From Death to Life
- Michael E.B. Maher
- 2 hours ago
- 8 min read
Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”
There are two conditions of the human spirit. The one condition is spiritual life and the other condition is spiritual death, and the spirits of everyone is either one or the other. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul is speaking about the condition of the spirits of men. In this passage the Holy Spirit teaches us that all believers were dead before they were saved. We know that the Holy Spirit is not saying that we were all physically dead before we were saved, but rather that we were all spiritually dead before we were saved. And so we see from this passage that the description that is applicable to all unbelievers today is that they are all spiritually dead. In this same passage of scripture the Holy Spirit then goes on to say that believers have been made alive in Christ. Just as all believers were not physically dead before they were saved so it is that they are not all made physically alive when they are saved, but rather the Holy Spirit is teaching that we transitioned from being spiritually dead to becoming spiritually alive. And so we see that the description that is applicable for all believers today is that they are all spiritually alive.
Luke 9:59-60 “Then He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." (60) Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus told the young man whom He had called to follow Him, to let the dead bury their own dead. When Jesus made that comment He was referring to their spiritual state, for it was their spirits that were dead. And so in effect our Lord was telling that young man to let those who were spiritually dead bury those who were physically dead. I want you to notice that Jesus knew that everyone in that man’s family were spiritually dead, which is why He made that comment. So how did Jesus know that they were all spiritually dead? The answer is simple. No one had yet been born-again at that time, for Jesus had not yet been raised from the dead. And so, everyone on the planet when Jesus walked the earth was spiritually dead, believer and unbeliever alike. This point reveals another truth to us, which is that all Old Testament saints were spiritually dead, simply because they could not be born-again. And so we see that it is only after Jesus was raised from the dead that all believers could be made spiritually alive.
Colossians 2:13 “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit again reinforces the truth to us that before we came into the kingdom of God that we were all spiritually dead and that in Christ our spirit’s have once again been made alive. Clearly there are two states that exist for the spirits of men. Those who are outside of Christ are spiritually dead, while all in Christ have been made spiritually alive.
What is spiritual life?
John 1:4 “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
The nature of God is life, for in the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit teaches us that in God, is life. This same passage teaches us that the life of God is the light of man. In other words God’s life gives the spirits of men life. On more than one occasion the Lord Jesus told us that He is “the life” (John 11:25). In other words Jesus is telling us that outside of Him there is no life. And so we see that spiritual life is in fact the life of God.
John 17:1-3 “Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, (2) as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. (3) And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
The life of God is eternal life, and as revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture it is that life which Jesus imparts to all who are born-again. In this passage Jesus goes on to explain to us what eternal life is, for He tells us that eternal life is knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ. The truth that all who are born-again know God is confirmed to us by God Himself, for He says that all who partake of the New Covenant shall know Him, from the least to the greatest of them (Hebrews 8:11). And so we see that all who are spiritually alive have the eternal life of God, and they know both God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:3-4 “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, (4) by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
The Holy Spirit reveals another aspect of spiritual life to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, when He tells us that the life of God that we have received enables us to become partakers of His divine nature. And so we see that one who is spiritually alive has the very nature of God in their spirits. The Holy Spirit contrasts the divine nature of God with the corruption that is in the world through lust. And so very clearly we see that the divine nature of God is completely opposite to the natures of men that are in the world, even the most noble of men.
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit reveals to us what the nature of the human spirit that has the life of God is like. Some have thought that this passage of scripture referred to the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but Jesus taught us that we are the branches and that it is the branches that bear fruit (John 15:5). This passage of scripture is referring to the fruit of the born-again human spirit; nevertheless the fruit of the born-again spirit is still derived from the root, which is God. Clearly the spirit of man that has the life of God also has the divine nature of God. And so as we have seen in this section spiritual life is the eternal life of God, which incorporates knowing God and having the divine nature of God. The spirits of all believers are in this condition, from the least to the greatest of them.
What is spiritual death?
Ephesians 4:17-18 “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, (18) having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”
So what does it mean to be spiritually dead? Unlike physical death, spiritual death does not mean cessation of existence. Natural man assumes this to be the case, because when their bodies die they cease to function and eventually decay to become dust. The difference between the bodies of men and the spirits of men however, are that the bodies of men are mortal while the spirits of men are eternal creations of God. The bodies of men are not designed to live eternally, for they are made from dust and to dust they eventually return. The spirits of men on the other hand are eternal creations of God. And so it can be said that the spirits of men are immortal, from the point of view that they never cease to exist. Nevertheless even though the spirits of all men are eternal creations of God, as revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, those who are spiritually dead are separated from the life of God. We also saw in the previous section that those who have the eternal life of God know God. And so conversely it can be said that those who do not have the eternal life of God do not know God, for even though they know of God they do not know Him.
John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
When the spirits of men die they do not cease to exist, but rather they are transformed in their nature. And so we see that when the spirit of man dies it no longer has the nature of eternal life which is the nature of God, but rather takes on the nature of death which is actually the nature of the devil. In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord teaches us that those who are spiritually dead are of their father the devil, because of which they take on the nature of their father. The reason that unbelievers take on the nature of the devil is because when Adam and Eve listened to Satan in the garden of Eden and sinned against God, they in effect bowed their knee to Satan and he became the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). And so when mankind transitions from spiritual life to spiritual death they in effect bow their knees to the god of this world and the nature of their spirits are transformed. In the above passage our Lord tells us that Satan is a murderer and a liar. And so those are just two of his traits that all those who are spiritually dead take on themselves.
Mark 7:20-23 “And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. (21) For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, (22) thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. (23) All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the Lord gives us some further insight into the nature of one who is spiritually dead, for in this passage our Lord was referring to the spirits of unbelievers. If you compare the list of evil things quoted above which describes the hearts of those who are spiritually dead, to the list of the fruit of the spirit of those who are spiritually alive as described in the previous section, clearly we can see that the nature of those who are spiritually dead is completely opposite to the nature of those who are spiritually alive. And so we see that when the spirit of man dies its nature is completely transformed from that which is good to that which is evil. And so as we have seen in this section spiritual death is the absence of the eternal life of God. Spiritual death is also, not knowing God and it is taking on the nature of the devil. The spirits of all unbelievers are in this condition, from the most wicked even to the noblest of them.
Michael E.B. Maher
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