People are made spiritually alive by God through salvation — He quickens those who were dead in trespasses and sins.
Ephesians 2:1 says, 'And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins' — 'quickened' meaning 'made alive.' Les teaches that every person is born spiritually dead as a result of Adam's disobedience, so no one possesses spiritual life naturally. Salvation is the point at which God makes spiritually dead people alive; this is why believers are described as having been quickened even though they were formerly dead.
Ephesians 2:1 — The central verse — God hath quickened (made alive) those who were dead in trespasses and sins.
Genesis 2:17 — God's first law to Adam establishing death as the penalty for disobedience — the basis of humanity's spiritual death.
Ephesians 2:1 declares, 'And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.' The verse describes a past-tense act of God — He quickened, or made alive, people who were spiritually dead. Ephesians 2:2 then describes their former condition: 'Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.' The Scriptures trace this spiritual death back to the beginning. Genesis 2:17 records God's first law to Adam: 'But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.' Ezekiel 18:4 states the principle plainly: 'the soul that sinneth, it shall die.' Paul's reasoning in II Corinthians 5:14 confirms the universal condition of spiritual death: 'if one died for all, then were all dead.'
Les teaches that Ephesians 2:1 describes the spiritual condition of the whole human race: 'And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.' Every person, so far as God is concerned, is dead in trespasses and sins — and believers were too before salvation (Clip 1). This is not physical death; Les notes these people are still physically living. Spiritual death means being without spiritual life (Clip 4). He stresses that we are living in a world full of spiritually dead people (Clips 0, 2). The deadness traces back to Adam. In Clip 7, Les connects Ephesians 2:1 to God's first law to Adam in Genesis 2:17 — 'the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die' — and to Ezekiel's 'the soul that sinneth shall surely die.' In Clip 5 he explains that 'dead in trespasses and sins' (plural) is 'the result of sin, singular, the old Adam.' That is why God must make people alive: 'quickened' means 'made alive,' and because they were dead, God made them alive — a past-tense reality for believers who have been saved (Clip 3). Those who are spiritually dead walk according to the course of this world and according to Satan, the prince of the power of the air (Clips 4, 5, 6).
God had to make people alive because they were dead. Les asks this exact question in Clip 3: 'Why did He have to make us alive?' The answer is found in Ephesians 2:1 — 'you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.' The whole human race, so far as God is concerned, is dead in trespasses and sins (Clip 1). A dead person cannot make himself alive; God must do the quickening. This is why spiritual life is not something people possess naturally from birth — they begin spiritually dead and are made alive as the result of salvation.
Les teaches that 'quickened' simply means 'made alive' (Clips 3, 4, 6). In Ephesians 2:1, 'you hath he quickened' is past tense — God has already done the work of making believers alive. The people described were formerly dead in trespasses and sins, but now they have been made alive with eternal life — not a temporary thing, but eternal life given to those who were spiritually dead (Clip 2).
Les traces spiritual death to Adam's disobedience. He reminds his audience of God's first law to Adam in Genesis 2:17 — 'the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die' — and notes that Ezekiel enlarges on it: 'the soul that sinneth shall surely die' (Clip 7). Ephesians 2:1 describes people as dead in trespasses and sins; Les explains that trespasses and sins (plural) are 'the result of sin, singular, the old Adam' (Clip 5). In Clip 4, he calls those who walk in disobedience 'the children of Adam' — those 'who have disobeyed by virtue of Adam's disobedience.' The entire human race is therefore spiritually dead through Adam.
No. Les is explicit that Ephesians 2:1 is not talking about physical death — 'he wasn't talking about physical death, he was talking about spiritual death, because these people are still living' (Clip 4). The unsaved world, with all of its activity on freeways, in offices, and in the fast lane, are 'not physical dead, but spiritually they're dead' (Clip 2). Spiritual death means being without spiritual life while still physically alive — the condition from which God quickens, or makes alive, people through salvation.
All Were Dead — If One Died for All
Les shows from II Corinthians 5:14 that 'if one died for all, then they must have all been dead' — the world is full of spiritually dead people, which is why being made alive is necessary.
The Whole Human Race Dead in Trespasses and Sins
Les teaches that Ephesians 2:1 applies to the whole human race — everyone is dead in trespasses and sins, including believers before God saved them.
A World Full of Spiritually Dead People
Les emphasizes that the unsaved are spiritually dead, not physically dead, even while active in daily life; God gives eternal life to those who were dead.
Quickened Means Made Alive
Les asks 'Why did He have to make us alive?' and defines 'quickened' as 'made alive' — because the people being addressed were dead.
Spiritual Death, Not Physical Death
Les clarifies that Ephesians 2:1 refers to spiritual death — being without spiritual life — since the people are still physically alive; they are children of Adam by virtue of Adam's disobedience.
Trespasses and Sins Flow From the Old Adam
Les explains that 'dead in trespasses and sins' (plural) is the result of sin (singular) — the old Adam — and that the spiritually dead walk under Satan's influence.
Written to Gentile Believers at Ephesus
Les notes that Ephesians 2:1 is written to Gentile believers in Ephesus who were formerly dead in trespasses and sins and were followers of Satan, the god of this world.
Death Comes From Adam's Disobedience
Les ties Ephesians 2:1 to God's first law to Adam — 'thou shalt surely die' — and to Ezekiel's 'the soul that sinneth shall surely die,' grounding spiritual death in Adam's disobedience.
Ephesians 2:1: And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
The central verse — God makes alive those who were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins.
Ephesians 2:2: Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Describes the former life of those who were spiritually dead — walking in the world under Satan's influence.
Genesis 2:17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
God's first law to Adam, which Les connects to the spiritual death described in Ephesians 2:1.
Ezekiel 18:4: Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Scripture's principle that the soul that sins shall die — the basis of humanity's spiritual deadness.
II Corinthians 5:14: For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
Paul's argument that Christ's death for all implies all were spiritually dead.
II Corinthians 5:15: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Connects Christ's death for all to the purpose that those who are made alive should live for Him.
Quickened means 'made alive.' Les Feldick teaches that God has 'made alive' those who were dead in trespasses and sins. In Ephesians 2:1 the action is past tense — God hath already quickened believers — and it is eternal life, not a temporary thing (Clips 2, 3).
Yes. Les teaches that every believer was formerly dead in trespasses and sins (Clip 1). Ephesians 2:1 says 'you hath he quickened, who were dead' — the 'who were' is past tense because God has already made them alive through salvation.
No. Les explains that Ephesians 2:1 is not about physical death because these people are still physically living (Clip 4). Spiritual death means being without spiritual life while physically alive — the condition of the unsaved world (Clip 2).
Les connects Ephesians 2:1 to God's first law to Adam in Genesis 2:17 — 'thou shalt surely die' — and to Ezekiel 18:4, 'the soul that sinneth, it shall die.' He says the 'trespasses and sins' (plural) are the result of 'sin, singular, the old Adam' (Clip 5). Through Adam's disobedience, the whole human race became spiritually dead.
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