By Nature Children of Wrath

[293 words] A few days ago some of us were discussing Paul’s statement in Ephesians 3:3 where he says “among whom also we all once conducted ourselves, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath, just as the others.” What does “by nature children of wrath” mean? Look at the verse again and notice that Paul is talking about our “conduct” and “fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind.” What we do will make us children of wrath; that is children deserving the wrath of God. “By nature” does not mean that we were born that way; it means that we do those things as a matter of habit. Once people begin to fulfill the lust of the flesh it becomes a habit or “second nature” to act that way. The “pleasures…