Concise Bible Dictionary:
This is referred to in scripture under various aspects.
1. The general appointment for sinful man—the death of the body by the separation of the soul from it (Heb. 9:27; Rom. 5:14; Rom. 6:23).
2. The spiritual condition of fallen man, “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1,5; Rom. 7:24).
3. Death personified as a power of Satan: the last enemy to be destroyed (1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 20:13-14).
4. THE SECOND DEATH: eternal punishment (Rev. 2:11; Rev. 20:14; Rev. 21:8).
From Anstey’s Doctrinal Definitions:
Death always involves separation in some way or another. It is used in Scripture in at least seven different ways. The context dictates which aspect is in view. They are:
• Physical death—to have the soul and spirit separated from the body (James 2:26). It does not refer to extinction (Matt. 10:28; Luke 20:38). Physical death is a temporary condition for all who die—regardless whether a person is saved or lost (John 5:29; Acts 24:15).
• Spiritual death—to be spiritually separated from God by not having a new life and nature (Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13).
• Second death—to be eternally separated from God in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:6, 14).
• Apostate death—to be separated from God by abandoning one’s profession of the faith (Jude 12; Rev. 8:9).
• National death—to no longer exist as a nation on earth (Isa. 26:19; Ezek. 37; Dan. 12:2).
• Judicial death—to be positionally separated from the whole order of sin under the headship of Adam by the death of Christ (Rom. 6:2; 7:6; Col. 2:20; 3:3).
• Moral death—to be separated from communion with God while living on earth (Rom. 8:13; 1 Tim. 5:6).
The reader will note that each aspect of death involves separation of some kind. It is sobering to think that sin is the cause of every one of these aspects of death! Truly, “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).
The Bible tells us that there are only two states in which a person can die (physically). It is either in “in the Lord” (Rev. 14:13) or “in your sins” (John 8:24). To die in one’s sins is to pass out of this world without having had our sins put away before God judicially by the work of Christ on the cross. The person who dies in that awful condition will be responsible to pay the price of his sins under the righteous judgment of God in a lost eternity. To die in the Lord is to die being safe and secure from all judgment under the shelter of the blood of Christ, God’s Son (John 5:24; 1 John 1:7). The death of a believer is “precious in the sight of the LORD” (Psa. 116:15), whereas the death of an unbeliever is something that God has “no pleasure” in, because it means that that person will be eternally lost (Ezek. 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9).
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