The STATUS of NON-BELIEVERS

1 Peter 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Ephesians 2:3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.


Unregenerate people are "not a people" and "objects of wrath". Paul applies this pre-conversion status to himself by saying "we". The newborn are “not a people” and are “children of wrath”.

At a recent infant dedication at Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis), the pastor quoted the Ephesians “object of wrath”, calling that child of a believing couple an child of wrath. This sounds strong, almost harsh, but it seems to be Biblically true.