The Bad News of the Gospel

When God saves a soul, He comes in resurrection power . God saves with the abundant and immeasurable greatness of His power according to the same power which Christ rose from the dead (Eph1:19-20). Paul continues this theme of resurrection power in Ephesians two.  “And you who were (past tense) dead in trespasses and sins." First he mentions Christ's bodily resurrection, then says the church at Ephesus were at one time, dead. The true diagnosis for the human spirit is not sick, or uneducated or needing motivation. The Biblical diagnosis is we are born spiritually dead. Humanity died in spirit when Adam fell and we all became guilty sinners before God.

In order to find the correct remedy, we need to know what is wrong with us. Urging people to do better and act better treats the symptoms, not the cause. It would be a poor doctor who saw a patient with a broken leg and his only course of action was to put a Band-Aid on it with some pain killer. The symptom is the pain, the problem was the broken leg. Morality treats the symptoms, the act of sinning, but the root problem goes much deeper. We get a "spiritual physical" of our soul in Ephesians two, and it's bad news. The Great Physician tells us that we are dead. If the problem was that we needed to straighten up and fly right, I could help you. But the diagnosis is we are spiritually dead! Well then, who can be saved? With men it is impossible. However, we are not without hope because God has come in mercy. Right after the news that we are dead in sins we read in Ephesians 2:4 – “but God”. There is hope. We were dead – but God. We were walking according to the path of the Devil, fulfilling our desires, with no thought or love of God – but God.  

This is why Paul spoke of the resurrection power at the end of chapter one and why that power needs to be worked in us. We were dead and needed to be brought to life! Verse 5 says “even when we were dead, God had quickened us together with Christ! By Grace are ye saved”.  Jesus said “ye must be born again” because we don’t need reformation but regeneration. Not a change of heart, but a heart change (Ezekiel 36:26). Salvation is a miracle of grace that God works in us. By grace, because we are neither willing, nor able to fix ourselves.

God is kind to us, and provided in His Word the true spiritual diagnosis of the soul, otherwise, we would go on deceiving ourselves. The gospel means "good news" and this is the bad news of the good news. The bad news is we are dead in sins, without spiritual life to come to Christ. There is no hope for the dead to do anything – no hope, but God. dougnewell4th@gmail.com