View source for All of us used to live that way',

'''Back to [[Man's religion & God's religion 12]]'''
----
<p>&quot;Once <strong>you </strong>were dead, doomed forever because of your<br />
          many sins! <strong>You used to live just like the rest of the<br />
            world</strong>, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince<br />
          of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the<br />
          hearts of the children of disobedience. <strong>All of us used<br />
            to live that way</strong>, following the passions and desires<br />
          of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature,<br />
          and <strong>we were under God's wrath just like everyone<br />
            else!</strong>&quot; Ephesians 2:1-3<br />
          <br />
          Paul reminds us of <strong>the state and condition in which we <br />
            used to live,</strong> that he may thereby magnify the riches of <br />
          God's grace, and bring before us what should be a matter <br />
          of the deepest humiliation and self-abhorrence. How clearly <br />
          does he show that <strong>there is no difference between the <br />
            saved and the lost</strong>—except what grace makes between <br />
          them; that all, elect and non-elect, are equally dead in <br />
          sin; that all equally live according to the ways of this <br />
          world in their unregenerate condition; and that all are <br />
          equally led and acted upon by Satan, that foul and <br />
          accursed spirit which we see now working everywhere <br />
          around us in the children of disobedience.<br />
          <br />
          If we view the children of God only as they are by nature, <br />
          there is no difference between them and the lost. Their sins <br />
          are as great, if not greater; their nature as corrupt; their <br />
          hearts as evil; the whole bent and course of their thoughts, <br />
          words, and works, were as saturated with sin and crime. And <br />
          all these things deserve wrath, and would draw down wrath <br />
          as their everlasting portion—<strong>but for the sovereign grace of <br />
            God! </strong>The very sweetness of grace lies in this—that it has put <br />
          away <strong>deserved </strong>wrath!<br />
          <br />
          Paul's object is to remind us of our obligations to distinguishing, <br />
          sovereign grace, by showing us that we deserve nothing at God's<br />
          hands but wrath; and that had we our just due, wrath would be <br />
          poured out upon us to the uttermost! Surely every one who has <br />
          felt anything of the wrath of God as his just due, on account of <br />
          his personal sins, will freely acknowledge that he is by nature a <br />
          child of wrath, and that <strong>there are thousands in hell who have<br />
            not sinned as great as he has!</strong><br />
          <br />
          &quot;But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so very much, that<br />
          even while we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life<br />
          when He raised Christ from the dead. <strong>It is only by grace that<br />
            you have been saved!</strong>&quot; Ephesians 2:4-5
----
'''Back to [[Man's religion & God's religion 12]]'''