To Quicken

Concise Bible Dictionary:

This term is used in the Old Testament with the force of “to revive, or give new life” in a moral sense: hence we read “quicken me again.” In Psalm 119 the psalmist asked nine times to be quickened—according to God’s word, or His righteousness, or His judgments, &c. (See also Psa. 71:2020Thou, which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. (Psalm 71:20); Psa. 80:1818So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. (Psalm 80:18); Psa. 143:1111Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. (Psalm 143:11).) In the New Testament the word is ζωοποιέω, and is invariably employed in the sense of making alive those who are in the state, or under the power of death. It is therefore sometimes used as the equivalent of resurrection, but the word is never applied to the wicked dead. It is God’s work: the term is employed in connection with the Father (John 5:2121For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. (John 5:21)), with the Son (John 5:2121For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. (John 5:21)), and with the Spirit (John 6:6363It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)). It is characteristic of the last Adam that He is a quickening Spirit (1 Cor. 15:4545And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45)). In Christ all will be quickened. Evidently the principle of divine sovereignty is involved in the term. God makes alive according to His will. The believer is said to have been quickened together (συζωοποιέω) with Christ, and is thus brought spiritually into association with Christ.
A word may be added on the distinction between “new birth” and “quickening.” It lies in the latter implying a making alive in view of an order of things and a state different from that in which the one quickened had lived previously. This is not necessarily the result of new birth; for instance, Israel will have to be born again in view of earthly blessing (John 3:1212If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? (John 3:12); Ezek. 36:25-2625Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:25‑26)); but believers now are not only born again, but, as quickened with Christ, they are made to live spiritually in that sphere of holy love into which Christ has entered by resurrection, in order that He might introduce them into it; they thus have passed from death to life.

From Anstey’s Doctrinal Definitions:

This word means “to be brought to life.” It can be applied to the soul (John 5:21; 6:6321For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. (John 5:21)
63It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63); Eph. 2:1, 51And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (Ephesians 2:1)
5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:5); Col. 2:1313And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; (Colossians 2:13)) and also to the human body (Rom. 4:17; 8:1117(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (Romans 4:17)
11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11); 1 Tim. 6:1313I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; (1 Timothy 6:13))—even to the Lord’s body (1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)).
As to the soul, God works upon the elect in sovereign power to bring spiritually dead persons to life by imparting a divine life to them (Eph. 2:11And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (Ephesians 2:1), 5a). As a result, when a person is thus awakened, he is given spiritual faculties whereby he is able to hear and understand spiritual communications from God—i.e. the gospel. Upon believing the gospel and resting in faith on the finished work of Christ, the “quickened” soul is “saved” (Eph. 2:5b, 8). Thus, quickening refers to the same action of the Spirit as being “born again,” but viewed from a different perspective:
New birth views man’s condition as having a corrupted nature, and therefore, in need of a new life and nature, which God imparts by His sovereign power.
Quickening views man’s condition from the perspective of being dead, and thus needing new life from God, which quickening conveys.
Without God sovereignly working in this way in souls, no one would believe the gospel, because prior to quickening, men are spiritually unconscious (being dead), and thus have no capability of hearing and responding to the call of God. (See Born Again and Freewill.)