<p>2:5 <i>Even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have you been saved)</i>- See on :4. We were made alive when we were dead. A dead person can do nothing. In this God's grace is revealed in connection with our salvation. The reference is to baptism, but 'making alive' is also speaking of the way in which God's Spirit is the vehicle for His grace in provoking new spiritual life and enlivening us spiritually. It is the Lord Jesus through His Spirit who makes us alive (Jn. 5:21; 6:63). It is the Spirit of Jesus in us right now which makes us alive and shall be the same principle by which are mortal bodies are changed to immortal at the last day (Rom. 8:11). The Lord Jesus is a Spirit which makes alive (1 Cor. 15:53), right now, and not only at the last day. It is the Spirit which 'makes us alive' (2 Cor. 3:6 s.w.). As made clear in Romans 8, so here- the enlivening work of the Spirit is what gives us life spiritually, and is the parade example of God's grace. But the Spirit doesn't just zap an unbeliever and make them believe regardless. We who were dead in sins were &quot;quickened together with Christ&quot; (Eph. 2:5 AV). If we believe in Christ Jesus' resurrection, we will therefore repent, confess our sins and know His forgiveness. Thus believing in His raising and making confession of sin are bracketed together in Rom. 10:9,10, as both being essential in gaining salvation.</p>