“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— 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 2:1-3)
When I look at the people in this world who do not have faith in Jesus, sometimes I am tempted to feel envy or anger. But as the Lord works on my heart He reminds me that they are to be pitied. Regardless of who they are, how famous, rich, beautiful, or lauded, they are following the prince of the power of the air, that is, Satan the devil. They do his bidding and reject the will of Almighty God. They are all on their way to eternal punishment. What they do saddens God because they reject Jesus. And it should sadden us as well.
Paul wrote to Christians who had been raised either as Jews or outright pagan idolaters. Either way both groups were dead in their sins before they heard the gospel. Paul reminded them that the religious works they performed before faith brought them no closer to God. Religious rituals of any kind, good deeds done out of altruism do not merit God’s favor, love, mercy, or forgiveness if they are not done in and thru Him. Only by God’s gracious gift of faith could anyone of them (or us) inherit eternal life. Only by grace through faith could anyone even perform works of righteousness for such works are done by God working through man.
Such a teaching is quite foreign to the ways of today’s world. There are many who outright reject the God Who has revealed Himself in Jesus and the Word. These are all idolaters even if they call themselves atheists or agnostic. Consequently, no matter how many so-called good deeds they do, no matter how many superstitious rituals they perform or pious and noble words they proclaim, they are all dead in their sins. We Christians proclaim to them the message of faith in the work of Christ on the cross not as the way to achieve forgiveness, joy, and eternal life, but as the way to receive them. Though this message be scorned and rejected, though we be labeled as intolerant and subversive, we cannot neglect our task. If we love sinners as Jesus does we will proclaim the truth so all may look to Him by faith and live.