Ephesians 2:1-3
“It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat.”
“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.”
This is Universalism with a twist. Universalists believe all will be saved for eternal life. But Paul tells it differently. Our universalist bent is towards sin, not perfection. Peterson’s translation in The Message is stark. We are filled with, “polluted unbelief,” and “exhale disobedience.” That’s us for sure, all in the same boat.
Lord, the better I know you, the more I know my sin. I’m crushed with the weight of my fellow man’s pollution and disobedience. How I long for you to put it all right. Thank you Jesus, for beginning with the cross. Now may your return come quickly. Vanquish and destroy sin’s ugly blot on all your creation, especially including us.