The Walking Dead

Bill Brinkworth

“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” Ephesians 2:1-3

Is it possible to be dead and still walking and appear to be alive? Could scenes from the old horror movies where the dead morbidly staggered through the villages be close to reality?

Of course not! When a person is dead they either go to heaven or hell, and until the resurrection for the saved, they will be without a body. However, it is possible to be able to walk, talk, see, hear, smell, and touch and be spiritually dead.

When sin first entered mankind through Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience, something terrible happened to them. God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He told them (Genesis 2:17) if they did eat of the fruit, “… thou shalt surely die.”

They disobeyed God and ate of the fruit, but it is clear that they did not die right away. They talked, walked, hid, and had children. Was God not telling the truth? No, God cannot lie. Eventually, their bodies died. They are definitely not walking the streets today. However, something more important in them did "die" long before their bodies gave up their last breath.

When God made Adam, he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). When sin was committed, that part of him "died". He still walked, talked, and lived life, but not to the fullest; because the most important part of him, his soul, had became separated from God - a type of death. From that point on, every person ever born was born separated from God. They laugh, cry, talk, and sometimes live a long life, but spiritually they are far from God. Dead!

All are the “walking dead” until that dead part of them is made "alive." When a person realizes they are guilty of breaking God’s heart and commandments with their sin and trusts that Christ’s death on the cross is the only payment God will accept to cover their sins, they can be saved from Hell.

John 3:3 calls salvation being “born again.” When one is born again he is a new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17). The new person should see, think, talk, and live differently. The famous hymn, “Amazing Grace”, touts this revived difference in the changed person when it says, “… I once was blind, but now I see.” A born again person has a new, spiritual birth and many things in his life change. He sees and experiences life quite differently.

It is possible to be alive, but missing one of the most important facets of life: a soul in fellowship with God. Without that living part there may be laughter, but no joy; sight, but no understanding of the danger to which one is headed. There may be hearing, but only able to hear the voice of the world and the wicked; thinking, but only of themselves, and certainly not what God desires of them. Just as the deaf or blind are certainly alive but missing much of what life has to offer; so also are the “walking dead.” Those that are not born-again are the walking dead. Are you born-again or one of the spiritually unborn?

The most important question concerning any man living is this: Is he a saved soul or not? Is he a child of God or an heir of wrath? – Spurgeon

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