| Ephesians 2:1 – “And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.”
A Heavenly Treasure by David Rich, July 10, 2026
In case you missed my last Heavenly Treasure, I am recapping each of 7 truths in my book, 7 Biblical Truths You Won’t Hear in Church, BUT Might Change Your Life! This book was written in 2007, and was not only inspired by Glenna, but she was also my personal consultant through every chapter. In that book, I highlighted 7 biblical truths that do not get much airtime in today’s modern church but are pivotal to a believer’s grace and sovereignty journey. Each truth builds on the one before and some may be harder to digest than others. My aim is not to shock you, although Glenna was known to wield a “truth hammer” at times, but rather to drive you deeper into Scripture to peel the onion yourself.
We are on Truth #2. Let’s start with a “which comes first” question:
Do you have faith, and then as result, are born again, OR do you become born again, and as a result, have faith? This seems like a benign “chicken or the egg” question. However, I believe knowing which comes first is an extremely important truth.
I have heard preachers from the pulpit teach salvation using the analogy that we are floating down the river of life drowning in sin, and it is up to each of us to grab onto the life raft that God throws us, which is Jesus. If we grab ahold of Jesus, we will be saved from drowning and gain eternal life. Well, part of that is true. Jesus is the ONLY way to gain eternal life, but we won’t be doing any grabbing. We are NOT floating down the river drowning in sin. We are floating down the river DEAD in sin. We are face down. Helpless. We know this because of the fall of man in The Garden of Eden. Man became cursed and separated from God at that moment when sin entered the world. Ephesians 2:1 says we are DEAD in sins. Not on our way to dying, but dead. Romans 5:12 says that when sin entered the world, death spread to everyone.
So, back to our analogy. We are not floating down the river drowning; we are floating down the river dead. What happens if you throw a life raft at a dead person? The answer: NOTHING! A dead person can’t grab a hold to anything or anyone. Nor can he hear the cries on the banks of river by those preaching and exhorting him to help himself. Even the best sermon can’t awaken a dead person to accept Jesus.
Now, I do concede that a response to accept Jesus does take place and is extremely important. But a dead person must FIRST be made alive again for any response or acceptance of Jesus to take place. This is the message of the Good News of The Gospel. We must be born again. John 3:7, Jesus says it no uncertain terms, “You must be born again.” Order matters!
Think about it. If we could save ourselves, there would be no need to be born again. There would be no need for a savior. The power of salvation would not begin and end with Jesus if we hold the power to do it ourselves. So, order does matter. We must be born again FIRST before we will have faith in Jesus. It’s not a minor distinction and it’s not a “chicken or egg question.” We love Jesus because He FIRST loved us. That’s straight from Scripture in 1 John 4:19.
Perhaps this order question gets muddled by those who think that “God helps those who help themselves.” That fable has been repeated so many times that most people believe it comes from Scripture. But it doesn’t. God isn’t sitting back evaluating our efforts to determine who He helps and who He doesn’t. That’s just plain nutty on many levels.
Or perhaps we lean toward thinking faith comes first because it gives us something to boast about. I accepted Christ, but you didn’t. It’s man’s natural inclination to want to take credit for everything. Vanity is a tool of Satan. It’s what Satan used in The Garden to convince Eve to eat from the forbidden fruit. He told her she could be “like God,” in Genesis 3:5. Man has ever since clung to the notion that we are more in charge than we really are. It’s part of the human condition that is cursed.
So, let me end by saying, my sole purpose is simply to make you think, to drive you deeper into the Word. I don’t have all the answers and neither did Glenna. But she served as the catalyst for my quest for Biblical truth and a big one is that we are born spiritually dead. We have no ability to save ourselves. We need to be awakened. We need a savior. We need to be born again. And most of all, it’s ok to give all the glory to God.
Prayer:
Father, we do not know why you have chosen some to know your Son, while some others do not, but we do know this, if left to our own efforts, we would never choose Christ. We are ever so thankful you rescued us from death. We love you because you first loved us. We know your Son because you gave us a new heart to know Him. We are saved by your grace alone and we give you all the praise and glory. Through our savior’s name we pray…
Amen!
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