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, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-2).
Paul speaks of our being dead in our trespasses and sins. Death is the opposite of life; but what is life?
Before they entered the Promised Land, Moses laid the entire covenant and law of God before the people of Israel. In doing so, he said, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).
In his high priestly prayer in the garden on the night before he was crucified, Jesus prayed for those whom the Father had given him. In doing so he said, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
What is life? It is knowing God and following God. It is being obedient servants of the One who made us in his own image. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they disobeyed God. He had told them that, on the day that they ate from it, they would surely die. Though they were not immediately struck dead, they began to die physically, and they died spiritually. They were separated from God. And that separation is death. It is the disobedience which manifests itself in rebellion (trespasses and sins) against God and all he is. It is the absence of His love, care, and blessing.
Paul also speaks of our walking in trespasses and sins. Our walk is our daily life. As we walk, we live, whether for God and His kingdom, or against Him. Scripture is full of instruction from God concerning the way in which His people should walk.
When he establishes his covenant with Abraham, God tells him to “walk before me, and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). In instructing the people before entering the land, Moses said, “You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess” (Deuteronomy 5:32-33). Psalm 119 speaks of those “whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord (Psalm 119:1). Micah calls the people to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Paul urges the Galatians to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25), and the Colossians to “walk in Christ” (Colossians 2:6).
Before God brought us unto himself, we walked in trespasses and sins. We were the walking dead. But, the story doesn’t end there. Paul next speaks of God’s bringing us into his kingdom – into his covenant. And, that is good news!
