September 16 2025

Tuesday September 16

“Sons of Disobedience”

Ephesians 2:1-3

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

Paul began the book of Ephesians with a powerfully positive message by telling the believers at Ephesus that they were rich in Christ and that they needed to know that. And that he was praying for them to know God. For them to know the riches of the inheritance they had in Christ. And for them to know the exceeding power of His greatness toward us who believe. Now in Ephesians 2, Paul goes on to talk about why we are sinners, why we're dead in our trespasses and sins. And he describes the characteristics, the terrible condition of a person without Jesus Christ.

What is our condition and problem before salvation? One, we're dead. We “were dead in trespasses and sins” (v. 1). Secondly, in verse two, Paul points out: “In which you once 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 sons of disobedience” This was the beginning of man's spiritual death—his disobedience to the will of God. God said, "Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17). Satan said, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4), and because they believed this lie, the first man and woman sinned and experienced immediate spiritual death and ultimate physical death. Since that time, mankind has lived in disobedience to God. We are born into this world as “sons of Adam” (Romans 5:12-19). Today we need to realize that there are three forces that encourage man in his disobedience: the world, the devil, and the flesh.

The world, or world-system, puts pressure on each person to try to get him to conform (Romans 12:2). The fashions of Madison Avenue, money, education, fame, all drive us to conform. Jesus Christ proclaimed that He was not "of this world" and neither are His people (John 8:23; 17:14). But the unsaved person, either consciously or unconsciously, is controlled by the values and attitudes of this world.

The devil is "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." This does not mean that Satan is personally at work in the life of each unbeliever, since Satan as a created being is limited in space. Unlike God, who is omnipresent, Satan cannot be in all places at one time. But because of his demonic associates (Eph. 6:11-12), and his power over the world system (John 12:31), Satan influences the lives of all unbelievers, and also seeks to influence believers. He wants to make people "children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2; 5:6). He himself was disobedient to God, so he wants others to disobey Him too.

One of Satan's chief tools for getting people to disobey God is lies. He is a liar (John 8:44), and it was his lie at the beginning of human history, "You shall not surely die," that plunged the human race into sin. The unsaved multitudes in today's world system disobey God because they believe the lies of Satan. When a person believes and practices a lie, he becomes a child, “a son of disobedience”.

The flesh is the third force that encourages the unbeliever to disobey God. By the flesh Paul does not mean the body, because of itself, the body is not sinful. The flesh refers to that fallen nature that we were born with, that wants to control the body and the mind and make us disobey God. Why does a dog bark? Why does he behave like a dog? It’s because he has a dog's nature." If somehow you could transplant into the dog the nature of the cat, his behavior would change radically. Why does a sinner behave like a sinner? Because he is born with and has the nature of a sinner (Psalms 51:5; 58:3). This sinful nature the Bible calls "the flesh." We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. Sometimes we get this backward.

Is it any wonder that the unsaved person is disobedient to God? He is controlled by the world, the flesh, and the devil, the three great enemies of God! And he cannot change his own nature and of himself overcome the world and the devil. He needs outside help, and that help can come only from God through His grace, through the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit, and through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.

Today, thank the Lord for His wonderful grace and power that can set us free and deliver us from this terrible condition of disobedience!

God bless!