We often interpret death by stopping the physical function of the body. We never know when we will experience physical death. At 1 Thessalonians 4:13, Paul says to the Corinthians, "From now on, we do not want, brothers, that you do not know about those who have died, so that you may not be sad like other people who have no hope." The Bible never tells what signs that someone is going to die. God wants us to live with the hope that there is still tomorrow.
However, in our life, death is not just physical death. There is another death which we usually refer to as spiritual death. This spiritual death is what God intended in Genesis 2:17, "but do not eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat it, you will surely die." We know that after Adam and Eve ate the fruit of that knowledge, they did not experience physical death. They experience spiritual death, meaning they are separated from God. The Bible itself gives the following signs of spiritual human death.
Have faith without works
James 2:26 "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." Many Christians have professed belief in Jesus Christ. They say they even declare that they are people of faith. However, in their daily life, they do not reflect the life of a believer. God wants every person to believe not only as a statement of faith, but also to reflect it in everyday life as seen from his actions. Faith needs to be supported by obedience to God's word. So, when we claim to be believers, but do not obey God's words, we die spiritually.
Identify with God
Ezekiel 28: 6-8 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because your hearts are aligned with God, behold, I am bringing foreigners against you, the most vicious people, who will draw their swords against your revered wisdom. and your splendor is defiled. You have sent him down into the pit, you are dead as if he were slain in the middle of the sea. "
We often place ourselves like God by feeling what is happening in our lives should be according to our will. We try to organize our lives and not let God interfere. We also judge other people as if we were gods. It turns out that these things do not please the Lord's heart. He wants Him to completely take over our lives, including everything we do and decide. Likewise with the lives of other people, God is the one who has a share in everything. Acting as if we are gods keeps us separate from God and spiritually dead.
Put yourself first
Matthew 8:22 "But Jesus said to him, 'Follow me and let the dead bury their dead.' 'The first word' dead 'that Jesus mentioned refers to spiritual death while the second' dead 'refers to spiritual death. physical. These words of Jesus do not mean that Jesus did not respect the dead. What Jesus wanted to say was that when we are spiritually alive, we must be willing to leave our selfish interests. In this passage, one of Jesus' disciples delayed following Jesus because he waited until his father died. Jesus wants nothing to stop us from following Jesus. When we procrastinate, when we keep making excuses, we will be further away from Allah. That's when we die spiritually.
Made a sin
Ephesians 2: 1 "You were dead in trespasses and sins." Paul made it very clear to the Ephesians that people who commit transgressions and sin are spiritually dead. The violation that was committed was a violation of God's laws as stated in the Word of God. Paul reminded us that if we want our spirituality to stay alive and growing, we must obey God's Word and stop sinning. In addition, we also need to ask forgiveness and salvation from God to wash away all our sins.
Living according to the flesh
Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your body, you will live. " Man lives in his flesh. However, Christians who have received salvation must have received the Holy Spirit who helps us reject the desires of the flesh. The lust of the flesh makes it difficult for us to sin and it is difficult to do God's word. The fruit of the Holy Spirit we cannot bear while we are still living according to our flesh. God does not want His children to live in the flesh. He wants us to live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to become personal is more like Christ. When we lose the fight against the desires of the flesh, we become more and more separated from God and die spiritually.
Excessive living
1 Timothy 5: 6 "But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." This verse is not only meant for a widow, a woman who has been abandoned by her husband. This verse is also meant for all Christians. A person who lives excessively will die spiritually. Why? Being overly dependent means not being thankful for what God has given us. We remember in Our Father's Prayer it is said "Give us this day our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11). God blesses us to wear enough. All the extravagant blessings we should use to help each other and to glorify God.
Reject advice
Job 36:12 "But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall perish in their folly." Elihu in this verse says that those who do not want to hear the warning of their deeds and transgressions (Job 36: 9) will die spiritually. We are human beings who are not free from sin. Often we do not have the power to resist the desires of the flesh. However, we always have the opportunity to repent. We always have the opportunity to return close to God. We, who live as God's family, have neighbors who counsel us when we fall into sin again. However, we may often close our ears and feel that we are right. We refuse to listen to others. Apparently God also said that this is not good either. We must be willing to listen to every piece of advice that can bring us closer to God.
Do not believe that Jesus is the Son of Man
John 8:24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. " Not a few Christians become Christians simply because of family or environmental factors. They simply take the predicate of religion but do not believe it seriously. There are those who still do not believe that Jesus is the Son of Man, the Savior. Jesus himself firmly stated that these people would die spiritually. They will be separated from God. However, the basis of being a follower of Christ is not the religion we profess, but how our faith is. We not only acknowledge that Jesus exists, but further acknowledge that Jesus is the one who brings salvation to mankind.
Not accepting the teachings of the truth
Proverbs 5:23 "He died for his transgression, and for his folly he went astray." How many times do we hear the word of God in a day? Or how many times do we hear the word of God in a week? In a month? In a year? Often Christians only listen to the word of God while in church. They do not want to know more in the content of God's word. Or even they are lazy to at least take a moment of shade every day. Things like this turn us away from God and we will also experience the signs of spiritual death. Spiritual life is not something that comes instantly. Spiritual life needs to be lived every day and given the breath of life in the form of the word of God. Just as we cannot live without breath, so spiritually we cannot live without the word of God.
Say as you please
Proverbs 18:21 "Life and death are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." There is a proverb "Your mouth, your Tiger". We often have difficulty controlling what we say. We speak as we please. Whatever we think, let it be said. This is what causes abusive words to exist more and more in our lives. However, God reminds us to always be wise in using our words. Our tongues should always say blessings and not say curses. When we are not wise in speaking, we die spiritually.
Insulting the word of God
Proverbs 19:16 "He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth the word shall be destroyed." It turns out that not only breaking the word can make us die, insulting the word also kills us. We often underestimate the word and then say the word is not important. The most common example we find is that people say the book of Numbers is not important. Though everything written in the Bible serves to teach. Maybe we just do not yet understand what the writing of the word means. Insults to the word are also often we do by using the word of God as much as possible without understanding the context. For example Philippians 1: 3 "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you," we often use it for rags. Though the context of the verse is for the churches of God, not a lover.