Open the Bible UK Daily

We… were by nature children of wrath. Ephesians 2:3 This verse is disturbing, but its meaning is clear—the default position of every human life is that we are under the wrath of God. To help us grasp the importance of this, here is a parable... Imagine a beautiful church with stained-glass windows, hundreds of years old, located in the center of town. Pastor John, a wise, kind, and godly man—the k...

We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind. Ephesians 2:3 In the 1990s, filmmaker Woody Allen left the woman he had been in a long-term relationship with to be with her adopted daughter. When asked why he would do such a thing, he responded by saying, “The heart wants what it wants.” That is exactly the teaching of Ephesians 2:3. So, all of u...

Carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind. Ephesians 2:3 If the fires have burned low in your marriage, expect your sinful nature to produce thoughts about divorce. Something within you will say, “You deserve better than this. There’s another person out there for you.” If you are discouraged in ministry, expect the sinful nature to produce thoughts about quitting. The sinful nature will s...

The desires of the flesh and the mind… Ephesians 2:3 The Keto diet is the one where you can eat high fat foods but no carbs. This appeals to some people—a diet in which you can eat steak and bacon. But it doesn’t usually last long, because after a few days your body starts craving bread. What are the desires of the mind? What are the cravings of the flesh? Here are ten examples. You will recognise...

We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind. Ephesians 2:3 The first two words of Ephesians 2:3 are crucial to our understanding of the pervasiveness of sin in all human beings, “We all…” Notice how Paul moves from you in verse 1 to us in verse 3: “You were dead in the trespasses and sins… among whom we all once lived [that is, among the sins...

We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:3 Notice that sin is in the thoughts, it’s in the desires, and it’s in the cravings of the human heart. Sin pervades the mind, the will, and the heart. Our thoughts, desires, and affections are all corrupted by sin. Sin corr...

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4 God cuts back the weed of sin, but the day is coming when He will pull sin up altogether and cast it into the fire. Sin will be no more. And there will be a new heaven and earth, the home of righteousness....

None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside... Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their...

At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD. Genesis 4:26 This is the first mention of prayer in the Bible. What was happening that caused people to pray for the first time? When the destructive effects of sin became obvious in the world—broken families, violence, and murder—people began to pray. They saw evil in all its ugly colours, and they began to ask God for help. Notice, it do...

“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:7 Sin is like a wild animal, a predator, crouching at the door. God said to Cain, “Its desire is for you.” Sin is a destructive power. It is an active enemy. Suppose you paint a wall in your house, and a child draws all over it with a cray...

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit ... You must be born again." John 3: 6-7 Imagine a young man named “Jack” who begins attending a new church. He comes in one day to talk to his new pastor. After some small talk, the conversation goes something like this… Pastor: “Tell me, Junior, how did you become a Christian?” Junior: “Oh, it’s pretty simp...

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5 Adam came out of the hand of God upright, but Seth came out of the womb. He was born in the likeness of his father, a sinner. Poor Seth—sin was in his father and mother by their own choice. Sin was in him by nature and by birth. Not only was sin in Seth, but its effects were all around him. God placed Adam in...

When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. Genesis 5:3 Do you see the difference between Adam and Seth? Adam was created in the image of God, and his son still bears that image, but Adam’s son also bears the image of his father, who is a sinner. God made Adam upright, but Adam became a sinner and his son was born in the father’s liken...

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5 For some years now, secular education has been teaching our children and young people the postmodern myth that there is no such thing as good or evil—everything is relative. But sometimes we see the face of evil—things that are too awful for a...

I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7:7 In all the generations that came from Adam, not one person has been born who was truly upright, until God became man in Jesus Christ. The upright one did not arise from the human race. He came to the human race. The Holy Son of God was born of a virgin. In all human history, Jesus is the only one...

“All these I have kept from my youth,” he [the rich young ruler] said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack …” Luke 18:21–22 Try to imagine Jesus saying these words to you. Whatever words He said to you next would make you aware of at least one undeniable, verifiable sin in your life. And when you can see one sin in your life (and you’re really convinced that it is a si...

God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Ecclesiastes 7:29 Every time you see the wretched destructive power of evil breaking out in the world, use this verse to cultivate a greater hatred toward sin in your life. Say to yourself, “The root of this thing lies in me!” Use this as an incentive to holiness. You can also use this verse with someone you know who is not yet a believe...

God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Ecclesiastes 7:29 God did not burden Adam with sin. God made him upright. Adam was the one who used his freedom to forfeit his righteousness. If you are shaking your fist at God today perhaps it is because, somewhere deep inside, you feel that the problems in your life and the evils in the world came from the hand of God. If that’s the c...

But they [men] have gone in search of many schemes. Ecclesiastes 7:29 Doing good and right was instinctive to Adam, but it was not inevitable. Adam’s righteousness was natural, but it was also changeable. So, why did God allow the possibility of sin? If Adam and Eve had remained upright, the whole human race would have been born in paradise. We would all be living in fellowship with God and in har...

God made man upright. Ecclesiastes 7:29 The word that is translated “man” here is the word “adam,” like the name—Adam. “God made adam upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (7:29). So, there is a contrast here between Adam and men and women today. What does it mean to be upright? Adam was good and right in himself. That is how God made him. Doing what is good and right came naturally to h...

This alone I found... Ecclesiastes 7:29 What is your explanation of evil? People will tell you that it is social, educational, or economic. But acts of great evil are committed by the rich as well as the poor. Evils abound under capitalism as well as under communism. Some of the most wicked acts in all human history have been conceived by the most brilliant minds. To bring the question down to a m...

“This day is a day of good news.” 2 Kings 7:9 Among us today there will be four responses to the good news of Jesus Christ. 1. Some will be like the captain: We hear the good news, and we refuse to believe it Jesus gave us a picture of the last day. Many will come to share in a great feast. But outside will be people who heard the good news and refused to believe. If you hear His voice, do not har...

Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” 2 Kings 7:2 There is a big difference between the king and his captain. The king did not believe, but he was open to investigating. “Go and see” (7:14). But the captain’s min...

The king rose in the night and said…“The Syrians… know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide… thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive.’” 2 Kings 7:12 Just one day earlier, the king had heard the Word of God from the prophet Elisha: “Tomorrow… a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel” (7:1). But when the king hears the news that the...

Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, "Why are we sitting here until we die?" 2 Kings 7:3 The city was under siege, and outside the gates were four lepers. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place! Behind them was a city where they were not wanted. In front of them was a vast enemy army. So, they evaluated their options: “If we s...