Are You Dead Enough?

by Seth Halpern Editor

At the end of this month, many will “celebrate” Halloween. For most, it is a time of fun- sweets, costumes, parties- sounds great! Unfortunately, it comes with a cost, dental bills aside. Each person and family has a right to participate (or not) however they choose. While some choose to embrace it and go all out with spooky, even sinister decorations and costumes, other families dress their kids in Disneyesque costumes that make them look adorably cute. Then there are others who choose not to participate at all out of principle or personal conviction. This article does not deal with the topic of Halloween nor how to participate in it.

However, on the 31st of this month, many will dress up like the zombies pictured on this cover. Our culture has really embraced the horror and grotesqueness of zombies for entertainment.There are groups, even locally, that put on “flash mob” performances. The TV show “The Walking Dead” is scheduled to air its tenth season this month and is going strong. Yes, we definitely have a fascination with horror and zombies! However, that is also NOT the topic of this article.

I confess I have never watched or been tempted to watch a single episode of the show nor have I seen “Night of the Living Dead” or any other such media. I am simply not interested in it. It’s just not my thing. I know many family members and friends who enjoy it for entertainment sake and I will not judge them for their preferences. I’m sure that there are things that I watch or read that some would bristle at as well. We have liberty in Christ and we should each be guided by the Holy Spirit as to what we do.

That said, the reason I bring up the “walking dead” is because I read in God’s Word that Paul says “I have been CRUCIFIED with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20 NIV emphasis mine). Crucifixion was a horrible way to die. It was torturous and when it was over, you were definitely dead! Proponents of the “swoon theory” who believe that Jesus didn’t really die, He just passed out from weakness, are intellectually dishonest. There is no way that a human could endure the brutality and asphyxiation that comes as a result.

Jesus endured crucifixion and he DIED. Yes, He was later raised to life, but first He died. So it is to be with us. Just like Paul, we are to be crucified as Christ was crucified. Without getting into the theological aspects of whether we were crucified WITH Him at the time of the Cross or when we come to salvation, the point is that we ARE crucified. We are dead. What does this mean? Certainly, we are not in the cemetery yet. We are not having a funeral prepared for us or see people grieving for losing us. No this isn’t a movie. But it is our true state. We are dead to sin. We are dead to our self. Our old man or old nature has been crucified.

What does this look like? It looks like when we see the things in life or this world that once had a hold on us, alcohol, drugs, sex, money/greed, or any of a number of temptations,- they are dead to us. Just as Christ was raised to life after He died, so are we. However, in order to be raised to life, we must first be dead. This may sound impossible and indeed It IS without the help of the Holy Spirit! We cannot clean up ourselves enough. We can try, but we will never be clean enough. We must die to our old nature so that we can be given a new nature in Christ. Of course, repentance (or turning around) does play a role and in fact is commanded by Jesus, “turning over a new leaf” is not the same thing as salvation. Repentance means that we see our sin, and want to be led by God to change. It is HIS power that changes us. Our repentance is our decision to seek His way with the use of His power, nothing we can attain by our self. (remember it was our “self” that got us into this mess! That is what needs to die).

Many verses point to the problems of self- “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:1-3 (NIV) “Let each of you look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of other. Prefer one another over yourselves”. Philippians 2:4 (ESV) “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus”. Romans 6:11 (NIV) There are many, many more. Last issue, I encouraged you to find REST and PEACE in Christ. To know Him is to have that Rest and Peace both here and in the life to come for eternity. Today, my question for you is this: Are you DEAD ENOUGH? Think about it… Although none of us are perfect and we won’t be until we see Jesus in face to face, the more we are dead to our self (selfish desires and sin) the more we are alive in Christ. Please consider whether you are fully alive in Christ and a soldier for the Lord or still in the army of “The Walking Dead”