Now that Halloween is over, I wanted to take a little time to reflect on the fact that there were a lot of “horror” movies on television that used the reoccurring theme of the “walking dead zombie.” The “living dead” has been a topic that has piqued the filmmaker’s interests for a long time, but the Bible also discusses people who are dead while they live. Regarding widows, Paul wrote, “But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth” (1 Timothy 5:6).

Plainly, the person Paul described is simply living for pleasure, without faith in and obedience to the Lord. Without a relationship to Christ, we are all “dead people” on vacation in this physical existence. When we finish our short years pursuing what is trivial, then we experience the eternal existence that so many hope does not exist.

When Christ is in us by faith, grace, and the will of God (the Bible), we are not mindless zombies relentlessly spinning our wheels. We are truly alive in every way possible –physically, spiritually, emotionally, and eternally. In zombie movies, the fleshly-motivated mob will devour their own families and friends.

The “living dead” do the same in their sins. Their lust for the flesh over the spirit causes them to damage their marriages, children, extended circles of association, and finally, themselves (Galatians 5:17). Thank God that although we all were once dead in our trespasses and sins, we can all be made alive in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:11; Ephesians 2:1-7). You can be alive spiritually through faith (John 8:24), repentance (Acts 3:19), confession of Jesus (Romans 10:10), and baptism (Galatians 3:27).

Kyle Campbell