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Made Alive in Christ Made Alive in Christ

Made Alive in Christ

In our passage today, Paul tells an upside-down story. In an ordinary biography, the author begins by telling when the subject was born. We read about how the person grew up and note the key accomplishments. Finally, we learn how and when the person died. Here, Paul tells our story, but it is told in reverse. We were dead in sin but have been made alive in Christ (vv. 1, 5).

There is no in-between. If you are not made alive in Christ, you are “dead in your transgressions and sins” (v. 1). Those who are dead in transgressions and sins do not operate under God’s guidelines. They follow their own desires and satisfy their own cravings. Whether they realize it or not, they follow “the ruler of the kingdom of the air,” which is the Devil or Satan. In this condition, we deserve God’s wrath. We are cut off from Him and spiritually dead.

Can the dead rescue themselves? Certainly not! Paul describes the incredible gift of God, a miracle that brings to life what was dead. While we were still dead, God loved us and made us alive in Christ. This removes any notion that we can earn our salvation or do anything to make God think we are worthy. Twice in this passage Paul declares, “it is by grace you have been saved” (vv. 5, 8).

Giving credit to God means realizing we are not in control of our own destiny. God loved us when we were still dead in our sins. He paid the penalty and raised us with Christ. It is only because of this transforming gift that we, who have been given life, can do good works through God’s power.

Pray with Us

Join us in prayer today for the Satellite Network Operations team. They work behind the scenes to keep Moody Radio on air. Thank God for the work of Andrew Dhuse, Sam Beiruti, Benjamin Fredricks, and David Woodworth.

BY Jamie Janosz

Jamie Janosz serves as a content development manager for Moody Bible Institute. She writes monthly devotionals for Today in the Word and has published non-fiction essays with Christianity Today’s Her.meneutics blog. Recently Jamie wrote a book titled When Others Shuddered: Eight Women Who Refused to Give Up (Moody Publishers). Jamie studied theology and writing at Moody Bible Institute, Columbia College, and Illinois State University. She lives on the Atlantic coast of Florida with her husband, Milt, and daughter, Sabrina.

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