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What We Believe and Why - Vol. II
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1982
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

Chapter Fifteen
Death and What It Is

INTRODUCTION: TEXT: Genesis 2:16-17

Today I call to your attention a subject of which, though common, the majority of people are ignorant. I'm going to talk to you about death. You probably think you already know all about it, but, I doubt that you do. Can you explain how Adam died the day he ate of the forbidden tree, in view of the fact that he went on living for many years after that day? Can you explain how our loved ones, who die in Christ, are eternally alive, even though they are dead? Do you have any idea of what Paul meant when he said a person can be "dead while she liveth?" (I Timothy 5:6) And, what did Jesus mean when He said in John 11:26, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die," in view of the fact that thousands, who believed in Him, have died? God said of man, 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." The subject is not as shallow, cut and dried, and simple as it may at first seem, and a surprisingly large number of us know far too little about it.

Let me begin this message by defining death for you. Webster says death is "total cessation of all the vital functions of an animal or plant." He defines "to die" as " to cease to live in a particular respect," and dead, as "having ceased to exist in a particular capacity." A Bible definition is that death is a state of separation. Webster's definition that "to die" is "to cease to live in a particular respect" is a good definition from a Biblical viewpoint. It is noteworthy that in no definition is death called a total annihilation, which is to bring to nothing, or non-existence.

In the Bible, God uses the word "dead" to describe a number of different conditions. I believe that a consideration of some of these conditions, which the Bible calls death, will answer lots of questions and clear up lots of misconceptions. It will help you understand death and what it is.

I. LET ME FIRST TELL YOU ABOUT PHYSICAL DEATH.

A. Physical death is no more than the separation of body and spirit.

1. We understand man, in God's likeness, to be made up of body, soul and spirit: a Trinity.

a. With the body we are conscious of the world.

b. Our soul, or life, gives us self-consciousness.

c. Our spirit makes us God-conscious.

2. When the spirit departs from the body, the body is no longer conscious. As Ecclesiastes 9:5 says, "The dead know not anything." In that condition, the body is said to be dead. That does not mean that the entire being, or person has ceased to exist in any respect. No. It simply means that he has ceased to exist in a particular respect. He ceases to exist only in the sense that the spirit is no longer in the body, thus, the body is dead. This is what the doctor or coroner means when he pronounces someone dead.

3. Thus, James said in James 2:26,"...the body without the spirit is dead...."

B. Note well that this is not a condition of total annihilation.

1. Even though a person is dead in this sense, neither his spirit nor his body has ceased to exist.

a. The body can be felt, weighed, viewed and measured. It is very much in existence.

b. As to the spirit, Jesus talked about a lost man who died physically. His spirit went to Hell where it talked, heard, felt and saw. (Luke 16:22-31) Obviously that spirit was very much in existence.

c. Mister, don't think that just because you die physically that will be the total end or cessation of existence for you. The only thing that will have happened is that your body and your spirit will have separated, and your body will no longer be conscious. All the body's vital functions will have ceased and life in a particular aspect (physical) will have ceased.

2. The Jehovah's Witnesses, particularly, have a perverted view of this truth.

a. Like a lot of people, they don't know the scriptural meaning of death and they assume it to mean total annihilation or cessation of existence.

b. Thus, they assume that when God told man in Genesis 2:17, "In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," He meant that man would physically die, and forever cease to exist the same day that he ate the forbidden fruit.

c. Thus, they believe that with physical death, man simply goes to the grave: that ends him forever, so there is no literal burning hell. They think man is just like a plant or animal as to eternal existence.

d. Because we show Bible proof that the spirit goes on in existence, they say we believe Satan's lie, and that we call God a liar, in view of His statement of Genesis 2:17.

e. The fact is that these people don't know what death is, and they can't harmonize their belief that Jehovah's Witnesses will live forever with their own doctrine, let alone a great many cases of the Bible where men are seen in existence long after physical death.

C. That physical death is only a separation of spirit and body, and an end to a particular aspect of life and not total annihilation is well illustrated by the death of Lazarus.

1. John 11:1-4 shows how Lazarus got sick and died. Verse 11 quotes Jesus as saying, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth," but verse 13 says, "Howbeit Jesus spake of his death." In verse 14 Jesus said, "Unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead." It was a clear cut case of physical death, and according to verse 39, he'd been dead for four days and was stinking.

2. Clearly his spirit and his body were separated, but his spirit had not ceased to exist, as Jehovah's Witnesses and others contend happens at death, for Jesus called him forth in verse 43, and when the spirit rejoined that body, that same Lazarus was physically alive again. Verse 44 says Jesus spoke, "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go."

3. All physical death had been for Lazarus was a separation of spirit and body. When your spirit is gone your body is dead.

D. This is death in the sense in which most of us understand it best.

1. But, even here many are not clear as to just what it is.

2. The Bible speaks of death in this sense in many places.

a. Hebrews 9:27 refers to this by saying, "It is appointed unto men once to die."

b. This is what David is talking about in Psalms 104:29, "Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust." This is also what David had in mind when he said in I Samuel 20:3, "Truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death."

II. NOW LET ME DESCRIBE TO YOU ANOTHER CONDITION KNOWN AS BEING DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS.

A. This is the condition of being totally separated from any joy, fellowship, companionship or right relationship with God.

1. This is the condition into which Adam fell when he disobeyed God in Eden. God cut him off, drove him out. (Genesis 3:23-24)

2. Though God had said of the disobedience, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," (Genesis 2:17) Adam did not physically die that same 24-hour day, for Genesis 5:5 shows that physically Adam lived 930 more years. Since God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), obviously Adam died in some other sense.

3. Romans 6:23 declares that "the wages of sin is death," and every sinner is a stranger and alien from God, (Ephesians 2:12) at enmity, (Ephesians 2:15) and under the wrath and condemnation of God. (John 3:18,36)

4. This separation of fellowship, and alienation or separation from any of the spiritual provisions of God, is to be dead in sins, for it is sin which brought about this separation. People in this condition may be very much alive physically, yet be exactly as Paul said in I Timothy 5:6, "dead while she liveth."

B. The Bible speaks of this condition a number of times.

1. In the first place, at one time or another, every man falls into this condition.

a. Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God," and Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death."

b. Paul therefore concludes, "If one died for all (as Christ did) then were all dead." At one point every man is in the condition of "dead in trespasses and sins."

c. This is what he is speaking of by saying, "...Through the offence of one, many be dead." (Romans 5:15)

d. It would also seem that a proper application of John 11:25 could be made here as John said, "...he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."

2. Though every believer has eternal life, he must confess that he has not always had it. At one time he was dead in trespasses and sins.

a. In the Roman letter, Paul referred to God as He "who quickeneth the dead." (Romans 4:17)

b. Then, he wrote to the Ephesian believers, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins," (Ephesians 2:1) and he reminds them in verses 4-5 that "God...even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ."

c. He told the Colossians, "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of you flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven all your trespasses." (Colossians 2:13)

3. Every person who is alive from death in this sense is simply one who is in right relationship with God. The separating sin issue is settled and the person is no longer cut off or separated from the spiritual provisions of God.

C. A very large number of people mistakenly call this condition of death "spiritual death."

1. It is not spiritual death, and to call it that is to go beyond that which is written.

2. To say someone is "spiritually dead" is to say that person has no spiritual consciousness, even as a dead body, or granite stone has no consciousness.

3. Without spiritual consciousness of God, it would be impossible for anyone in such condition to hear and understand the gospel, and thus be saved. Romans 1:16 and 10:17 show that the gospel must be heard if the person is to be saved. This is exactly what the Calvinists, or unconditional electionist crowd contends. They say that all of the alien sinners are in a condition in which they cannot hear or respond to a gospel plea. They contend that God must first do a special work through His Holy Spirit in the heart of these lost people, making it possible for them to believe the gospel. So, they contend that some will make it to heaven and some won't, not because some heard and disbelieved the gospel, while some heard and believed it. They say that some will make it to heaven and some won't because God arbitrarily decreed before the foundation of the world those in whom He would work this special work of grace by His Spirit, as well as those whom He would simple leave alone in their lost, helpless condition. And all of those who will surely end up in hell, He holds responsible for their own damnation, in spite of the fact that it was beyond their power to choose heaven.

4. This position, taught by man, cannot be verified in the Holy Scriptures. Lost people are dead in a very real sense. They are dead in trespasses and sins, but they are not spiritually dead. Telling a person who is spiritually dead, and thus who has no God-consciousness, to "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31) would be equivalent to telling a dead corpse to rise up and walk. But God has told alien sinners to do just that, and it is within their power to do so, in spite of the fact they are dead in trespasses and sins. They are not totally oblivious to anything. Their death simply means that there is a particular aspect of them in which they have ceased to exist. That is the aspect of proper relationship or fellowship with God. God's word declares, "whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." (Revelations 22:17) There is no Biblical justification for believing that God ever called upon anyone to do what God had not previously provided him the power to do. The Calvinists say He did and they cite the law as supposed proof, but to this good hour, they have not made their case stand up in light of the scriptures.

5. Thus, we believe that since God commands all men to hear and believe the gospel, all men are spiritually alive in the sense of having the ability to respond, thus they are conscious and capable of doing just what God asked them to do.

a. After Adam sinned, and thus died in trespasses and sins, (Genesis 2:17) God came walking in the garden and spoke to Adam, and Adam heard Him. (Genesis 3:7-8)

b. If Adam had been spiritually dead, as some contend, he could not have heard God's voice.

c. Yes, Adam was dead, like every unconverted sinner, in trespasses and sins, but he was not spiritually dead. He was very much God-conscious.

6. The truth is that no man will ever spiritually die.

a. The eternal spirit of man will always be conscious.

b. Even after it departs from the body, it will be conscious, either in heaven, (Revelation 21;4), or in hell. (Luke 16:22-31)

7. Even though they never spiritually die, millions are dead in trespasses and sins, and thus are without hope in that condition.

III. THERE IS ONE OTHER CONDITION OF DEATH WHICH I'D LIKE TO BRIEFLY DESCRIBE TO YOU.

A. This is the condition the Word of God calls eternal death.

1. Those who die physically while they are also dead in trespasses and sins, are placed into a state of eternal separation from God.

2. These "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." (II Thessalonians 1:9)

3. Ultimately all in this group shall be cast into a huge lake of eternal fire and brimstone. Revelation 20:14 says, "This is the second death."

4. No doubt, some of you, because of your refusal to believe the truth, will one day experience this eternal separation (or death) from God in the miseries and torments of flaming fire.

5. Every one of you must face physical death, but you don't have to face this second, or eternal death. That's why Jesus could say, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." (John 11:26)

B. Now look with me at how a man can be dead.

1. He can be alive physically and alive in Christ.

2. He can be dead physically yet alive in Christ.

3. He can be alive physically, yet dead in sins and trespasses.

4. He can be dead physically and dead in sins.

5. In such case, he shall also see the second death, thus be dead, dead, dead.

6. Where do you stand?

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"