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.
– Ephesians 2:3
One of the good results of considering our past and the depraved nature we had at conception is that we are not bound by that nature anymore. We once lived that way but now, by God’s grace, we are not following our passions any more.
It can be helpful to think of what your life would have looked like had God not intervened. A foolish life without Christ often ends in tragedy and our lives would be no different. Maybe it would have been womanizing, or drugs, or greed, or any number of sins that would have consumed you.
But God didn’t leave you in that swamp, he gave you a new life that not only will end with God but a life, here on earth, full of joys that non-Christians will never know. God’s Spirit gives us joy that is unspeakable. That is in direct contrast to a life without the Spirit which is droll and shabby by comparison.
“Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget The wormwood and the gall Go, spread your trophies at His feet” goes the verse from All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name. A humble remembrance of what Christ brought you ought of will hush boasting of your good works. You’ll know that every bit of your Christian life, from beginning to end, is due to the mercy of God. May God grant us grace to remember who we were.
We All Once Lived This Way
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.
– Ephesians 2:3
One of the good results of considering our past and the depraved nature we had at conception is that we are not bound by that nature anymore. We once lived that way but now, by God’s grace, we are not following our passions any more.
It can be helpful to think of what your life would have looked like had God not intervened. A foolish life without Christ often ends in tragedy and our lives would be no different. Maybe it would have been womanizing, or drugs, or greed, or any number of sins that would have consumed you.
But God didn’t leave you in that swamp, he gave you a new life that not only will end with God but a life, here on earth, full of joys that non-Christians will never know. God’s Spirit gives us joy that is unspeakable. That is in direct contrast to a life without the Spirit which is droll and shabby by comparison.
“Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget The wormwood and the gall Go, spread your trophies at His feet” goes the verse from All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name. A humble remembrance of what Christ brought you ought of will hush boasting of your good works. You’ll know that every bit of your Christian life, from beginning to end, is due to the mercy of God. May God grant us grace to remember who we were.