One becomes spiritually alive by the working of God the Holy Spirit, who gives new life to those who take God at His Word and believe the first thing God says about them—that they are sinners.
Les Feldick teaches that everyone is born spiritually dead as a son of Adam. The first step of faith is to believe God's verdict: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Since dead people can't even believe anything, the Holy Spirit begins the work by lighting a spark within the individual, and God pulls him out of that deadness in sin and gives him new life.
Romans 3:23 — Declares that every person has sinned and fallen short of God's glory—the first truth a spiritually dead person must believe.
Ephesians 2:1 — Describes the unsaved as dead in trespasses and sins, the condition from which God makes a person alive.
Ephesians 2:2 — Shows what characterized that spiritually dead walk: living under the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air.
Romans 3:23 states plainly, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." That is the biblical diagnosis of every person. Ephesians 2:1 echoes this condition: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." The language describes spiritual death, not merely bad behavior. Ephesians 2:2 then pictures how the spiritually dead once walked: "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." So Scripture presents the unsaved as spiritually dead and under the influence of the world and Satan. It is God who quickens, or makes alive, those who were dead.
Les Feldick starts with the same Scripture. He says that everyone, regardless of how good he may be, how good his family is, or how good his circumstances are, must first believe what God says about him: "I'm a sinner." That is the first step in the plan of salvation—taking God at His Word about ourselves. Les also explains that as sons of Adam we are spiritually dead, and dead people can't even believe anything. So God the Holy Spirit has to begin a work within the human heart, lighting a spark within the individual before that person finally comes to really believe. Salvation itself is an event, not a process; the Christian life that follows is a process. When God's power pulls a person out of that deadness in sin and gives him new life, he becomes a totally different person in outlook and desires. The new believer is like an infant needing nourishment and protection—he does not become a mature Christian overnight.
Les says the first step of faith is to believe what God says about you. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Les puts it this way: regardless of how good you may be, or how good a family you may have come from, or how good your circumstances are, God says you are a sinner. This is the very first step in the plan of salvation.
No. Les says that as sons of Adam we are spiritually dead, and dead people can't even believe anything. Something has to happen first. God the Holy Spirit begins a work within the very heart and somehow lights a spark within an individual. Without Christ, the prince of the power of the air, Satan, is the one in control of the life of those who are spiritually dead.
No. Les says it isn't what we do that is going to get us to heaven. Nothing can be done to get us into heaven. We have to rest on the fact that we are sinners, we've fallen short, and we are sons of Adam. The first step of faith is to believe what God says about us, and then receive God's declaration that we can be justified freely, with no strings attached.
When an individual realizes he is in the cesspool of sin and there is no hope of getting out unless the power of God takes him out, God pulls him out of that deadness in sin and gives him new life. He becomes a totally different person in outlook and desires. But he doesn't become mature overnight; he comes into the Christian life as a babe in Christ needing tender loving care, nourishment, and protection.
The state of the spiritually dead
Les explains that before salvation every person is spiritually dead and that Satan, as the god of this world, controls the life of every child of Adam who has not experienced salvation.
The first step: believe God's verdict
Les says everyone has sinned and tells his audience to first believe what God says about them—that they are sinners—because faith is taking God at His Word. He also notes that salvation is an event, not a process.
The Holy Spirit convinces us we are sinners
Les says the Holy Spirit begins His work in the human heart by reminding us and making us aware that we are sinners, quoting Romans 3:23 as the first step of faith.
Faith is taking God at His Word
Les says the first step in salvation is to believe that we are short of the glory of God, and that faith guides us into salvation and through the Christian experience by relying on what the Book says.
The Holy Spirit must spark faith
Les says a spiritually dead person cannot even believe anything, so God the Holy Spirit has to begin a work within the heart and somehow light a spark within the individual before that person really believes.
Sons of Adam and the first step of faith
Les says believers can only claim what God has done because nothing we do gets us to heaven. The first step of faith is to believe God's verdict—we are sinners, sons of Adam—and then to receive the next word: justified freely.
New life after being pulled out of sin
Les says the power of God pulls a person out of deadness in sin and gives him new life, changing his outlook and desires. The new believer is a babe in Christ needing nourishment and protection.
Born spiritually dead; made alive by salvation
Les connects Ephesians 2:1 to the new birth, noting that believers have been made alive spiritually as a result of salvation, even though they were born spiritually dead in trespasses and sins.
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
This is the first truth Les says a person must believe about himself to begin the plan of salvation.
Ephesians 2:1: And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Describes the condition from which God makes believers spiritually alive—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:
Shows what the spiritually dead walk looked like before salvation: following the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air.
Romans 3:24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Shows the other side of God's verdict: though all are sinners, God has also declared that sinners can be justified freely.
Les says the first thing is to believe what God says about you: that you are a sinner. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Faith means taking God at His Word.
No. Les says dead people can't even believe anything. God the Holy Spirit has to begin a work within the heart and somehow light a spark within the individual before that person finally comes to really believe.
No. Les corrects the word 'process' and says salvation is an event; the Christian life is the process that follows. A new believer is a babe in Christ needing nourishment and protection.
Les says nothing we do gets us into heaven. We rest on the fact that we are sinners and that God justifies us freely. Goodness doesn't change the fact that God says we have sinned.
Watch the Teaching: What Happened When Adam Sinned? Genesis 3:14-24 Explained