The Nature of Death

Here is an excerpt from our latest release, A Defense of Free Grace Theology.

The Nature of Death – Ephesians 2:1

David R. Anderson, Ph.D.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (ESV) And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins (NKJ)

Καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις

ὑμῶν

The first observation we need to make is that the words “he made alive” in the NKJ are in italics, which means there are no Greek words in the original text behind these words. Some might even suggest that the translators are betraying their theology by sticking these words in the text, meaning, many theologians think we must be regenerated (born again) before we can believe. Much of that approach comes from their understanding of the word “dead.”

I listened to a debate between James White and Dave Hunt on Calvinism.1 During the first twenty-two minutes of the debate White made reference to this verse at least four times. What he was trying to establish as the foundation for his Calvinistic point of view is that regeneration—dead. Once the word corpse is on the table, the logic flows from there.

Can a corpse eat? No. Can a corpse talk? No. Can a corpse breathe? No. Can a corpse think? No. Can a corpse believe? No. This is a primary recruiting tool used by Five-Point Calvinists. If a man or woman is a spiritual corpse, and if a corpse is completely incapable of eating, speaking, breathing, thinking, or believing, then one is completely incapable of believing before regeneration.

Sounds quite logical, and it is. But the problems are twofold: first of all is the misuse of the word “dead,” and second is the fact that we already concede that on his own a person cannot believe. Let’s look at the misuse of the word “dead.”

White is using “dead” here in the sense of “inactive” like a dead church or youth group. This completely overlooks the word “in.” We are in a book about Position (Ephesians 1-3) and Condition (Ephesians 4-6).2 Chapter one begins with all the spiritual blessings we have “in Christ” in heavenly places. But chapter two begins with our Position before we were baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ. We were dead in sin. This kind of death is not talking about a spiritual corpse but rather a spiritual separation. Our human spirits were separated from God. Physical death is a separation—the material part of man from the immaterial. Spiritual death is also separation—the spirit of man from God. Physical life comes when God breathes the breath of the spirit of life into the material part of man. And spiritual life (post-Pentecost) comes when the Holy Spirit unites with our human spirit. Life is union; death is separation.

It is easy to show that the human spirit of an unbeliever is quite active and functional even though it is separated from God. In Genesis 41:8 we are told that Pharaoh’s spirit was troubled within him. In 1 Kings 21:5 we are told that Ahab’s spirit was sullen. In 1 Chronicles 5:26 it says God stirred up the spirit of Tiglath-Pileser. In 2 Chronicles 36:22 God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the Persian to free the Jews. In Daniel 2 it says Nebuchadnezzar’s spirit was troubled and anxious and in 5:20 it was hardened with pride. Surely, we would argue that none of these mentioned was a believer. But their spirits were not corpses. They were quite active. They were separated from God, but they were capable of a number of activities.

Zechariah 12:1 says the Lord forms the spirit of man within him. To what purpose? To be a corpse? No, the spirit of the unbeliever has many functions, as we have seen. I would even argue that our conscience is a function of our human spirit, and this is precisely where the Holy Spirit convicts the unbelievers of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

In 1 Corinthians 2:11 we read, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spiritof the man which is in him?” The context calls for a non-Christian in this verse, but the spirit within him knows the man. If this man’s spirit is dead like a corpse and cannot breathe, eat, think, or believe, how is it that this spirit in the unbeliever can “know” the things of the man?

In Luke 16:19 Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man dies. His body is buried. His spirit goes to hell. While in hell, the spirit of the rich man can see, feel, talk, and think. Does this sound like a spiritual corpse to you? Not exactly. The only possible response to this is to say the spirit of the unbeliever is a corpse while his body is alive on earth, but then is regenerated when sent to hell so it can function as observed. Wait a minute. You’ve got a regenerated spirit in hell? Not likely.

To conclude, “dead in trespasses and sins” is a statement of spiritual separation (death) from God, the spiritual state of an unbeliever. It does not mean dead like an inactive volcano. It means separated from God, but alive and kicking.

¹ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q61K6ZITck4, accessed October 9, 2014.

² See Dave R. Anderson, Condition and Position: A Commentary on Ephesians, (Grace Theology Press, 2017).