Anthony Pritchard
Well-Known Member
The Deaths of Scripture: When the Dead Are Still Alive
Death Series Part 4It is commonly said that to be born once is to die twice, but to be born twice is to die once. While I understand what is intended by that statement, it fails to account for the various deaths described in Scripture.
The unbeliever is dead in trespasses and sins and later experiences physical death. The believer passes from death unto life through the new birth, yet Scripture also describes him as dead to sin and dead with Christ before he too experiences physical death.
The believer and unbeliever do not experience the same deaths, nor do they share the same destiny. The crucial difference is that only the believer experiences a second birth.
“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)
This passage reveals a striking theme. It contains one of those golden gospel paradoxes. The obvious question becomes: Which death?
The obvious answer is that the believer has experienced a different kind of death altogether, but only after experiencing life.
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” (Ephesians 2:1)
To be “quickened” is to be made alive. Where we were once dead in trespasses and sins, God has given life.
The book of Ephesians goes on to say:
“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)” (Ephesians 2:5)
We were dead in our sins, yet made alive. But Colossians tells us that even now we are dead, and our life is hidden with Christ in God. Here is the Golden Paradox of the Gospel.
We therefore observe two deaths: one dead in sins, the other made alive and yet dead with Christ.
Here we must understand what death really means. Many people misunderstand the biblical meaning of death as insensibility, unconsciousness, or nonexistence. Yet Scripture never defines it in that manner. Death in the Bible is consistently presented as separation.
Physical death is the separation of the spirit from the body. Spiritual death is the separation of man from God. The spiritually dead still think, speak, understand, reason, choose, and act. Only the body becomes insensate in physical death. The spirit does not cease to exist, nor does it lose awareness.
We must be careful not to import our own definition of death into Scripture. The Bible itself must define its terms. When we examine the biblical evidence, we find that death consistently describes separation rather than nonexistence or the loss of consciousness.
According to Colossians 3, we are dead. That is, we are separated from the old life, dead to sin’s dominion, dead to the old man as our defining identity.
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him...” (Romans 6:6)
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:11)
Yet even in this death we remain conscious. We are aware of sin, aware of temptation, aware of the consequences of sin, and aware of our fellowship with God. The believer’s death to sin is plainly not a state of unconsciousness. Rather, it is a changed relationship. Sin remains present, but it is no longer our master.
The distinction is revealed in the very language of Scripture. The unbeliever is dead in sins and trespasses. The believer is dead to sin. The difference between those two little prepositions is the difference between condemnation and salvation. One describes a man still under the dominion of sin and separated from God. The other describes a man who has been made alive by God and separated from sin’s dominion.
Death is not extinction.
It is separation.
The believer dies to the dominion of sin, to the condemnation of the Law, to the old man as his defining identity, to the world as the center of his affections, and ultimately to self as lord.
That is why Colossians 3 is so powerful. Paul’s argument is:
“Ye are risen with Christ” (v. 1)
“Ye are dead” (v. 3)
“Your life is hid with Christ in God” (v. 3)
The Christian is simultaneously described as having risen and as being dead because he has risen into a new life precisely by dying to the old one. This is the gospel’s golden paradox.
In our obedience to “...comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 2:13), we read in Colossians that after being quickened, made alive, we are dead and our life hidden with Christ. We must then continue our examination of Scripture.
We must next look to Revelation 20:12. Here we find those who died in their sins, never quickened, never made alive together with Christ. Yet they stand before God conscious, aware, accountable, and subject to judgment. Even here, among those called “the dead,” we find no evidence that death itself means unconsciousness.
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”
Observe carefully what John saw. He did not say that he saw the living standing before God. He said that he saw the dead standing before God. They stand before the Judge of all the earth. They are held accountable for their works. They are judged according to the things written in the books.
The passage itself calls them “the dead,” yet simultaneously presents them as conscious participants in the judgment. They stand, they are examined, and they are sentenced. The very text that uses the word dead refutes the notion that death itself means unconsciousness.
This should cause us to reconsider a commonly accepted assumption. If death means unconsciousness, then how are the dead standing before God? How are they being judged? How are they held accountable?
The answer is found by allowing Scripture to define its own terms.
The sinner dead in trespasses and sins in Ephesians 2:1 is still capable of thought, reason, choice, and action.
The believer who is dead with Christ in Colossians 3:3 is still capable of recognizing sin, of fellowship, worship, faith, obedience, and love.
The dead who stand before God in Revelation 20:12 are still capable of awareness and accountability.
In every case, death describes a separation, yet never the extinction of the person.
Nor is Revelation 20 the only witness. The rich man of Luke 16:19-31 died physically, yet remained conscious. He remembered his brothers. He experienced torment. He reasoned. He communicated. Abraham likewise spoke and answered.
Scripture consistently presents the spirit of man as continuing in conscious existence after physical death.
- Death does not mean nonexistence.
- Death does not mean the cessation of awareness.
- Death does not mean the annihilation of the spirit.
- Death consistently means separation.
The believer’s death with Christ is separation from the dominion of sin and the old man.
The second death is eternal separation from the life, blessings and favor of God.
The question, therefore, is never whether death is separation.
The question is: separation from what?
Which death?
Scripture speaks of more than one.
- The man dead in sins is separated from God.
- The believer dead with Christ is separated from the old life.
- The physically dead are separated from their bodies.
- The lost who enter the second death are separated forever from the life of God, of the blessings of God’s presence.
The Bible does not present these deaths as one and the same. They differ in cause, character, consequence, and remedy.
Therefore, before concluding what any passage means by the word death, we must first determine which death is under consideration.
Only then can we rightly divide the word of truth.
In Closing
Death is not the great question of Scripture.
Life is.
The grave awaits both saint and sinner.
The separation of spirit and body comes to both believer and unbeliever.
Yet Scripture speaks of a life that conquers death, a life received through the new birth, a life hidden with Christ in God, a life that neither grave nor judgment can extinguish.
The man who has been born again may die physically, but he has already passed from death unto life.
Thus the ultimate question is not, “Will I die?”
The ultimate question is, “Have I been made alive?”
How To Be Made Alive
~Tony
© A.K. Pritchard, 2026
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