Dead inside? Want to be Alive in spirit?

“Even when we were dead because of our sins, He made us alive by what Christ did for us” Ephesians 2:5.

We discussed yesterday that spiritual growth has a beginning point. We will get a little bit more details about the concept.

Bible says in Ephesians 2 the condition of all people before spiritual life divinely sprouts in them. It says in Ephesians 2 that we were all dead in our transgressions and sins. It was not the Holy Spirit, but the spirit of the one who is at work was inside us. As a result, we were disobedient, gratifying the cravings of the flesh, following its desires and thoughts. On top of that, we followed the ways of this world. We followed the ways of the ruler of the kingdom of the air. The spirit of who is at work and the ruler of the kingdom of the air are referring to the spirit of the devil and his demons.

However, the passage in chapter 2 says because of God’s great love for us, because He was rich in mercy, we got the opportunity to hear the wonderful message about the love and mercy of God- the gospel or good news. In short, you heard the Word of God that assures God loves you. He is merciful to you. You heard God gave his only begotten son for your sake and He paid for all of your sins and shortcomings to bridge the gap between you and God. You heard the invitation to accept the invitation of salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life available in and through His Son, Jesus Christ. When you accepted God’s invitation by taking Jesus as your savior, the Bible says God made you alive with Christ even though you were dead in your transgressions and sins in the past. God breathed new life into your spirit and you became spiritually alive toward Him.

You see, you were dead spiritually. Now because of your acceptance of Jesus Christ, God made you spiritually alive. You are made alive spiritually because the Holy Spirit of God began to live inside you at the moment of your acceptance of Jesus.  Ephesian 1:13 says, “And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” God’s Holy Spirit is a free gift upon the profession of your faith in Jesus. You were dead to God, his love, forgiveness, and salvation. Now you are alive to God and receive His love, mercy, forgiveness, salvation, eternal life, and His Holy Spirit. This is the point of spiritual re-birth. Then begins the spiritual growth. Spiritually dead before and now spiritually alive. Spiritual growth is possible now because you have the Holy Spirit inside you upon your acceptance of Jesus Christ.

Bible calls this in another term – It says you are born again into God’s family. You started growing when you were first born in your mother’s womb. Now you are born again by the wonder-working grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God because you accepted His Son Jesus Christ who died and paid for your sins and as a result, God gave you the Holy Spirit to facilitate spiritual growth. Spiritual growth means growing in the knowledge of God and His Son Jesus Christ. God gave you two instruments to facilitate the new spiritual growth – the Word of God, the Bible, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus called the disciples they did not understand all the details. Jesus called and they simply decided to follow him with limited knowledge and awareness. This was true about all spiritual giants. They just accepted the call of Jesus Christ. Jesus still calls and when you take that small step of faith and accept Christ as your savior and lord from your sincere heart, He takes and seals your decision for eternity and starts building spiritual growth on it. In a matter of months, years you are on your way to spiritual growth and God would use you in ways that you would never imagine or fathom in your wildest dreams, for His glory.

Now if you are already a believer in Jesus for some time or even a long time, do not get disappointed. As long as you live, you can jump-start spiritual growth. If you are a retiree, you can jump-start your spiritual growth in your golden years. It is never too late to grow spiritually until you die physically. However, you are not dead yet. It means you can attain spiritual growth the way the Lord intended. You pray to God. As you pray God would help you to develop a plan by which you can grow spiritually. The plan involves His word, His Holy Spirit, and some time. One way to look at spiritual growth is growing in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The more you grow the more you become look like Jesus Christ in grace and truth. You would become a champion of grace and truth like Jesus was. It is an amazing call to become more like Jesus. It is a big privilege and heavenly calling because don’t you know, the world thirsts for grace and truth?

“Father in heaven, I thank you for your word that said I am dead toward the living God until You make me alive toward you by my faith in Your Son, Jesus Christ. I believe Jesus died, buried, and rose again for my sins. Please forgive me, save me and grant me your Holy Spirit who would guide, teach, help me to grow spiritually. Lord help me to study Your Word, the Bible, and lean on the Holy Spirit every day. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.”