As for you, you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you used to walk when you followed the ways of this world, the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now at work in the sons of disobedience. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with Christ—even when we were dead in trespasses. By grace you have been saved!
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in.
Notes
This section declares the miracle of regeneration and resurrection in Christ—the central act of the New Covenant. Paul doesn’t say we were misguided or sick in sin, but utterly dead. There was no spark left to revive, no strength to awaken. Our lives, before Christ, were enslaved to three forces: the world, the devil, and the flesh. We followed them willingly and were by nature children of wrath.
But God. This is the gospel’s turning point. Not because we turned, but because God moved. Rich in mercy and motivated by great love, He made us alive—not independently, but with Christ. His resurrection was not only His own—it was ours too
(cf. Colossians 2:13; Romans 6:4–5).
By grace you have been saved. This is Paul’s anthem. Grace is not help—it is resurrection. Faith is not a work—it is the means by which this gift of salvation is received. There is no room for boasting, no ladder of merit, no earning. This is the heartbeat of the New Covenant: salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
But salvation is not only about forgiveness or future hope. We are already raised and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, because we are united to Him. This is positional reality. Christ’s location is now ours—not someday, but now. We are seated because the work is finished. And in the ages to come, God will continue to display His kindness toward us—not as trophies of effort but as vessels of mercy
(cf. Titus 3:4–7; Romans 8:30).
We are His workmanship, His creation, born again in Christ Jesus. The Law could only command good works, but the Spirit produces them. The works we now walk in are prepared by God, not manufactured by the flesh. They are the fruit of a new life, not the root of it.
This is New Covenant life: raised with Christ, seated in Christ, saved by grace, and recreated for His purposes. What Sinai demanded but never produced, the cross accomplished and the Spirit applies. The dead are now alive—and they walk.
Moe Bergeron 
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