“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:1–10 ESV)

The bible clearly tells us that we are dead.  The idea of being terminally ill has become a popular one, but it is not biblical.  When we realize that we had no contribution in our salvation, we become overwhelmed with gratitude and awe that God would call some one like us out of darkness and in to light.  When we understand that God’s radical, unconditional grace, one way love then we are moved to worship.  All of the acceptance and approval that we all long for we now have in Christ, it frees us to stop pretending, remove our mask and walk freely.  “THANKS BE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.”  At the point at which we recognize our deep need (oh wretched man that I am) is the point at which the gospel becomes real and impact-full.