What actually happens when we ask Jesus to be in our lives?

[Mark Quayle]

In the analogy I gave earlier, a gift of a billion dollars wrapped up is sitting on your counter. You unwrap the gift. Is there anything to boast about in unwrapping it? Did unwrapping it “earn” it? Did you have the ability to use what was in the gift before you took action and unwrapped it? That is the meaning of Eph 2:8-9. God has given us a priceless gift. One that we had no power or ability to force Him to give. But that He, because He loves us even though we are His enemy, puts on the table and invites us to open through repentance, confession of Jesus’ names as our Lord, and baptism into Christ.

How are the dead able to unwrap anything?

 

[Doug Brents]

How are the dead able to unwrap anything?

Because that is referring to SPIRITUAL death, not PHYSICAL.

Spiritual dead means cut off from God spiritually, but still physically alive. This is how we all were before we came to faith in Christ.

With physically dead, “well, with [physically] dead there's usually only one thing you can do. God through his clothes and look for loose change.” Sorry, I couldn’t resist the Princess Bride reference. But seriously, once a person is physically dead then their spiritual destiny is fixed. But as long as they are physically alive, they can accept Christ and their spirit be resurrected as in likeness of Christ (Eph 2:11-14).

 

[Mark Quayle]

Because that is referring to SPIRITUAL death, not PHYSICAL.

Spiritual dead means cut off from God spiritually, but still physically alive. This is how we all were before we came to faith in Christ.

With physically dead, “well, with [physically] dead there's usually only one thing you can do. God through his clothes and look for loose change.” Sorry, I couldn’t resist the Princess Bride reference. But seriously, once a person is physically dead then their spiritual destiny is fixed. But as long as they are physically alive, they can accept Christ and their spirit be resurrected as in likeness of Christ (Eph 2:11-14).

You talked in physical terms. The physical dead are unable to unwrap the gift.

How are the spiritually dead able to access the gift? They have no faith, nor ability to submit to God's law, nor ability to please God.

 

[BBAS 64]

The heart naturally resists God because of our sin nature, but the Spirit begins to work in us when we hear the Word preached (even before salvation is imparted) to allow us to hear Him and accept Him.

If none could seek God, or accept God, or hear God, or follow God’s laws, then no one would ever be saved; because EVERYONE was part of “they” before we were saved. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. Since we all have sinned, and are therefore in need of a savior, we are all incapable of seeking God without God helping us to hear Him. And He has done that, through His written Word, and through the Holy Spirit working to draw the listener to the message.

Good Day,

To those that are perishing the Gospel is pure foolishness...

I would remind you God had to "act" in order for her to respond to the Gospel (Paul's message). If God had not acted (upon her heart) she would not have responded.

One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.


I am reposting my post # 32

Salvation is of the Lord 100% of the time every time:


You are correct the Gospel calls people to obey the commands of God. It is the work of God that enables people to obey. God does what is needed (primary and effective cause) he does so with a purpose that cannot be thwarted. God alone is the cause we are simply affected by what God has done ( give, puts, removes) intentional action(s) with a purpose and expected designed outcome.

Simple cause and effect


Eze 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Here is the beauty of the NC.



Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.



God by doing the work makes Himself our God and we because of that are His people and we know Him we do not need to be taught our minds and hearts know God is the instrumental cause of our knowledge and we act in accordance with what we know.

In Him,

Bill

 

[BBAS 64]

The heart naturally resists God because of our sin nature, but the Spirit begins to work in us when we hear the Word preached (even before salvation is imparted) to allow us to hear Him and accept Him.

If none could seek God, or accept God, or hear God, or follow God’s laws, then no one would ever be saved; because EVERYONE was part of “they” before we were saved. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. Since we all have sinned, and are therefore in need of a savior, we are all incapable of seeking God without God helping us to hear Him. And He has done that, through His written Word, and through the Holy Spirit working to draw the listener to the message.

Good Day, Doug

What if the Spirit chooses not to work, is he under obligation to do so?


This drawing of the Holy Spirit is done to accomplish what?

Asked an other way...

What is the purpose of the drawing?

In Him,

Bill

 

[Doug Brents]

You talked in physical terms. The physical dead are unable to unwrap the gift.

How are the spiritually dead able to access the gift? They have no faith, nor ability to submit to God's law, nor ability to please God.

Yes, I talked in terms of the physical to describe the spiritual.

Spiritual death is similar but not the same as physical death. Physical death is the separation of our spirit from our body. When our spirit leaves our body, our body is no longer able to function in any way.
Spiritual death is the separation of our spirit from the Spirit of God because of sin. Our spirit, being immortal, does not cease to exist when we are cut off from God. Our spirit, while still in our body, has the ability to be drawn back to God by the working of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel preached by preachers.

Every human that has ever lived begins life either with “original sin” (as some believe), or pure but sin early in life (as I believe). Either way, everyone sins and is spiritually cut off from God. Every Christian was at one time spiritually dead, and when they heard the Word of God preached, turned toward God (repented), confessed Jesus as their Lord, and were baptized into Christ and were made spiritually alive with Christ.

 

[BBAS 64]

Yes, I talked in terms of the physical to describe the spiritual.

Spiritual death is similar but not the same as physical death. Physical death is the separation of our spirit from our body. When our spirit leaves our body, our body is no longer able to function in any way.
Spiritual death is the separation of our spirit from the Spirit of God because of sin. Our spirit, being immortal, does not cease to exist when we are cut off from God. Our spirit, while still in our body, has the ability to be drawn back to God by the working of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel preached by preachers.

Every human that has ever lived begins life either with “original sin” (as some believe), or pure but sin early in life (as I believe). Either way, everyone sins and is spiritually cut off from God. Every Christian was at one time spiritually dead, and when they heard the Word of God preached, turned toward God (repented), confessed Jesus as their Lord, and were baptized into Christ and were made spiritually alive with Christ.

Good day, Doug

I hate to rip context from a section of Scripture especially seeing in Eph where the whole first chapter and a fair amount of chapter 2 is one big "run on sentence"

You said "and when they heard the Word of God preached, turned toward God (repented), confessed Jesus as their Lord, and were baptized into Christ and were made spiritually alive with Christ."

Clearly for us- The blessed ones, the chosen ones , the adopted ones, making known to us the mystery of His will, obtained an inheritance, having been predestined, the ones having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, the ones that were Dead.

The ones he loves:

Eph 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.

God made us alive... I see not of what you said here in the context at all.

You said "and when they heard the Word of God preached, turned toward God (repented), confessed Jesus as their Lord, and were baptized into Christ and were made spiritually alive with Christ."

Dead people do none of that... now live people do them things because they are a live.

Doing those things do not make you alive, you do them because you are alive and you are because God made you so. If he does not make you so you remain dead.

Dead people need God to will them to live- who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God


Salvation is of the Lord all the time every time.

In Him,

Bill

 

[Doug Brents]

Good Day,

To those that are perishing the Gospel is pure foolishness...

I would remind you God had to "act" in order for her to respond to the Gospel (Paul's message). If God had not acted (upon her heart) she would not have responded.

One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

Very true. And I believe that the Holy Spirit is at work to allow people (as He did with Lidia) to see the truth in the Word, before they are saved. But I do not believe in “irresistible” grace. I believe that even though the Spirit shows someone the truth of the Gospel, they can still refuse to obey it.

I am reposting my post # 32

Salvation is of the Lord 100% of the time every time:

This is true in so far as the will to save us and the power to remove our sin and reunite us with God through Christ. However, He still gives us choice in accepting His gift of salvation.

You are correct the Gospel calls people to obey the commands of God. It is the work of God that enables people to obey. God does what is needed (primary and effective cause) he does so with a purpose that cannot be thwarted. God alone is the cause we are simply affected by what God has done ( give, puts, removes) intentional action(s) with a purpose and expected designed outcome.

Simple cause and effect


Eze 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

When does this happen? When does God put a new heart in us? When does God’s Spirit enter us? Rom 6:1-4 and Col 2:11-14 both tell us that it is when we are baptized into Christ: at the moment we are saved. But that is AFTER we have chosen to accept the Gospel and obey it.

I must admit, I have made an error in what I have said elsewhere in this forum. I have said that the Gospel is simply the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that paved the way for our salvation. But that is not correct. That is the basis of the Gospel, but, based on 2 Thes 1:8, that is not all of the Gospel.
“6 For after all it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”
Acts 6:7,
Gal 5:7,
Rom 1:5,
1 Pet 1:22, and many others mention being obedient to the faith, or obedient to the Gospel also.

The Gospel must include the instruction on how to “obey” it if there are some who do not obey it and there are som who do. And I have missed that link, and for that I apologize. But it is that obedience that is left to us. That obedience is what makes our faith in God real and alive. And that is our response back to Him.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Yes, I talked in terms of the physical to describe the spiritual.

Spiritual death is similar but not the same as physical death. Physical death is the separation of our spirit from our body. When our spirit leaves our body, our body is no longer able to function in any way.
Spiritual death is the separation of our spirit from the Spirit of God because of sin. Our spirit, being immortal, does not cease to exist when we are cut off from God. Our spirit, while still in our body, has the ability to be drawn back to God by the working of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel preached by preachers.

Every human that has ever lived begins life either with “original sin” (as some believe), or pure but sin early in life (as I believe). Either way, everyone sins and is spiritually cut off from God. Every Christian was at one time spiritually dead, and when they heard the Word of God preached, turned toward God (repented), confessed Jesus as their Lord, and were baptized into Christ and were made spiritually alive with Christ.

I think here is where we find the difference between spirit and soul. The spiritually dead are not figuratively dead, nor dead in a temporally physical sense. But their spirit is dead, or if it helps to understand, their spirit is 'of death'. I have a hard time seeing them in hell as spiritually alive, but their soul is conscious, and their spirit continuing to be dead there would also explain how God can utterly abandon them.

 

[Doug Brents]

I think here is where we find the difference between spirit and soul. The spiritually dead are not figuratively dead, nor dead in a temporally physical sense. But their spirit is dead, or if it helps to understand, their spirit is 'of death'. I have a hard time seeing them in hell as spiritually alive, but their soul is conscious, and their spirit continuing to be dead there would also explain how God can utterly abandon them.

Yes, spirituality dead are separated from God but their souls are still alive (still exists). I do not believe that the soul will be destroyed (I believe that spiritual beings are immortal (that is: they have a beginning but no end)(God is eternal: having no beginning nor end)). But the soul can be cut off from God, the life-giving root, and so become spiritually dead.

But even though the soul is cut off from God, it can still (as long as the physical body is alive) respond to the Gospel and be resurrected by the Holy Spirit through the power of Jesus’ blood.

 

[BBAS 64]

Very true. And I believe that the Holy Spirit is at work to allow people (as He did with Lidia) to see the truth in the Word, before they are saved. But I do not believe in “irresistible” grace. I believe that even though the Spirit shows someone the truth of the Gospel, they can still refuse to obey it.

This is true in so far as the will to save us and the power to remove our sin and reunite us with God through Christ. However, He still gives us choice in accepting His gift of salvation.

When does this happen? When does God put a new heart in us? When does God’s Spirit enter us? Rom 6:1-4 and Col 2:11-14 both tell us that it is when we are baptized into Christ: at the moment we are saved. But that is AFTER we have chosen to accept the Gospel and obey it.

I must admit, I have made an error in what I have said elsewhere in this forum. I have said that the Gospel is simply the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that paved the way for our salvation. But that is not correct. That is the basis of the Gospel, but, based on 2 Thes 1:8, that is not all of the Gospel.
“6 For after all it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”
Acts 6:7,
Gal 5:7,
Rom 1:5,
1 Pet 1:22, and many others mention being obedient to the faith, or obedient to the Gospel also.

The Gospel must include the instruction on how to “obey” it if there are some who do not obey it and there are som who do. And I have missed that link, and for that I apologize. But it is that obedience that is left to us. That obedience is what makes our faith in God real and alive. And that is our response back to Him.

Good Day,

So in a nut shell when God clearly says:

I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.


You do not believe God is able (sufficient) to, or has the intention of doing exactly as he said he is going to do the way he says he is going to do it.

When he does it is totally irrelevant, The fact that he does it and has a intention, design and purpose which is he alone takes responsibility for is the wonder of any one obeys at all.

The man who loves darkness and hates light will chose always the darkness he loves, because is heart (seat of desires) is wicked and needs to be removed by God Himself. That new heart creates defacto' new desires, he now can Love the light he once hated and hate the darkness he once loved.

There is nothing in a man that would allow him, or compel him to do such a thing. That is the work of God and God alone, in accordance with His good will and pleasure for his purposes and glory.

The Gospel is about God and what he has done and will do for his fallen creatures he has no dependencies. It is the sin of man that makes it necessary for sure.

The heart of the king is in His hands he can turn it where ever he wills.


In Him,

Bill

 

[Mark Quayle]

But I do not believe in “irresistible” grace. I believe that even though the Spirit shows someone the truth of the Gospel, they can still refuse to obey it.

Here's the thing, though. If one can resist the Holy Spirit, he does. And there by definition the Holy Spirit has not acted irresistibly to do whatever it might appear he was 'trying' to do. In other words, you have presented no argument here, unless circularly. All you have done is to say you don't believe the Holy Spirit can (or at least, does) act irresistibly.

And you have not shown (at least not that I have seen) how it is possible for the lost, who are, after all, dead spiritually, to do an alive spiritual thing, i.e. to have salvific faith apart from the Holy Spirit.

 

[Doug Brents]

Good Day,

So in a nut shell when God clearly says:

I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.


You do not believe God is able (sufficient) to, or has the intention of doing exactly as he said he is going to do the way he says he is going to do it.

When he does it is totally irrelevant, The fact that he does it and has a intention, design and purpose which is he alone takes responsibility for is the wonder of any one obeys at all.

The man who loves darkness and hates light will chose always the darkness he loves, because is heart (seat of desires) is wicked and needs to be removed by God Himself. That new heart creates defacto' new desires, he now can Love the light he once hated and hate the darkness he once loved.

There is nothing in a man that would allow him, or compel him to do such a thing. That is the work of God and God alone, in accordance with His good will and pleasure for his purposes and glory.

The Gospel is about God and what he has done and will do for his fallen creatures he has no dependencies. It is the sin of man that makes it necessary for sure.

The heart of the king is in His hands he can turn it where ever he wills.


In Him,

Bill

Indeed, God is completely able to do anything He desires with His creation. He made us, and can completely unmake us of He chooses.

But He has said in His Word what He WILL do.

The timing of “when” God removes our old heart and puts a new one in is everything. He has put numerous conditional statements in His Word about when He will do things. For example: Rev 3:20 - “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
God is outside our door, outside our heart, but He is knocking; He is trying to get in. And IF we open the door; if we let Him in (He won’t force His way in), He will come in and eat with us and we with Him.

This is just one of many passages where we see God wanting, desiring, pleading with us to accept Him. And if we do, He will give us His Kingdom, make us heirs with Christ of His glory.

Yes, the power, and the authority, and the desire is all His. He put it all out there on the table for us. But the choice is ours.

 

[BBAS 64]

Indeed, God is completely able to do anything He desires with His creation. He made us, and can completely unmake us of He chooses.

But He has said in His Word what He WILL do.

The timing of “when” God removes our old heart and puts a new one in is everything. He has put numerous conditional statements in His Word about when He will do things. For example: Rev 3:20 - “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
God is outside our door, outside our heart, but He is knocking; He is trying to get in. And IF we open the door; if we let Him in (He won’t force His way in), He will come in and eat with us and we with Him.

This is just one of many passages where we see God wanting, desiring, pleading with us to accept Him. And if we do, He will give us His Kingdom, make us heirs with Christ of His glory.

Yes, the power, and the authority, and the desire is all His. He put it all out there on the table for us. But the choice is ours.

Good Day,

need a bit of Context:

Rev 3:14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

I love the door with out a door knob fallacy... or a door with the knob on one side even better..

And what he will do... cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

We do it and we chose to, but he is the cause (primary and effective) of us doing (walking and obeying), and if he does not cause it it will not happen.

Agreed?

In Him,

Bill

 

[Doug Brents]

Here's the thing, though. If one can resist the Holy Spirit, he does. And there by definition the Holy Spirit has not acted irresistibly to do whatever it might appear he was 'trying' to do. In other words, you have presented no argument here, unless circularly. All you have done is to say you don't believe the Holy Spirit can (or at least, does) act irresistibly.

And you have not shown (at least not that I have seen) how it is possible for the lost, who are, after all, dead spiritually, to do an alive spiritual thing, i.e. to have salvific faith apart from the Holy Spirit.

The spirituality dead don’t do something spirituality alive. The spirituality dead are brought back to spiritual life by the Holy Spirit when they, because they are still physically alive, obey the Gospel.

God made it so simple to be saved. We don’t have to do mighty works, we don’t have to do the impossible. We just have to surrender and obey: turn to Him (repent) (Acts 3:19), call Him our Lord and Master (Rom 10:9-10), and be washed in His blood in baptism (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Rom 6:1-4). At that point He does everything. He cuts our sinful self away and gives us a new heart (Eph 2:11-14). He unites us with Christ’s resurrection. He makes us heirs with Christ.

 

[Doug Brents]

Good Day,

need a bit of Context:

Rev 3:14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

Yes, I said it was God standing at our door. What are you getting at?

I love the door with out a door knob fallacy... or a door with the knob on one side even better..

You lost me. What are you talking about? Where did I ever mention a doorknob? Are you saying Scripture is a fallacy?

We do it and we chose to, but he is the cause (primary and effective) of us doing (walking and obeying), and if he does not cause it it will not happen.

Agreed?

In Him,

Bill

He already has “caused”. He sent His Son!! He wrote His Gospel four times, and sent numerous additional texts that support and expand on the Gospels. He works continuously on the hearts of everyone who hears the Gospel, and even those who don’t ever hear the Gospel have no excuse for sin, because the world around the screams God’s glory.

Without His actions we could not even fathom His mercy. But He has acted, so now we can too.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Indeed, God is completely able to do anything He desires with His creation. He made us, and can completely unmake us of He chooses.

But He has said in His Word what He WILL do.

The timing of “when” God removes our old heart and puts a new one in is everything. He has put numerous conditional statements in His Word about when He will do things. For example: Rev 3:20 - “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
God is outside our door, outside our heart, but He is knocking; He is trying to get in. And IF we open the door; if we let Him in (He won’t force His way in), He will come in and eat with us and we with Him.

This is just one of many passages where we see God wanting, desiring, pleading with us to accept Him. And if we do, He will give us His Kingdom, make us heirs with Christ of His glory.

Yes, the power, and the authority, and the desire is all His. He put it all out there on the table for us. But the choice is ours.

First, it should be noted that what the Greek says, is not "knock", but "call" or "call out"; it may be a relevant difference. Secondly, it could also be a reference to fellowship rather than salvation, though they be of the same nature. If one rejects fellowship, they may certainly have rejected God's 'offer' of salvation. Thirdly, if it IS about salvation, who do you think will open the door, and how do you think the dead can even hear his voice?

Good Day,

need a bit of Context:

Rev 3:14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

I love the door with out a door knob fallacy... or a door with the knob on one side even better..

And what he will do... cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

We do it and we chose to, but he is the cause (primary and effective) of us doing (walking and obeying), and if he does not cause it it will not happen.

Agreed?

In Him,

Bill

The spirituality dead don’t do something spirituality alive. The spirituality dead are brought back to spiritual life by the Holy Spirit when they, because they are still physically alive, obey the Gospel.

Are you saying to obey the Gospel is not a spiritually alive thing?

HOW can the physically alive but spiritually dead obey the Gospel? To repeat, Romans 8 says they will not, indeed they cannot, submit to God's law, nor can they please God, so HOW can they obey the Gospel?

 

[Doug Brents]

Are you saying to obey the Gospel is not a spiritually alive thing?

Yes, obeying the Gospel is what makes us spiritually alive, which means it is something the spiritually dead do.

HOW can the physically alive but spiritually dead obey the Gospel? To repeat, Romans 8 says they will not, indeed they cannot, submit to God's law, nor can they please God, so HOW can they obey the Gospel?

As I said, the Holy Spirit is working in them to help them hear.
Rom 8:5-8 - “5 For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

At first glance you appear to have the right understanding of this passage, but reading it in context reveals a lot. Verse 5 puts it in perspective better. Those whose focus is on the flesh, who are driven by fleshly desires and do not even try to rein them in, these are the focus of this passage. Someone who is seeking God will find Him, because He is not very far from any of us (Acts 17:27-28). It is possible for man to seek God, just not of his focus is wholly on physical lusts.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Yes, obeying the Gospel is what makes us spiritually alive, which means it is something the spiritually dead do.

As I said, the Holy Spirit is working in them to help them hear.
Rom 8:5-8 - “5 For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

At first glance you appear to have the right understanding of this passage, but reading it in context reveals a lot. Verse 5 puts it in perspective better. Those whose focus is on the flesh, who are driven by fleshly desires and do not even try to rein them in, these are the focus of this passage. Someone who is seeking God will find Him, because He is not very far from any of us (Acts 17:27-28). It is possible for man to seek God, just not of his focus is wholly on physical lusts.

So, in fact, what the Bible describes as dead, is not actually quite dead?

 

[Doug Brents]

So, in fact, what the Bible describes as dead, is not actually quite dead?

Where do you come up with that nonsense? No!

What does it mean to be dead?
Death is simply a separation.
Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. The body ceases to function, but the soul still exists.
Spiritual death is the separation of the soul from connection to God. The soul still exists, but it is cut off from the sustaining root: God.

A spirit cut off from God (dead) can still seek God and find Him, because God is not far from any of us, but being close is not the same as being connected. The soul is not resurrected (reconnected to God) until the person is baptized into Christ (Rom 6:1-4, Col 2:11-14). That is when the Holy Spirit unites the soul with Christ’s resurrection.