DIFFERENT KINDS OF DEATH

Rom. 6:23

Morning Meditation 11/15/2012

Rom. 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” What is death? Is it cessation of being? We know that it is not that. The soul and spirit will live on after physical death. Someone has defined death as separation. In the case of spiritual death it would be separation from God. In the case of physical death it would be separation of soul and spirit from the body. Let’s take a look at some of the different kinds of death.

there is spiritual death. This is what Adam and Eve experienced the moment they partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In Genesis chapter 3 when Satan tempted Eve, she reveals that she knew exactly what God said would happen if she and her husband ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree. Gen. 3:2-3 says “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Now God didn’t say anything about touching it. But I haven’t a doubt in my mind but what Adam did. He understood (because he was not deceived in the transgression; 1 Tim 2:14). I have an idea he said something like: “Eve, God has given us everything you see in this garden and things you have not seen. He has said that we may freely eat of everything in the garden with one exception. God said that we are not to eat of the fruit of this tree.” I believe that Adam was pointing at the tree when he told her. Adam continued, “And I am going a little further. Don’t even touch that tree. Stay away from it. Because God said that if we eat of that tree we will die in the very day that we eat. And if death is anything like what I experienced when God made you from me, I don’t want any part of it.” Well, that is just a little sanctified imagination. But Eve said to the serpent: “Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”

What God said is in Genesis 2:16-17: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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.” God said, “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Well, Adam lived 930 years before he died physically. Did God change his mind about Adam dying the very day he ate? No. He died that day. It was spiritual death. When Adam sinned, God moved out. And the Shekinah glory that clothed Adam and Eve went out. Then is when they saw they were naked. Now some of this is opinion. Don’t ask me to prove it (the part about the Shekinah). The part about God living in man’s spirit with perfect harmony is not an opinion. I believe Titus 3:5 proves this: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” The word “regeneration” (paliggenesia) means “new birth, reproduction, renewal, recreation, regeneration.” This simply stated is the restoration of life. It is the regeneration of a dead spirit. The words “renewing of the Holy Ghost” mean that the Holy Spirit is renewed to the human spirit where he had been before. This is what salvation is. It is a restoration of fallen man to the place where he was before. However, it is much more than that. Man gets more in salvation than he lost in the fall.

This is spiritual death. And this death is the state into which every fallen descendent of Adam and Eve find themselves when they are born into this world. Roman 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” The word “passed” (dierchomai) means “to go through, pass through.” It is an aorist active indicative verb. The aorist tense takes us back to conception. Death passed through the man into the very conception of the child. It is what we call heredity. All of us inherit our father’s old sin nature, i.e., spiritual death. This is one of the kinds of death that is a part of our being from conception. No one escapes this death. Jesus is the only one who was not born dead and the reason for this is Joseph was not his father. God was his father conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Then there is a death with Christ to sin and the world. This is recorded in Romans 6:6: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Our joint crucifixion with Christ means that we are dead to the past life which is a part of the world system. The words “is crucified” (sustauroo) literally means “to crucify along with.” It is an aorist passive indicative verb. The aorist tense takes us back to the cross. That is the point of time that it is talking about. The passive voice means that we are the recipients of that crucifixion. We did not crucify ourselves. When we are put into Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we partake of his past as well as his future. This is the way God sees it and says it. We are dead to the world. Paul applies this truth in verse 11: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is the reckoning of faith. This means when sin entices us, we are to take our death with him and apply it to that situation. So there is a death to sin and the world.

Then there is a death to usefulness and effectiveness as a Christian. This is what Paul is dealing with in Romans 8. He talks about “No condemnation” for the believer in verse 1. He talks about being set free from the law of sin and death in verse 2. Then he begins to deal with the walk of the believer in verse 4. He deals with the flesh which is still a part of the believer’s body in verses 4-5. Then he says in verse 6: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” The word “carnal” (sarx) is the word that is translated flesh in this passage. The believer whose thinking is being done by his fleshly mind is called carnal. This is death. Any of the thinking done and any of the deeds done this way is dead. It is not about to die, it is dead. Life does not come out of death. And we are dead to sin and the old sin nature and any thought or deed that comes out of this nature is death. This is not a Christian losing his salvation. It is a Christian losing his usefulness. It is the wood, hay and stubble of 1 Cor. 3. The carnal Christian is dead to usefulness and effectiveness when he walks after the flesh. He is operating in the realm of death.

When a believer is spiritually minded he is being controlled by the Holy Spirit. This is a condition of life. It is a life of peace. It is walking the walk and not just talking the talk. This is a life in harmony with God and in union with God. But the other side of this is a walk of carnality. This can be a life lived by preachers or other church workers who faithfully attend church and do a job every week. But Paul says it is death. It does not even count. This is the way God judges it and he tells us this plainly. If we want our lives to count, we must walk in the Spirit and not after the flesh.

There are other kinds of death (Abraham and Sarah were dead so far as their ability to have children) but we will leave off at this point for now.

In Christ

Bro. White