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Are We Born DEAD in SIN as Some Christians Teach?
***What Does Ephesians 2:3 TRULY mean?
Here is Ephesians 2:3 from the KJV. “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
Does Ephesians 2:3 teach us that all humans are BORN with a totally depraved sinful NATURE as some Christians claim that this verse means?
NO! Absolutely NOT! But rather, this verse is simply teaching us that the “children of DISOBEDIENCE” are the children of wrath due to their NATURE of being the children of the devil by their CHOOSING to live in sin.
To read the CONTEXT, please click the BLUE verse link.
To read the STUDY and the context, please scroll down.
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Does the Word NATURE Mean SINFUL Nature?
Let us begin this Verse Study on Ephesians 2:3 by reading a short quote from the website called Got Questions.
Please understand that I am NOT singling out any particular ministry.
But rather, I am writing these Verse Studies to show my readers HOW to correctly interpret the Scriptures.
The emphasis in the quote below is mine.
The total depravity of man is seen throughout the Bible. Man’s heart is “deceitful and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). The Bible also teaches us that man is born dead in transgression and sin (Psalm 51:5, Psalm 58:3, Ephesians 2:1-5).
And according to THEIR corrupted interpretation of the Scriptures, ALL babies who die go to the lake of fire to be destroyed for we are all born as babies, supposedly born DEAD in transgression and sin.
But that is NOT what the Bible ITSELF teaches us. Let us now read Ephesians 2:1-5 to learn the TRUE sound Biblical meaning, when these verses of Scripture are correctly interpreted in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
Ephesians 2:1-5.
“And you He has quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (There is no doubt that AFTER the cross and resurrection that God Himself CONCLUDED all men to be under SIN for the PURPOSE that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe)
Ephesians 2:2. Wherein in time past you WALKED according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: (In other words, all Christians USE to be DEAD in their sins and TRESSPASSES BECAUSE we ALL have SINNED.
There is nothing in any of these verses that even hint that we were BORN spiritually DEAD in SIN.
And there is nothing in these verses that teaches us that we were BORN with a sinful NATURE.
The word “nature” in these verses of Scripture is referring to the children of DISOBEDIENCE who WALK after the prince of the air, the spirit, who works in his children, according to 1 John 3:5-12)
Ephesians 2:3. Among whom also we all HAD our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by NATURE the children of wrath, even as others. (And according to Ephesians 5:6-8, the wrath of God will come upon the children of DISOBEDIENCE)
Ephesians 2:4. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Ephesians 2:5. Even when we WERE dead in sins, (By WALKING after the prince of devils living in SIN like the unsaved of the world who have been DECEIVED by Satan, the Devil, to disobey their CONSCIENCE) has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;)”
Now, if it were true that Adam passed on a so-called sinful NATURE to his children, then surely BOTH Cain and Abel would have had the SAME sinful nature.
However, Jesus himself says that Abel was RIGHTEOUS in Matthew 23:35.
The writer of Hebrews says that Abel was RIGHTEOUS in Hebrews 11:4.
And the Apostle John in 1 John 3:12 says that Abel was RIGHTEOUS.
And what about Cain? Was it Cain’s so-called sinful nature that caused him to murder his brother?
Or was it Satan, the Devil who seduced Cain to murder his brother?
Let us see what the Scriptures say.
Genesis 4:5-7.
“But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, (Or angry) and his countenance fell. (Or more correctly translated, and his ANGER was to SLAY)
Genesis 4:6. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why are you wroth? (Or why are you so angry?) And why is your countenance fallen? (Or why is your ANGER to SLAY or murder?)
Genesis 4:7. If you do well, (Or if you do that which is good) shall you not be accepted? And if you doest not well, sin lies at the door. And unto you shall be his desire, and you shall rule over him.”
The Hebrew word translated as “sin” also means an OFFENDER is crouching or lurking at the open door that you, Cain, OPENED by meditating on hating and being jealous of your brother.
And the offender's desire is to be over you. So, you have to rule over him.
H2403
חַטָּאת חַטָּאָה
chaṭṭâ'âh chaṭṭâ'th
khat-taw-aw', khat-tawth'
From H2398; an offense (sometimes habitual sinfulness), and its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiation; also (concretely) an offender: - punishment (of sin), purifying (-fication for sin), sin (-ner, offering).
To me, God is trying to get Cain to RESIST the Devil and rule over him. The word “concretely” means something that can definitely be heard or felt. And those who have FELT the presence of evil know that Satan, the Devil, is a REAL being.
So then, the TRUE sound Biblical meaning of NATURE in the context of Ephesians 2:3 means to have the character or the TRAITS of a person or being.
For example, we as the children of God do not sin, and thus, we have a godly NATURE.
So then, all Christian agree that God CREATED us in His own image and after His own likeness, according to Genesis 1:26,27.
The word “nature” is only found 12 times in the Bible, and all 12 times are in the New Testament.
So let us compare Scripture with Scripture to see if any of the other 11 times that this word nature is found teaches us that it means BORN with a SINFUL nature.
For you see, Ephesians 2:3 definitely does NOT teach us that we are BORN with a sinful NATURE.
But rather, the CONTEXT of Ephesians 2:3 clearly teaches us that we CHOOSE our own NATURE by our own choice of how we WALK.
Those who choose to walk after the Holy Spirit will have a good godly NATURE that pleases Almighty God.
And those who CHOOSE to walk after the prince of darkness, the evil spirit who works all manner of sin in those who WALK after the course or WAY of the WORLD, will have the NATURE of the Wicked One, according to 1 John 3:12.
Here are the 11 verses of Scripture where the word “nature” is found in them.
As you read them, please notice that none of these verses say anything about being BORN with a so-called SINFUL nature.
And many of these verses of Scripture actually PROVE that we are born with a GODLY NATURE.
Romans 1:26.
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did CHANGE the NATURAL use into that which is AGAINST NATURE:”
Here we see that the women who make the choice to have sex with other women are actually CHANGING the NATURE that they were born with, and that having sex with the same sex is NOT NATURAL.
So then, the sin of homosexuality is AGAINST the NATURE that we were born with, having been born innocent and pure in the IMAGE of God.
And thus, those who walk after the prince of darkness are CHANGING their nature to walk after the course of the world.
And thus, they have ACQUIRED a sinful nature by listening to the lies of Satan, the Devil, speaking thoughts to their minds.
So then, to me, this verse of Scripture actually proves that none of us are BORN with a SINFUL nature and some Christians WRONGLY claim.
Romans 2:14,15.
“For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by NATURE the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Romans 2:15. Which SHOW the work of the law written in their hearts, their CONSCIENCE also bearing witness, and (Or YET or ALSO) their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.”
In other words, the unsaved Gentiles, who were not taught the Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments, OBEY the moral commandment of God by obeying their CONSCIENCE that tells them right from wrong.
But yet, at OTHER times they also make excuses in their minds that something that Satan entices them to do is not wrong because others in the world do those things.
And that heart of what Paul is teaching is in Romans 2:16, the very next verse, which says that God will judge us by Jesus according to the GOSPEL.
And Romans 2:6-8 says that God will judge every person by their DEEDS, which each person CHOOSES to do of their own free will.
Romans 2:27.
“And shall not the uncircumcised which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge you, who by the letter and circumcision does transgress the law?”
In other words, the unsaved Gentiles are NOT Jews by NATURE, meaning that Gentiles are not BORN in a Jewish family that “circumcises” their baby boys on the eighth day after they are born.
But if the SAVED Gentiles FULFILL the law by walking in LOVE, then are they not Jews, the CHOSEN people of God INWARDLY?
So then, Paul is saying that to truly be chosen by God, whether born by nature as a Gentile or born by nature as a Jew it does not matter to God.
What matters is that we OBEY His commandments written in the NEW Testament under the NEW COVENANT.
Romans 11:24.
“For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is WILD by nature, and you were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”
Now, some wrongly interpret this verse as Paul saying that all Gentiles are BORN with a WILD NATURE. And thus, they wrongly conclude that ALL humans are BORN with a SINFUL NATURE.
But that is NOT what Paul intends his words to mean. Paul is using an allegory of a wild olive tree compared to a GOOD olive tree that is pruned and maintained to produce good olives.
But the wild olive tree is not pruned and maintained. And thus, the wild olive tree does not produce good olives.
So then, the true sound Biblical God intended meaning in this verse is that God Himself cut every single BRANCH OFF of the GOOD olive tree.
And by NATURE, it should be much easier to graft the NATURAL branches into the NEW ROOT of the GOOD olive tree.
But what Paul is saying is that it is easier to get a GENTILE SAVED than it is to get a Jew saved.
So again, NO! This verse does NOT teach that only Gentiles are BORN with a sinful NATURE.
So, do not be deceived to teach another doctrine of devils that Jesus came to save the Jews ONLY.
1 Corinthians 11:14.
“Does not even NATURE itself teach you that, if a man having long hair, it is a shame unto him?”
So then, what does NATURE teach us? We all start out as BABIES. And then, we grow and MATURE.
We are NOT born with pubic hair and come out of the womb as full-grown adults lusting to fornicate.
NO! That lustful NATURE is ACQUIRED over time. That NATURE is INFLUENCED by our surroundings.
Evil NATURE teaches evil nature to others. And GODLY NATURE teaches godly nature to others.
Galatians 2:15.
“We who are Jews by NATURE, and NOT sinners of the Gentiles,”
And WHY is that the case? Why are Jews not sinners by NATURE?
It is because the NATURE of the Jews in the day of Paul were TAUGHT to live GODLY lives or to have a godly NATURE.
And that godly living BECAME their NATURE. They were TRAINED as a child in the WAY that they ought to walk.
And they were chastised by their parents if they are disobedient.
But the SINNERS of the Gentiles do not teach their children to behave godly.
And thus, SOME Gentile children of SINNING Gentile parents learn the NATURE of sinning like their parents LEARNED that sinful NATURE.
However, MANY Gentiles ESCAPE that cycle of living in sin by hearing the gospel of salvation to be set free from the dominion of sin.
Galatians 4:8.
“Howbeit then, when you knew not God, you did service unto them which by NATURE are no gods.”
The gods that the pagan Gentiles worship and serve are the FALLEN angels that seduce those who lack the knowledge of the TRUTH to follow and obey their voice.
So then, by NATURE the fallen angels are not GODLY. The Greek word translated as “gods” also means godly.
And thus, the meaning of the word “nature” in this context is the CHARACTER or the TRAITS the devils that the unsaved SERVE by WALKING after the prince of the AIR, according to Ephesians 2:2, the CONTEXT of the next verse.
Ephesians 2:3.
“Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by NATURE the children of wrath, even as others.”
Again, speaking of the LEARNED nature by obeying the voice of the prince of the AIR in verse 2, the evil spirit that we all know as Satan, the Devil, who DECEIVES people to sin.
Hebrews 2:16.
“For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.”
Now, the word “nature” in this verse is not in the original text. But even if it is intended by the writer of Hebrews, it still does NOT prove that we are BORN with the nature of the FALLEN angels.
For you see, Jesus was BORN with a HUMAN NATURE. And if it were true that all humans are BORN with a SINFUL NATURE, a nature that is so TOTALLY DEPRAVED that no human is ABLE to live righteously before God, then Jesus was BORN with that SAME ungodly sinful nature.
But the truth of the matter is that NO human is BORN with a sinful NATURE. The sinful nature doctrine is a doctrine of devils.
For you see, Lucifer, the anointed cherub BLAMED God for creating him with a SINFUL NATURE.
And God said, no, the day I created you all your WAYS were PERFECT. But you corrupted yourself.
James 3:6.
“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and (It, the tongue that is set on fire by the prince of darkness) sets on fire the course of NATURE; and it is set on fire of hell.”
In other words, Jesus teaches us in Matthew 12:33-37, that those who are EVIL have brought forth that evil NATURE by the EVIL WORDS that they SPEAK out of the mouth.
And Jesus desires that we make the tree GOOD so that we speak GOOD words, and our words bring forth GOOD treasures.
This brings us to the last verse that has the word “NATURE” in it.
And this is the ONLY verse in the entire Bible where the word “DIVINE” is found in connection with the word “NATURE”.
So then, this next verse gives us the sound Biblical meaning of the words “DIVINE NATURE”.
2 Peter 1:4.
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these (Speaking of the PROMISES written of the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testament) YOU might be PARTAKERS of the DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Speaking of this present world that is being ruled by Satan, the god of this world.
So then, we ALL are given a CHOICE as to which deity we will SERVE. And we are given a CHOICE as to which God or god that a person CHOOSES to serve.
For you see, the God or god a person chooses to serve is the NATURE that they will have.
In other words, you can choose to serve Almighty God the Creator and be made a PARTAKER of His DIVINE NATURE.
Or you can choose to serve Satan, the god of this present world and be a partaken of his FALLEN NATURE.
And if a person DIES while having the NATURE of the DISOBEDIENT children, then they will be cast into the lake of fire on the final Day of Judgment.
And if those choosing to REMAIN the children of disobedience are alive at the coming of Jesus, that the children of DISOBEDIENT will suffer the WRATH of God because of the NATURE that they themselves CHOOSE to WALK in.
And that is the TRUE sound Biblical meaning of Ephesians 2:3 when it is correctly interpreted in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
Be sure to read the next Verse Study on Genesis 5:3 that is used to TRY to prove the doctrine of TOTAL DEPRAVITY.
So, NO! No human is BORN with a sinful NATURE, but rather, we LEARN to corrupt our own minds and harden our own hearts to SIN against our conscience to FALL short of the glory of God BECAUSE we all have SINNED at one time or another in our life.
And it was Satan, the DEVIL who entices us to SIN.
Now sadly, Christadelphian Christians do NOT believe that Satan, the Devil, is a REAL literal BEING.
And the Christadelphian Christians ALSO wrongly believe, as well as, some other church denominations, that God created EVIL and that Yahweh is the CAUSE of all of the EVIL in the world.
Plus, Christadelphian Christians, as well as other church denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church, sincerely, but wrongly believe in the FALSE doctrine of original sin.
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
Once Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even atheists understand the REASON that Yahweh CREATED the Son of MAN, Jesus, was to have DOMINION over the work of Yahweh’s hands.
And after you understand that the REASON that Yahweh did that is to STILL His ENEMIES, Satan and the fallen angels.
Then you can understand that God made His human Son to become “a” Lord, “a” King, and “a” God, under and subject to his God and Father in order to JUDGE Satan and the fallen angels.
For a deeper understanding of this WAR that Lucifer and one third of the angels waged against the throne of Almighty God, please read the studies under the subject category called ** Q-0 Why Are We Here? Is God at WAR? **.
More studies are coming in this SHORTER Biblical Unitarian view of who Jesus is according to the WHOLE word of God.
If you have a PARTICULAR verse of Scripture that you would like to know the sound Biblical Unitarian meaning, then please email me at MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com and let me know.
For further and more in-depth studies on this subject of Jesus being created to STILL the enemies of Yahweh, please read the studies called D-25. A NEW LOOK at JOHN 1:1-In the BEGINNING, and D-28. The PRE-ADAMIC LUCIFERIAN FLOOD!
At the top of my homepage, there are subjects or categories which contain compiled lists of ** ALL Studies! ** I have written on that particular subject. So, if a link within a study is broken, then click on ** ALL Studies! ** to find the suggested study.
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Thanks again for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
And again, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading ** D-0 The BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of Jesus! **
And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading ** C-0 The TRUE FOUNDATION of the Church! **
This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century.
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