spiritual death

[Persuaded]

Close. Before the age of accountability he was spiritually alive, not subject to death. When he became old enough to be accountable to the law, the law showed him he could not keep the law, that he was a sinner. He tells us this is the purpose of the law:

Romans 3:20 (NKJV) 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

So now, by the law he knows he's a sinner, and he declares himself dead.

"Spiritual death" is just a way of saying subject to death, a person over whom death reigns, a person subject to "the second death" and not the "first resurrection" (which are categories, not events...). Eternal life is the opposite.

[Willa]

I thought John 3 and beyond is what being spiritually dead is about. All are born spiritually dead, condemned to hell. That is why we must be born again of the Spirit. God came to save the world, not condemn it, because we are already condemned to hell. Unless we turn to Jesus, recognizing that He died so that we can be forgiven, we cannot be born again.

John 3:18 He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed on the only begotten Son of God. NKJV

[WarriorforHim]

If spiritual death isn't for humans who is it for?

 

Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Colossians 2:13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.

 

Study spiritual death because it IS real

In Romans 6:23 death there is spiritual death not physical death.

Edited October 1, 2014 by wfHim

[Butch5]

If spiritual death isn't for humans who is it for?

 

Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Colossians 2:13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.

 

Study spiritual death because it IS real

In Romans 6:23 death there is spiritual death not physical death.

I'll have to disagree. You don't find the Scriptures speaking of spiritual death, that idea is imposed on the Scriptures. The passages you posted here say nothing about anything spiritual. In Romans 6 :23 Paul is speaking to believers and of physical death, all men sin and all men die, thus they received the wages of their sins. The believer as well as the unbeliever die. However, God has promised a gift to the believer, that gift is life. At the resurrection when men are judged God will either grant the gift of life or a second death in the Lake of Fire. For the believer the the gift of life, for the unbeliever, the second death. 

 

In the passage from Colossians Paul is simply using life and death as metaphors for the condition of the Colossians before and after their coming to Christ. Before they came to Christ it's as though they were dead, they were unable to do anything about their condition in sin, however, after coming to Christ their sins have been forgiven and they have received the promise of the gift of life.

 

I have searched for spiritual death in the Scriptures and found nothing as it pertains to humans. The only thing I can see that can be presented as spiritual death is Satan and the demons being cast into the Lake of Fire. Since they are spirits and will be destroyed, I suppose it could be termed spiritual death, however, this has nothing to do with humans. An in depth look at the creation of man will show that he consists of two components, a body and the breath/spirit of God. The Scriptures say that when a man dies, the breath/spirit (which is God's) returns to God. That leaves only the body which Scripture says returns to the dust, thus there is nothing left to even be subject to any kind of spiritual death.

 

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.  (Gen 2:7 KJV)

 

Here we have the creation of man, a body formed from the dust of the ground, the breath of life (which is God's) breathed into it and those two combine to form a living soul.

[Butch5]

 

 

Spiritual death is separation of the soul from God. It is so important because eternity is forever.

 

(Ephesians 2:1-3) And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

(Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Colossians 2:13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.

( Ephesians 4:18) being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

I'll have to disagree, the Bible doesn't speak of spiritual death in reference to humans.

 

here is a scripture that speaks of spiritual death...

 

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Genesis 2:17

 

We know God does not lie, and we know Adam lived quite awhile after eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Well, at least physically he lived.  God is specific with His words.

 

I'll agree that God does not lie, however, this passage says nothing about anything spiritual. I think a lot of people look at this passage and think, since Adam didn't physically die within 24 hours this passage must be talking about some other kind of death. I would submit that it is not, that it is speaking of physical death. There is anther way to understand the passage that i believe more closely fits the Biblical evidence. The answer lies in the word "Day." David said,

 

4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.  (Psa 90:4 KJV)

 

When Peter is questioned about why it is taking so long for the Lord to return he alludes to this passage from David.

 

8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

(2Pe 3:8-9 KJV)

 

Peter said that a day with the Lord is as a thousand years. Adam lived 930 years, he died just short of one day. No human being has lived for 1000 years. The oldest man to ever live was Methuselah who lived for 969 years.

 

This understanding of the passage is an ancient one, it was held by the Jews and the early Christians.

 

We can see this is the Jewish understanding of the Passage from the book of Jubilees,

 

29 And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year [930 A.M.] thereof, Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he was the first to be buried in the earth.

30 And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: 'On the day that you eat thereof you shall die.' For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it.

 

It was also the early Christian understanding of the passage.

 

2. Thus, then, in the day that they did eat, in the same did they die, and became death’s debtors, since it was one day of the creation. For it is said, “There was made in the evening, and there was made in the morning, one day.” Now in this same day that they did eat, in that also did they die. But according to the cycle and progress of the days, after which one is termed first, another second, and another third, if anybody seeks diligently to learn upon what day out of the seven it was that Adam died, he will find it by examining the dispensation of the Lord. For by summing up in Himself the whole human race from the beginning to the end, He has also summed up its death. From this it is clear that the Lord suffered death, in obedience to His Father, upon that day on which Adam died while he disobeyed God. Now he died on the same day in which he did eat. For God said, “In that day on which ye shall eat of it, ye shall die by death.” The Lord, therefore, recapitulating in Himself this day, underwent His sufferings upon the day preceding the Sabbath, that is, the sixth day of the creation, on which day man was created; thus granting him a second creation by means of His passion, which is that [creation] out of death. And there are some, again, who relegate the death of Adam to the thousandth year; for since “a day of the Lord is as a thousand years,” he did not overstep the thousand years, but died within them, thus bearing out the sentence of his sin. Whether, therefore, with respect to disobedience, which is death; whether [we consider] that, on account of that, they were delivered over to death, and made debtors to it; whether with respect to [the fact that on] one and the same day on which they ate they also died (for it is one day of the creation); whether [we regard this point], that, with respect to this cycle of days, they died on the day in which they did also eat, that is, the day of the preparation, which is termed “the pure supper,” that is, the sixth day of the feast, which the Lord also exhibited when He suffered on that day; or whether [we reflect] that he (Adam) did not overstep the thousand years, but died within their limit, — it follows that, in regard to all these significations, God is indeed true. For they died who tasted of the tree; and the serpent is proved a liar and a murderer, as the Lord said of him: “For he is a murderer from the beginning, and the truth is not in him.”

Early Church Fathers - – Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers Down To A.D. 325.

[Butch5]

Close. Before the age of accountability he was spiritually alive, not subject to death. When he became old enough to be accountable to the law, the law showed him he could not keep the law, that he was a sinner. He tells us this is the purpose of the law:

Romans 3:20 (NKJV) 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

So now, by the law he knows he's a sinner, and he declares himself dead.

"Spiritual death" is just a way of saying subject to death, a person over whom death reigns, a person subject to "the second death" and not the "first resurrection" (which are categories, not events...). Eternal life is the opposite.

I'll have to disagree, Paul was subject to death before he was accountable to the Law. Everyone who lives is subject to death, All people die. I submit that the term "spiritual death" is someting that was created to try to address certain passages of Scripture that were not properly understood. 

 

Even the believer who has the promise of eternal life is subject to death and does die.

[Butch5]

I thought John 3 and beyond is what being spiritually dead is about. All are born spiritually dead, condemned to hell. That is why we must be born again of the Spirit. God came to save the world, not condemn it, because we are already condemned to hell. Unless we turn to Jesus, recognizing that He died so that we can be forgiven, we cannot be born again.

John 3:18 He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed on the only begotten Son of God. NKJV

Hi Williamina,

 

It's my position that this is no spiritual death. I think we should consider the context of John 3. I would suggest that the phrase, "born again" was directed at Nicodemus, who was a Jew. God had made certain promises to Abraham and his seed. The Jews were the seed of Abraham and as such they understood that they were the heirs of those promises. So, Nicodemus being a Jew would understand that his being the fleshly seed of Abraham entitled him to entrance into the kingdom of God. He believed that it was his birth as Abraham's seed that gave him entrance into the kingdom. Jesus is telling him he is wrong, that it is not his fleshly birth from Abraham that will get him entrance into the kingdom, that is why Jesus says, 'that which is born of the flesh is flesh.' Jesus uses birth as a metaphor saying you must be born again. In other words your birth as Abraham's seed isn't sufficient for you to gain entrance into the kingdom there is more required. Paul also addresses this misunderstanding of "Abraham's seed" by the Jews.

 

16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Gal 3:16 KJV)

 

Paul says that when God made the promise to Abraham and his seed, he didn't mean all of Abraham's seed, but rather, God meant one particular person, which is  Christ. Since the promise was to Christ and not to all of Abraham's seed, Nicodemus' fleshly birth from Abraham did not make him an heir as he thought. 

 

 

When you say all are born condemned to hell, are you referring to the grave or the Lake of Fire? It seems from the context that you're speaking of being rejected by God. I don't believer that all are born that way. Paul said, 'where there is no law sin is not imputed', infants can't comprehend right from wrong so it would seem that sin is not imputed to them.

[Butch5]

 

I'll have to disagree, the Bible doesn't speak of spiritual death in reference to humans.

Paul speaking of himself:

Romans 7:9 (NKJV) I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

 

Where do you see anything about "spiritual" in this passage?

[WarriorforHim]

When the word talks of sin causing death it's Spiritual death not physical death..when 10 people say so and one says 10 people are wrong who is right???

Everybody has physical death..they are warning what sin causes..seperatiuon from God.

I dust my feeet with this now.With some you can never concince..you need to ask your pastor and study for yourself.I won't go on about myself but I will say I have studied this over 40 yrs and am not dumb..so carry on if you wish.

[Persuaded]

 

 

I'll have to disagree, the Bible doesn't speak of spiritual death in reference to humans.

Paul speaking of himself:

Romans 7:9 (NKJV) I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

 

Where do you see anything about "spiritual" in this passage?

 

A person, physically alive, speaking of death in the past tense. Many of Jesus' descriptions, and Paul's, share this construct. You need to "re-interpret" each of them to make them fit a future, physical death.

 

I believe you're way off trying to apply day-fo-a-thousand-years to this. The Psalmist clearly has no such use in mind, and Peter tells us the very limited application that he makes of it. It isn't some kind of "general rule" that can be applied as an allegorical approach to all scripture. No other place in scripture do we see any man of God applying scripture in such a way. The 6-day creation is commemorated with the seventh day of a literal week (Gen 2:3); when Daniel read Jeremiah and understood the captivity would be 70 years he saw that time was almost up and prayed to God to remember His promises (Dan 9). To allegorize Adam's "day" is without basis.

 

John 3 says "except a man be born again". This clearly goes beyond Nicodemus!

 

The possible error of using the term "spiritual death" is to then try to justify annihilationism, the idea that those who fail to come to Christ through grace by faith are simply "no more" after their physical death, and that for them there is no eternal soul and no eternal punishment. Again, lots of scripture needs to allegorized away, made of no effect, for this to be true.