Dead as a Doornail

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…” (Ephesians 2:1, NIV).

There are many expressions used to describe death. The more polite and appropriate ones include “at rest” and “departed”. Among the more insensitive are “pushing up daisies”, “bought the farm”, and “six feet under”.

One of the expressions for death I heard from my father growing up was “dead as a doornail”. I only recently discovered that this expression is included at the beginning of Charles Dickens’ book, A Christmas Carol. Who would have thought that my dad, who was never much of a reader, was quoting the literary genious of Dickens?

The Apostle Paul spoke of another type of death, namely spiritual death. Paul didn’t mince or sugar-coat his words. Rather, he stated that, because of our sin, we are spiritually dead. In other words, spiritually we have “bit the dust”. We’ve “croaked”. We’re “on the wrong side of the grass”, and there is nothing we can do to bring ourselves back to life.

Paul continues to say, however, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5, NIV). We were spiritually dead, but God brought us back to spiritual life through Jesus. What a thought, that Jesus had to die and be placed in a tomb so that we could have life eternal in Heaven!

I think God everyday for his mercy and grace. Because of Jesus, we are spiritually alive and well!