1 你們死在過犯罪惡之中，他叫你們活過來。2 那時，你們在其中行事為人，隨從今世的風俗，順服空中掌權者的首領，就是現今在悖逆之子心中運行的邪靈。3 我們從前也都在他們中間，放縱肉體的私慾，隨著肉體和心中所喜好的去行，本為可怒之子，和別人一樣。4 然而 神既有豐富的憐憫，因他愛我們的大愛，5 當我們死在過犯中的時候，便叫我們與基督一同活過來（你們得救是本乎恩）。6 他又叫我們與基督耶穌一同復活，一同坐在天上，7 要將他極豐富的恩典，就是他在基督耶穌裡向我們所施的恩慈，顯明給後來的世代看。
保羅在今天的經文中給我們描述了一個強烈的對比：我們曾經的光景和我們如今在恩典中的地位。
保羅首先提醒我們當我們不認識 神的時候，我們是死在過犯罪惡之中，那時我們是悖逆之子，也是可怒之子，活在世上沒有 神，也沒有指望！
“然而”，當我們還死在過犯罪惡之中的時候， 神叫我們活過來。因為祂愛我們，祂讓我們與基督一同活過來，而且與基督耶穌一同坐在天上！正如哈拿曾經的禱告一樣：“他從灰塵裡抬舉貧寒人，從糞堆中提拔窮乏人；使他們與王子同坐，得著榮耀的座位 (撒上 2:8)”。
這是何等大的恩典，我們怎麼能夠不向這位愛的 神獻上感恩！
Ephesians 2:1-7
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 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, 3 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. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Paul in today's Scripture paints a vivid contrast between what we are by nature and what we can become by God's grace.
Paul first gives us a picture of the terrible spiritual condition of the unsaved person in Verses 1-3. We were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, behaved like the sons of disobedience, and by nature children of wrath. We lived in this world without God and without hope, "but God" in His grace steps in to make salvation possible.
"But God!" - what a difference those two words make! This leads to the second part of Verses 4-7 that Paul tells us that God loved us, God gave us a new life in Christ, and God exalted us by making us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus! Just like the prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:8 "He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the rubbish, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory"!
Amazing Grace! How can we not give thanks to God!
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