What Is Spiritual Death?
Spiritual death simply means that the spirit of a person is dead to God, that is, the capacity of their spirit to unite them with God is dead because they lack eternal life. The only life they have is the temporal life inherited from the perishable seed of Adam. Christianity is all about reversing this tragic condition through spiritual rebirth via the imperishable seed of Christ, the second Adam. Consider the scriptural evidence for this…
The strongest proof that the born-again believer is spiritually alive to the LORD — and, by extension, the non-believer is spiritually dead to God — can be observed here:
9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Romans 8:9-10
This suggests that the spirit of an unbeliever is dead in some manner, which is spiritual death. Paul says in verse 10, “if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin.” Just as the body of a believer is not literally dead (yet) neither is the spirit of the unbeliever literally dead.
Exactly how the human spirit of the unredeemed person is dead is explained elsewhere by Paul:
But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
This reveals that the unbeliever is not one with the Lord in spirit. In other words, he/she is dead to God.
Being dead to God like this is due to lacking eternal life (zoe). Acts 17:25 plainly says that God gives all people life (zoe), yet this is the temporal life (zoe) given them thru Adam. Eternal life (zoe), by contrast, is only available thru Christ (John 3:16, John 3:36, 2 Timothy 1:10 & 1 Corinthians 15:22).
The unbeliever who is alive on Earth has yet to suffer physical death and the second death. The latter takes place when an unredeemed person is discarded in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). As such, he or she only has two deaths to experience — physical death and the second death. The unbeliever is already spiritually dead because this condition was passed on to them via Adam. As such, Paul described the Ephesians and Colossians as “dead in transgressions” or “dead in their sins” before their spiritual rebirth (Ephesians 2:5 & Colossians 2:13). Since they hadn’t yet experienced physical death or the second death, Paul was referring to the state of spiritual death.
Elsewhere Christ spoke of the condition of spiritual death, which is a present state in the unredeemed (John 5:24), as did John (1 John 3:14).
The concept of spiritual death is first detailed in Scripture in the book of Genesis:
16And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die [muth muth]”
Genesis 2:17 (NIV)
‘Die’ in verse 17 is translated from the Hebrew word for death, muth, which — as you can see — is actually cited twice consecutively in the text (you can read the original Hebrew text here). A more literal translation of this verse would be: “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, dying, you will die” (which is basically how the Young’s Literal Translation renders it). In other words, the very day Adam sinned part of his being died, leading to his eventual demise.
The Hebrew word muth always indicates that something has died or will die. It does not mean “separation” as some claim. If God meant to warn Adam that he would “separate” He would have used the Hebrew word badal. So what died? Adam’s immortal nature. In other words, he lost his eternal life.
So spiritual death simply means that the human spirit is dead to God because it lacks eternal life. If the human spirit is dead to God it is impossible to have a relationship with the Creator because the human spirit is the facet of human nature that “connects” with the LORD. As Jesus said: “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). If a person is spiritually dead it is impossible to know and worship God in spirit and truth. Why? Because they’re spiritually dead to the Creator. Because they’re spiritually dead to God they are separate from him, but ‘dead’ doesn’t mean “separation”; rather separation from the LORD is the result of being spiritually dead to God. Are you following?
This can be observed in the fact that Adam & Eve hid from the LORD immediately after suffering spiritual death. This condition robbed humanity of guilt-free access into the presence of God and the precious communion thereof.
Paul also spoke of spiritual death when he said: “Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died” (Romans 7:9). This alludes to the age of accountability, which is the age that the LORD holds people accountable to sin. Have you ever run into a family where the parents are heavily involved in sin, like drugs & crime or sexual immorality, but their kids are bright-eyed & bushy-tailed? Regardless of the moral degeneracy of their parents, the kids have the sparkle of life in their eyes! It’s incredible. Why is this? Because they’re spiritually alive.
The condition of spiritual death is passed on from Adam to everyone born into this world (Romans 5:12). Thus anyone past the age of accountability will only experience two deaths — physical death and the second death. Another way to put it is that spiritual death results in two inevitable deaths — physical death and the second death, which is eternal death, aka literal everlasting destruction (Matthew 10:28, Hebrews 10:26-27, 10:31, Luke 19:27 & 2 Thessalonians 1:9). Thankfully, no one has to suffer the second death and that’s what makes the gospel of Christ such good news (Romans 6:23).
“Original Sin” and Spiritual Death
To understand the condition of spiritual death it is necessary to grasp — as already noted — that it is the spiritual side of human nature that actually “connects” with God. “Original sin” is the reason this capacity does not exist with those who are spiritually dead. The doctrine of original sin of course suggests that humanity’s fallen nature — our inclination to commit sin and the corresponding alienation with our Creator — was naturally passed on to all of us by our primeval parents, Adam and Eve. You can read scriptural details about the fall of man here.
In order for a person’s spirit to unite with God he or she needs to be spiritually regenerated. This explains why Jesus taught that our spirit must be “born again” for us to “see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3 & 3:6). Other key passages on the necessity of spiritual rebirth include Titus 3:5, 1 Peter 1:3, 1 Peter 1:23, 1 John 3:9 and James 1:18. Those who are spiritually reborn “cross over from death to life” (John 5:24 & 1 John 3:14). In other words, they transfer from a state of spiritual death to a state of spiritual life.
The “second death,” by contrast, is a future event entailing the complete destruction of soul and body in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). The condition of spiritual death ultimately results in the second death, which is an absolute death (Matthew 10:28 & Hebrews 10:26-27).
I want to stress again that the awesome message of Christ is all about fixing the condition of spiritual death and its repercussions by redeeming humanity through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:6 & John 3:16).
That’s the quickie answer to the question. For those interested in technical details, we now go deeper into the Scriptures, which should clear some things up. Repetition is implemented on key points in order to hammer them home, not to annoy you.
Technical Details on Spiritual Death
The word ‘spiritual’ in this context signifies the human spirit. So ‘spiritual death’ refers to the human spirit dying in some manner.
“Death” is translated from the Greek word thanatos (THAY-nah-tohs), which simply means “death, physical or spiritual,” — the express opposite of life according to Romans 8:38-39. Contrary to what some ministers insist, thanatos does not mean “separation.” Whenever thanatos is used in Scripture, it indicates that something has died, that is, something has ceased to exist. Let’s consider the three types of death denoted in the Bible and determine what dies or ceases to exist in each case:
Physical Death
Physical death always refers to dying physically and therefore, at the very least, a person ceasing to exist in the physical realm. A good example of thanatos used in this context is Acts 23:29 wherein a Roman Commander observed that Paul hadn’t committed any offense worthy of death or imprisonment. If Paul was executed he would’ve ceased to exist in the physical realm. He’d leave behind a lifeless shell, of course, but his conscious life would no longer exist on our earthly plane (James 2:26).
The equivalent Hebrew word for death is maveth (MAW-veth). For proof, 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 combines quotes from Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14 where the Hebrew maveth is supplanted with the Greek thanatos. Notice how Maveth is used in reference to the death of animals in the Old Testament:
Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: as one dies (maveth) so dies (maveth) the other.
Ecclesiastes 3:19
As dead (maveth) flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Ecclesiastes 10:1
Animals that experience death (thanatos/maveth) cease to exist in any kind of conscious sense, although they leave behind a lifeless shell. This is physical death.
Spiritual Death
Spiritual death means the human spirit has died in some manner. Just as life ceases to exist in a body that is dead, so eternal life ceases to exist in the human spirit that is dead to God. A person who is spiritually dead only has temporal life whereas the person who is spiritually alive has eternal life.
For plain evidence of this, the Bible says point blank that eternal life and immortality are only available to people through the message of Christ:
…our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
The Greek word for “life” is zoe. Paul is speaking of eternal life (zoe) here since (1) he links it to immortality, (2) eternal life is made available through the gospel of Christ and (3) people already have temporal life apart from the gospel.
Speaking of which, the only kind of life (zoe) that unredeemed people possess is the temporal life (zoe) inherited from Adam, which God gives to all people (Acts 17:25). Read that again: God gives all people zoe. In other words, every unredeemed person on Earth is born of the perishable seed of Adam and thus has life (zoe), yet this is temporal life (zoe). To acquire eternal life (zoe) the individual must be born again of the imperishable seed of Christ, the second Adam. This is what the gospel of Christ is all about:
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:22
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
1 Peter 1:23
This helps us to understand why Christ said we must be “born again” to see the kingdom of God in John 3:3, 3:6. He goes on to say: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (3:16). Please notice that Jesus does not say “whoever believes in him shall not have eternal existence but have eternal life.” Such a reading renders the text baffling, to say the least. Rather he says “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Furthermore, John 3 goes on to say: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (3:36). Whoever rejects Christ will not see any kind of life at all — not even the temporal life they currently possess.
By the way, did you notice the two polar opposite fates noted in the first passage above: “in Adam all die” but “in Christ all will be made alive”?
Eternal Death
The condition of spiritual death — if not fixed — naturally results in eternal death, which is absolute death, the destruction of soul and body (the inner and outer man) in the lake of fire, which is God’s celestial garbage dump (Matthew 10:28, Hebrews 10:26-27, 10:31, Luke 19:27 & 2 Thessalonians 1:9). The Bible calls this eternal death the “second death” because it takes place after the first death, physical death, when souls are resurrected from Hades/Sheol on Judgment Day (Revelation 20:11-15). You can read biblical details about the “second death” here.
More on Spiritual Death
Let’s return to the biblical example of a person who experienced spiritual death and the repercussions thereof. I’m referring to Adam, the first man.*
* In the Hebrew, adam (aw-DAWM) simply means “a human being (an individual or the species)” (Strong 8) or “the man” (Genesis 2:7 & 2:20).
Adam was of course spiritually alive when God created him and therefore possessed eternal life and hence could commune intimately with his Creator in the paradisal Garden of Eden. The LORD blessed this first man with the gift of eternal life when he created him; in short, Adam had immortality.
There was, however, a condition to maintaining this immortality as God clearly instructed Adam that if he sinned he would “surely die”:
And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
The Hebrew word translated as “die” in this passage is muth (mooth) which means “to die” or “kill” (Strong 63) and is repeatedly used in the Old Testament simply in reference to physical death, including the death of animals:
The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink;
Exodus 7:18a
They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?”
Exodus 14:11a
If Adam never sinned he would’ve never died. Yet he did sin, and the instant that he did part of him died — his immortal nature. We know this because the aging process started that very day culminating in his death many years later (Genesis 5:5). God foretold Adam’s death immediately after Adam’s fall, “For dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19c).
This helps us to understand why muth — “die” — is actually cited twice consecutively in Genesis 2:17. As noted earlier, a more literal translation of this verse would be: “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, dying, you will die” (which is basically how the Young’s Literal Translation renders it). In other words, the very day Adam sinned part of his being died, leading to his eventual demise.
The Hebrew word muth always indicates that something has died or will die. It does not mean “separation” as some claim. If God meant to warn Adam that he would “separate” He would have used the Hebrew word badal (baw-DAL). The death of Adam’s immortal nature was the consequence of spiritual death.
Spiritual death, again, simply means that the human spirit is dead to God because it lacks eternal life. If the human spirit is dead to God it is impossible to have a relationship with the Creator because the human spirit is the facet of human nature that “connects” with the LORD. As Jesus said: “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). If a person is spiritually dead it is impossible to know and worship God in spirit and truth. Why? Because they’re spiritually dead to the Creator. Because they’re spiritually dead to God they are separate from him, but ‘dead’ doesn’t mean “separation”; rather separation from the LORD is the result of being spiritually dead to God.
How Did Spiritually Dead Saints in the Old Testament Have a Relationship with God?
This raises a question: What about Old Testament saints, like Moses and David, who were technically spiritually dead, but obviously had a relationship with the LORD? How was this possible? The answer is that they had a covenant with God, which is a relational contract. But their covenant was an inferior one because it failed to provide spiritual rebirth wherein the person literally becomes the temple of God with the Holy Spirit living within him or her (1 Corinthians 6:19). This is not to say that the Holy Spirit didn’t come upon certain individuals in the Old Covenant and anoint them, etc.
This is one of the main reasons the New Covenant is referred to as a “superior” covenant (Hebrews 8:6) and, furthermore, explains what Jesus meant when he said that there was no one greater on Earth than John the Baptist at the time, but the least person in the kingdom of God is greater than him (Matthew 11:11). How could the least in the kingdom of heaven — the Church — possibly be greater than John the Baptist? Because of spiritual rebirth and the fact that believers are the temple of God in the New Covenant and not some structure as in the old covenant; that is, the tent Tabernacle or Temple.
Getting back to Adam, the immediate spiritual death of Adam & Eve is evident by the fact that they hid from God and were afraid of Him (Genesis 3:8-10). Their relationship with the LORD severely changed when they sinned as they were no longer “united with the Lord in spirit” and thus their pure communion died. Humanity has been hiding from God ever since. This is spiritual death — being dead to the Creator.
Like Adam & Eve, we’ve tried to cover up our sin with the fig leaves of religion in the thousands of years since, but religion can never solve the problem of spiritual death, including quasi-Christian religion. That’s why Jesus, the second Adam, taught that we need to be spiritually regenerated to have a relationship with God (John 3:3 & 3:6).
So the LORD originally created human beings with eternal life (zoe), but it was conditional. Unfortunately our primeval parents failed to live by this condition and consequently passed on the curse of sin and death to us all. Thankfully, there’s redemption through Jesus Christ (John 3:16 & 3:36).
Speaking of the Messiah, Jesus is spoken of as the “second Adam” in Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 15:45-49 & Romans 5:12-19). Like the first Adam, he was spiritually alive, but experienced spiritual death even though, unlike Adam, he never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). When did Christ experience spiritual death? When he was “made sin” during his crucifixion wherein he suffered God’s wrath in our place, which is the aforementioned substitutionary death (2 Corinthians 5:21 & 1 Peter 2:24). This explains why the Lord yelled out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He was experiencing the result of spiritual death — separation from God, which is alienation.
‘But I Thought ‘Death’ Meant “Separation From God”?’
“Death” and “separation” are two completely different words in both Hebrew and Greek, just as they are in English; these words have different meanings.
The Hebrew badal (baw-DAL) and the Greek chorizo (koh-RID-zoh) are two Old and New Testament words for “separation” (see, for example, Isaiah 59:2 and Romans 8:35 & 8:39). If the wages of sin is not really death, but rather separation, then God would have used these Hebrew and Greek words to describe the ultimate wages of sin. For example, Romans 6:23 would read, “For the wages of sin is separation (chorizo)” and Ezekiel 18:4 would read, “The soul who sins will separate (badal).” But does the Bible teach this anywhere? No, “the wages of sin is death” and “the soul who sins will die” (NASB).
It is true, as previously noted, that one of the results of sin is separation from God (Isaiah 59:2). This is the consequence of spiritual death, which — as we’ve seen — simply means that one’s spirit is dead to God. Those who are spiritually dead cannot have a relationship with the LORD because God is spirit, and those who worship and know the Almighty can only do so in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). That’s why Christ taught that we need to have a spiritual rebirth in order to know God (John 3:3 & 3:6). I realize I’m being repetitive here, but repeating key points is effective in driving them home. The apostles practiced this, so I’m in good company (Philippians 3:1 & 2 Peter 1:12).
The Messiah experienced spiritual death when he bore our sins as he was crucified. He even cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He also experienced severe suffering when he was crucified. While it was horrible for Christ to experience this separation and suffering, it ended in death. The penalty Jesus paid for our sins was separation from God, temporary suffering, followed by death. This was an example of the second death to all humanity. Those who are already separated from God due to spiritual death and reject the LORD’s offer of reconciliation thru Christ can likewise expect suffering that ends in death on Judgment Day (Revelation 20:11-15 & Matthew 10:28).
For more scriptural evidence that ‘death’ does not mean “separation” see this article.
The Human Spirit is NOT a Separate Entity
This is a peripheral matter, but it’s important enough to note because some readers might get the impression that the human spirit is a separate entity to the individual in question. This is not so. A human being is not made up of 2-3 separate entities, but rather is one person with two contrasting natures, spirit and flesh. This can be observed in many passages, like:
“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Matthew 26:41 (NKJV)
I say then: Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Galatians 5:16-17 (NKJV)
Since there is no capitalization in the biblical Greek translators must determine if “spirit” should be capitalized in reference to the Holy Spirit or not capitalized in reference to the human spirit. In the verse from Matthew translators unanimously agree that ‘spirit’ should be uncapitalized since it’s clearly a reference to the human spirit. In the Galatians passage most translations capitalize ‘spirit,’ but some don’t, like the Douay-Rheims Bible. The latter makes sense since — as with the Matthew verse — the Galatians passage is plainly speaking of the contrast between our two natures, spirit and flesh, and therefore “spirit” should not be capitalized. (This can be observed in other such texts, like Romans 8:5-6).
In a way it makes no significant difference since the believer’s born-again human spirit is indwelt and led by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16); as such, ‘spirit’ can be capitalized or not capitalized. The exception would be the verse in Matthew (above) since the people Jesus was talking to didn’t yet have the indwelling Spirit. Are you following?
The point is that the human being consists of spirit, mind and flesh. The mind is the soul, which has the power of volition. In other words the mind is the personality caught between the two contrasting natures, spirit and flesh, which can be observed in this passage:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:5-6 (NRSV)
As you can see, the mind of a person is the seat of disposition, which has the power of volition and therefore chooses to live according to the spiritual nature or the fleshly nature. These two conflicting natures constantly send impulses or desires to the mind and the person chooses which nature to feed and live out of. Whichever proclivity you choose will determine if you’re a spiritual person or a carnal person.
The point is that, while the human spirit and flesh are two opposite natures, they are not two separate personalities. People only possess one personality but are caught in a war between two natures.
Here is a diagram of human nature which will help you to visualize these things (click to enlarge):
As you can see, the human spirit is a person’s “godly nature” whereas the flesh is the “sinful nature.” One’s mind & heart are caught between these two conflicting inclinations.
The human spirit is the individual’s “godly nature” because it relates to the spiritual breath of life that proceeds from the LORD, which animates the soul (Genesis 2:7 & Psalm 104:29b-30). The human spirit is naturally where the conscience is located because it’s the “godly nature.” The flesh, by contrast, is the sinful nature because it’s the satanic nature. You can read more about how humankind inherited a satanic nature here.
All of this helps us to understand statements like “it is the human spirit that connects the person to God.” Again, the human spirit is not a separate entity with its own will, but rather is the person’s spritual nature, the part of him/her that inclines towards what is good, godly and productive. For scriptural details on human nature see this article.
Related Topics:
Religion vs. Christianity (video)
The Fall of Man (Humanity) and Slavery to Satan
What is the “Age of Accountability”?
Human Nature — Spirit, Mind & Body
Death — Does it Mean “Separation” as Religionists Claim? (No)
Why is this World so Messed Up?
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