I really was dead.

The tale of a former walking dead guy...

Walking dead. Yep. That was me. Everyone either is or has been.

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1 ESV)

Sin is a stone-cold killer. The sin nature killed us from the word go. We didn't sin and become sinners; we are sinners, so we sin. We were born spiritually dead. So, there, it happened to us all.

Now, ALL were spiritually dead, some ARE still spiritually dead and some are NOW spiritually alive.

How does one come alive? How can a walking dead person become a walking alive person?

Back up a few verses in Ephesians and we'll find a blessed answer: "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV)

If you have come alive through Jesus, this is what happened...

Heard the "...word of truth, the gospel of your salvation...": that is, you heard that Jesus died for sins, was buried, was raised from the dead, seen of many witnesses and is God's exclusive means for forgiveness and new life.

You heard, and "...believed in him..." That is, you trust God that He is sufficient for all your spiritual need. You trust that He is enough for forgiveness. He is enough for new life. He is enough to please God. He is enough to transform you. You heard the gospel of your salvation in Jesus Christ and you believed in Him.

Then, God quickened you by the work of the Spirit: you "...were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit..." and God gives Him as the "...guarantee..." of our "...inheritance..." and "...possession..."

For the person who heard and believed in faith through the Lord Jesus, God made such persons alive! ALIVE!

We are born dead in our sin. If we are to have life that lasts beyond our heartbeats and the breath of our lungs --spiritual life that outlasts our physical life-- we must hear this gospel of our salvation, believe on the Lord Jesus and HE WILL keep His word and make us alive together with Him!

Are you the walking dead?
Have you heard?
Do you believe?
Will you yield unto God through Jesus?

When we do become alive, that life is just like the life of Jesus. God shapes us into His Son by that life in us and causes us to do the work of His Son through us. The spiritually alive, after all, works on spiritual stuff!

So, this is my story! I was a walking dead guy! Now, thank God, I'm alive!