Before we were saved we were not only sinners constituted of sin-we were sin itself. We were born sin, and in our flesh we are nothing but sin (Rom. 8:3). This is the reason that, in order to save us, Christ was made sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21). Sin came from Satan as the rebel against God (Isa. 14:12-15), entered into man (Rom. 5:12), and made man not only a sinner but sin itself under God’s judgment. Hence, when Christ became a man in flesh (John 1:14), He was made sin (not sinful) on our behalf to be judged by God that we might become God’s righteousness in Him.
In John 3:18b the Lord Jesus says, “He who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” This indicates that as sinners, those who were constituted of sin and enslaved to sin and who were even sin itself, we were condemned by God. Actually, we all were condemned in Adam through his sin. We were judged when Adam was judged. This means that we were condemned even before we were born. Our status was that of sinners under God’s condemnation.
As sinners, our destiny was to perish in the lake of fire. John 3:16 indicates that those who do not believe in Christ will perish. Revelation 20:15 says, “If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.” The lake of fire is prepared for the Devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). Because unbelievers follow the Devil, they will share the Devil’s judgment (John 16:11) and will become joint partakers of the Devil’s eternal torment. Unbelievers are condemned by the Lord because of their evil deeds, but they will perish because of their unbelief. Not believing in the Lord Jesus is the unique sin that causes people to perish (John 16:9).
Before we were saved we were also sons of disobedience. This is emphatically revealed by Paul in Ephesians 2:2: “You once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit who now is operating in the sons of disobedience.”
Ephesians 2:2 speaks of the spirit who is now operating in the sons of disobedience. “The spirit,” in apposition with “the authority of the air,” refers to the aggregate power, a personal aggregate of all the evil angelic authorities, over which Satan is the ruler. The entire earth is under the domination of this spirit in the air. This evil spirit, this evil atmosphere, influences people to do evil things which, as humans, they would not normally do. The source of this evil is in the spirit, the atmosphere, that dominates them. This spirit is now operating in the sons of disobedience, in those who are disobedient to God.
Ephesians 2:2 also reveals that the sons of disobedience walk according to the ruler of the authority of the air. This ruler refers to Satan, the prince of the aerial authority mentioned in Ephesians 6:12.
Furthermore, the sons of disobedience walk according to the age of this world. “This world” in 2:2 refers to the satanic system composed of many ages. The word “age” here refers to a part, a section, an aspect, of the system of Satan, particularly the present and modern appearance of that system, which is used by him to usurp and occupy people and keep them away from God and His purpose. Before we were saved we, as sons of disobedience, walked according to the age, the modern appearance, the present course of the world, the satanic system.
Home | First | Prev | Next