Dead in this Life

 

Written by Chris Bates 

Introduction

In Romans 6, the apostle Paul discusses that when you became a Christian, sin shouldn’t be a part of your life anymore. As he states in verse 1 and 2, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? (ASV)

But there are those who want to continue a life of sin even after becoming a Christian. They can’t fully let go of the old man of sin (Eph. 4:22) and are thus “dead” while yet alive. When writing to Timothy, Paul described certain among the widows as being “dead” (spiritually dead in sin) while yet quite alive physically (1 Tim. 5:6) because they were living in “wanton pleasure.” Not just widows among Christians but even all Christians, should they live in wanton pleasure, are “dead” while they live, or we might say, “dead in this life.”

Living a life of sin is most certainly not the “high calling” of God by which He calls us through the gospel (Phil. 2:12 cf. 2 Thess. 2:14). Let’s consider the possibility of being “dead in this life.”

 

We Are Dead in This Life…

…When We Choose A Way That “Seems” Right

In Proverbs 14:12 we learn, There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. All have the divine responsibility to choose the path in which they are going to follow in life. But the paths of sin lead to death, both spiritually in the here and now, as well as in regards to eternity (Isa. 59:1 & 2 cf. Mt. 7:13 & 14).

Israel was admonished by Joshua to make a choice. He charged them in Joshua 24:15, “if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve – whether the gods which your fathers served which are beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” We can make the same choice as did Joshua of old. Or we can make the opposite choice and remain “dead in this life.”

…If We Have A Love For This World

As the apostle writes, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

 

…If We Hate Our Brother

Again, John writes in 1 John 4:19-21, We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

This is the same thing that Jesus told his disciples, and us, in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 

…If We Suffer as Ungodly People

As the apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:14-15, If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters.

However, there is value to suffering, for the cause of Christ, as Christians which can be found in these passages: 1 Pet. 4:16; Acts 14:22; 2 Tim. 3:12; Phil. 1:29 & 30.

 

…When We Are Dead to Sin But Alive In Christ

In contrast to the previous deaths discussed in this article, this is a “death” we welcome while at the same time being alive, because it is descriptive of those who have obeyed the gospel to put on the new man in Christ and have put off the old man of sin; Rom. 6:1-7 

 

Conclusion

We can be dead in this life by reason of being dead in sin, and thus living in the constant danger of losing our soul when this life is over, or we can live as “dead” in this life by reason of being dead to sin because our sins have been forgiven and we are alive in Christ. If we are “dead in this life” to sin, then we will live eternally with Christ.