And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
I recall the life that I lived before coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that is indeed a completely different life than I live now. That man believed that he was perhaps not so good but also not so bad. He knew the difference between right and wrong but often chose that which is wrong. He searched through spiritual things to try to figure out what this life is all about, but there was a key truth that he did not know and would not have believed. There was an ungodly spirit at work within him even if he thought he had not chosen its work. His deeds reflected the work of this spirit, and he was living as a child of God’s wrath.
For those who have been adopted into the family of God, there exists an exchange of spirit. There is a singular Spirit of God at work in the body of Christ, and this new Spirit replaces the old. [Eph. 4:4-6] This is the gracious work of God for those who believe in his Son, that these vessels which once housed a spirit of evil would be filed with the Spirit of truth. Whereas one spirit unites those who operate to further the works of the world and of sin, God’s Spirit unites those who further the works of his kingdom. The difference is life and death. The old spirit brings death, but the new brings life. In fact, we already have been resurrected to new life in Jesus Christ through his resurrection. [Rom. 6:5-8; Gal. 5:24]
As difficult as it might be to accept that we once carried the spirit of the prince of the power of the air, how much more difficult to accept that the Spirit of the living God has been given to us! We should never grow tired of speaking of and learning about the spiritual operation that has brought us from death to life in Christ Jesus. A picture of his grace and mercy, it is also a picture of our identity. Let us live as those who carry this new Spirit of the one true God. Let us look forward to the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness to be shown through us. Father, thank You for the indwelling of your Holy Spirit, and bring us into operational unity in him.