in Eph. 2:12 the phrase " without God " is rendered from the Greek word
' atheos. ' it means much more than not believing there is Almighty God, Maker of heaven
and earth.

the word describes an action of God which resulted in a judgement against Adam and his
posterity due to Adam's fall. when God said to Adam concerning his being forbidden to eat
from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that " in the day that you eat from it you
will surely die, " Adam and his posterity became alienated from the life of God. he
became spiritually dead the moment he ate.

misery and darkness followed in both the physical realm as well as the spiritual realm for
all of mankind to this day.

unless the Living God first imparts life man will continue in darkness and death because
he comes from Adam... in which all die. the emphasis is on life... man does not have it
in his soul existence unless God gives it to him. we read therefore... " as many as had
been appointed to eternal life believed. " ( Acts 13:48 )

first, man must be given life, then and only then does he believe because he's been given
life... God is the God of the living; not of the dead. man can by no means will himself
into the kingdom of the Living God while he is dead. he must first be given life by the
Living God. this is illustrated by Christ when He says... " I came that they may have
life... " ( Jn. 10:10 ) why would He come that they might have life unless they do not
have it ?

this certainly suggests that they do not have it. it is part of Adam's alienation from
the Living God besides the earth being cursed because of Adam's sin. again we read...
" these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God; and that believing you may have life in His name. " Jn. 20:31

life is what the Atheists do not have... these are " dead in trespasses and sins. "
because these do not have life it is not possible for them to come to any living belief in
God should He take up their challenge to show Himself. Christ, the Living God, made
Himself, the Living Word of God aware to the general public in His earthly ministry and so
doing did not bring the multitudes any more to a belief in God than they already had... or
did not have. only those to whom He gave life were changed from their state of being in
Adam to that of being in Christ.

the unbeliever requires a sign ( Mt. 12:38,39 ) and these are directed to the resurrection
of Christ from the dead. Christ did not show Himself to unbelievers after He was risen.
the dead do not have life and not having life does not understand anything of the Spirit.
Christ is seen only after He imparts life to His chosen ones. Jn. 3:3 for example.

the co-redeemer's suppose that by their denominational correctness they simply speak the
right words and thereby they are given life, or that their ceremonies impart life, or that
Commandment keeping imparts life. these are saying their words so prescribed while dead.
God does not hear the dead... Job.35:12,13; Ps. 34:16 the Word of God declares that it's
the other way around... first, one must be given life by the Living God; then and only
then do the chosen ones believe. Acts 13:48; Jn. 3:3

it's " He made us alive... " and not " we made ourselves alive. " Eph. 2:4-9. no where
does the Bible teach that the unbeliever has eternal life.

if the Living God so desires that an unbeliever should have be given life He will do so
without man's help. he is to " wait upon the Lord. Gen. 49:18

" It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the LORD. " La. 3:26

old man joe wrote:

"bob young" <alaspectrum at (no spam) netvigator.com> wrote in message
news:4AF161E5.4023D7D8 at (no spam) netvigator.com...


old man joe wrote:

Hey Bob, when you gonna learn that "old man joe" is an asshole that never
responds (or reads) anything after he posts his shit. A waste of time
trying to engage him. It's people like him that destroy the credibility of
the same thing he's trying to propagate.

EW