“And you, being dead in your offenses and sins—in which ye once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience; among whom we also all once had our conversation in the lusts of our flesh, doing what the flesh and the thoughts willed to do, and were children, by nature, of wrath, even as the rest; but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love wherewith He loved us (we too being dead in offenses) has quickened us with the Christ (ye are saved by grace) and has raised us up together and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, that He might display in the coming ages the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness towards us (note: actually bestowed, not merely in the heart of God) in Christ Jesus.” (verses 1-7, JND)
In this chapter we come to a new portion of the epistle which discusses the operation of the power of God on earth, in order to bring our souls into the enjoyment of the heavenly privileges made known in the first chapter. The first two verses speak of the believers who were taken from among the Gentiles. In Romans 1 and 2 details of their past are given; here it is sufficient to speak of them as in their offenses and sins; dead as to spiritual life; no response to God, and the character of this moral death was such, that at the same time, they walked according to the age of this world, according to the devil, the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. Was not this the true condition of our own souls before we knew God? The “ruler of the authority of the air” is a title that fits Satan’s far-reaching influence, as the air surrounds and penetrates everything in nature, so does he. It will not be always so.
“We also all once” in verse 3 includes those, who had been Jews, alike with the Gentiles, dead in offenses and sins; sons of disobedience in verse 2, but in verse 3 “children, by nature, of wrath, even as the rest”; so God classifies those who are strangers to Him. “Sons of disobedience” implies moral likeness to the parent stock, fallen under the rule of Satan.
The story is complete; could our hopelessly bad state, our total ruin, be more plainly set forth? Now and here is God’s answer to it all spread out in language worthy of Himself, beginning at verse 4. Consider it deeply, my soul, and you too, young Christian:
“But God, being rich in mercy...”
In the first chapter we have had grace shown us in abundance, and here it is mercy to the same end. Why the two words? Because grace speaks of the favor bestowed upon us, tells of the source in God, while mercy refers more to the state of the persons to whom it is shown.
We read then that God is rich in mercy, and the more we learn of the depravity within us by nature, the more the riches of that mercy are realized in our souls.
But we pass on to a yet more wonderful character or quality in our God, “because of His great love wherewith He loved us.” Can we understand this? No, there is no explaining it; it is a secret hid in His bosom. To a holy God, hating sin, what could there be that could cause love, divine love, to exist toward such creatures as we by nature? Yet we read in John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16),
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Jew and Gentile are equally dead in offenses (verse 5). God has “quickened us with the Christ (ye are saved by grace), and has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, that He might display in the coming ages the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Three things are here said of us, that in part, or all, could never have been true of believers before Christ’s resurrection and ascension:
1. We were quickened together with Christ. It had not been said before that He had been quickened, although it is an evident fact.
2. We were raised up together with Christ.
3. We have been made to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ, that in the ages to come God might display the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Marvelous is the grace of God to you and me, is it not?