And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Ver. 1. Who were dead] Natural men are living carcases, walking sepulchres of themselves. In most families it is, as once it was in Egypt, Exodus 12:30, no house wherein there is not one, nay, many dead corpses. Howbeit, the natural man, though he be theologically dead, yet is ethically alive, being to be wrought upon by arguments; hence, Hosea 11:4; "I drew them by the cords of a man," that is, by reason and motives of love, befitting the nature of a man. So the Spirit and Word work upon us still as men by rational motives, setting before us life and good, death and evil.