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If you were asked the question, ‘Are you alive or dead’, what would your answer be? Not only would you find the question weird, but your answer would certainly be, ‘I am alive. As you can see, I can breathe, I can talk, I can eat, I can do all the basic things that a living person does.’ But does the fact that a person can do these things mean the person is alive? Not necessary. In this world there is a whole lot of dead bones moving here and there, yet unaware of their deadness; for they think that to have life simply means to be able to breathe. You may be able to breathe still, but you are nothing but dead bones; there is no life in you. Someone may ask, how can that be? Well, whoever does not know God is a dead man, he or she is spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sin. Just a footnote, I am not talking about some superficial facts one may know about God, but rather a deep relationship with God.
The fact is, we all come into this world dead, spiritually speaking, because we are all conceived in sin. And once we are born, our sinfulness is evidenced by our hatred towards God, our immoral actions, our lustful thoughts and the abusive and deceitful words that come out of our mouth. “As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:10-18).
So what defines a person who is dead in trespasses and sin is his utter depravity. Such a person does not love God, but rather is at enmity with God; he loves the deeds of wickedness, his thoughts are evil. He rejects God and his Truth, and walks according to the flesh, which deeds are: “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (Gal. 5:19-21).
If this describes you, know that you are a dead person. And because of who you are, you are guilty before the holy God who created you and against Whom you have sinned. And know that there is no such thing as a small sin in God’s sight – He is holy, and so He hates evil and all those who practice it. And because He is righteous, He punishes sin by death. But I have a great news for you today. For God, in his grace, has given us a way by which we can have peace with Him, a means to have all our sins forgiven, a way by which we can pass from death to life, that is, his Son Jesus Christ. “In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). Besides Him there is no other way for men to be justified before God. Here is the testimony of John the Baptist concerning the exclusivity of Christ, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:35-36).
Christ is the only one who can save you from the sting of death. And all you have to do is to repent of your sins and believe on Him; neither your good works nor your merits can justify you before God. There is no forgiveness without repentance, and no one can please God without faith in his Son Jesus Christ. I urge you, therefore, to turn to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in repentance and faith; confess your sins and humbly recognize that you are a sinner who cannot save himself. He who is mighty to save will cleanse you of all your filthiness, clothe you with his own righteousness, and you will be justified before God. All your sins, past, present and future will be forgiven, and the Holy Spirit will baptize you into the family of God. You will no longer walk according to the flesh, but will walk in the Spirit; you will no longer sow in the flesh, but will sow in the Spirit. And from the Spirit you will receive life. To borrow the words of the Apostle Paul, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7-8).