“The Living Dead” or “The Living-Living!”
“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” Romans 8:9-11
Speaking a generation ago, Evangelist Vance Havner said, “We are suffering today from a species of Christianity as dry as dust, as cold as ice, as pale as a corpse, and as dead as King Tut. We are suffering not from a lack of correct heads but of consumed hearts.” And the Reverend Billy Graham said in a sermon from 1976 entitled, You Can Have Resurrection Life, ‘Most of you will admit that something is missing in your life, but you probably will not admit that you are already a living dead person.’
The Bible tells us, that the consequence of our rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden is that people are born ‘”living-dead.” But, Paul tells us in today’s Scripture “…though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” First Thessalonians 5:23 says that God has a created a human with a body, a soul, and a spirit. An animal has a body and an animal has a soul in the sense that it has a personality, but only humans have a spirit that lasts forever, encased in a human body.
Isn’t it marvelous! Paul tells us that Christ’s death and His subsequent resurrection from the dead, transforms anyone and everyone who has repented of his or her sin by the power and grace of God and has turned to Him by putting their faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, from “the Living Dead” to “the Living Living!” (See John 10:10 and John 5:24). Praise God, for this: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” The Bible says that Christians will not face the second death (See Revelation 20:11-15), but will rejoice forever with God, Jesus, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit in heaven. Praise God! Praise God! Pastor Louie