"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." - Ephesians 2:3 (NKJV)In our very nature, we were children of wrath, or we deserved wrath in our nature. Not just because of what we have done, but because of what we are. We are born in a state of sin and aliena...

"We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." - 1 John 5:19 (NKJV)Satan is described as the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), and Ephesians 2:2 says, "you once walked according to the course of this world," which is stating that our lifestyle has been based upon the principles of this present world, with its material, fleshly values. We adopted the w...

"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins." - Ephesians 2:1 (NKJV)Ephesians 2:1-3 emphatically testifies to the lostness of all humanity. As Paul looked down on the world, he saw one vast spiritual cemetery, and inscribed on every grave-marker was this phrase, "dead in trespasses and sins." He doesn't say that they simply have needs, that they are sick, feeble or blundering; He ...

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 (NKJV)A leading psychiatrist wrote a book called "Whatever Became of Sin?" He wasn't even a Christian, but he was asking better questions than most preachers. He wrote: “[Sin] was a word once in everyone’s mind, but now rarely if ever heard. Does that mean that no sin is involved in all our troubles…? Is no one any longer guilty...

"He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps." Psalm 40:2 (NKJV)A church I know quite well once decided to change the lyrics to "Amazing Grace." Instead of "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me," they sang "that saved someone like me." They felt uncomfortable with the word "wretch."John Newton, w...