Unless God sovereignly changes our disposition, we will never choose to turn from our sin and trust in Christ for salvation. From his expositional series in the book of Ephesians, today R.C. Sproul describes the bleak condition of fallen humanity and our absolute need for divine grace. Get R.C. Sproul’s commentary on the book of Ephesians for your donation of any amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3616/ephesians-commentary Meet Today’s Teacher: R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was known for his ability to winsomely and clearly communicate deep, practical truths from God’s Word. He was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. Meet the Host: Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts
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At what point did God regenerate us? At what point did God make us alive? While we were dead, while we were utterly helpless, while we were completely morally unable to cooperate with the gospel or to respond to the divine summons, we first had to be made alive. And that is the action of God.
Most of us are familiar with Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. But this good news is so good and so memorable in Ephesians chapter 2 because of the bad news, the bleak condition of humanity that Paul describes earlier in that chapter.
And that's what we'll be considering today on this Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. Every Sunday we feature the preaching and teaching ministry of R.C. Sproul. And today we begin a short series in Ephesians, beginning in chapter 2, which means that we'll start our time together with Dr. Sproul considering the fallen nature of man.
Before we turn to chapter 2, if you'd like to study the entirety of Ephesians, be sure to visit renewingyourmind.org or use the link in the podcast show notes to request Dr. Sproul's hardcover commentary on Ephesians with your donation of any amount. Here's Dr. Sproul beginning in Ephesians chapter 2.
We're going to begin with chapter 2. I'll be reading verses 1 through 10. And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world.
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
This brief passage is one of the most pivotal New Testament passages with respect to two extremely important doctrines in the history of Christian theology. In the first place, as I will endeavor to show in a few moments, this passage weighs heavily on the church's understanding of the doctrine of original sin.
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