
and their kids all got saved when they were very young.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Genesis” (28:11).
Today’s Bible question: “After Job lost his livestock, and children
what happened to his body?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/17/2018 8:06 AM
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