Pastor and 1st Lady Mims

Mims Chapel Church

Week 11, November 16, 2025

LESSON 11

Dead and Then Made Alive

Lesson Text:

Colossians 2:13; Romans 5:12; 6:23; Ephesians 3:1-3

Memory Verse
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses."
Colossians 2:13

Key Terms
Uncircumcision • The absence of circumcision - a physical sign of the covenant between God and the Israelites - which signifies those who are outside of the covenant; a lack of spiritual understanding; a state of being outside of God's favor.
Quickened • To be made alive, either spiritually or physically. It signifies a renewal of life, a revitalization, or a resurrection from a state of spiritual or physical death.
Trespasses • Any act of sin or offense, both against God and other people; a violation of a law or boundary involving an element of transgression or iniquity.

Suggested Emphasis

We are still moving verse-by-verse through the last section of concentrated Christology in the Epistle: to the Colossians. This time we will focus on verse 11, where Paul discusses what it means to be spiritually dead, and introduces the concept of dying to sin and to the sin nature.

Emphasis 1:

Dead in Your Sins

To understand this passage we first have to understand what a Saint's condition is before his conversion. Paul describes his audience as having been "dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh" (Col. 2:13). The first term, "dead in your sins," doesn't refer to physical death. To unpack the meaning we will have to compare what Paul has written elsewhere. The apostle told the Romans, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12). The effects of Adam's sin extended far beyond himself, to all of humanity (Griffith, 1988). This refers to an evil nature inherited by all of Adam's progeny, which compelled every person who ever lived to sin. This sinning brought a penalty to Adam's children, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). You can see by the contrast between "death" and "eternal life" that the death being discussed is "eternal death." All this helps us realize that being "dead in your sins" is to be spiritually dead.

Emphasis 2:

Dead in the Uncircumcision
of the Flesh

But there is a second term, "[dead in] the uncircumcision of the flesh," that begs our attention. In a previous lesson, we examined the powerful metaphor of circumcision. Because "the flesh" is a term often referring to the carnal nature (moral weakness and inclination to sin) rather than the physical body, "uncircumcision" could be understood to be unregenerate nature. Having a sin nature makes a person as eternally (or spiritually) dead as committing sin does. And, of course, being "in the uncircumcision of the flesh" and being "in your sins"—while technically distinct—are intimately related conditions. Ephesians 2:1-3 makes this very clear: When Paul describes his audience as those "who were dead in trespasses and sins," he is highlighting their deadness because of their sinful conduct. When he says, "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," he is describing deadness due to the sinful nature. Paul easily transitions from one condition to another because Ephe-sians were afflicted by both before they were saved. So were we all.

Emphasis 3:

Brought Back from the Dead

Returning to the passage in Colossians, after Paul references the two conditions of deadness, he reminds the Saints of the Good News: "Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins" (Col. 3:13b, NLT). In the KJV, the word "quickened" means made alive. It was Jesus' mission to quicken human beings trapped in spiritual deadness. "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45). Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10); Father God fulfilled this word when he made us alive through Christ (e.g., Eph. 2:5; Rom. 6:4; 1 Pet. 3:18). "Because God's children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death" (Heb. 2:14, NLT). Once Jesus conquered death, we were able to escape death through him. Now eternal life begins for us the moment we accept Christ as Lord and Savior!

Missions Application Questions

What did all human beings who ever lived inherit from Adam?
Compare "being dead in sins" and "being dead in the uncircumcision of the flesh." How are these conditions distinct? How are they intimately related?
What does it mean that Christ is "a quickening spirit"?

World Missions Prayer Points

Let us pray to remember that all human beings begin life with an Adamic, wicked bent.
Let us thank God that Jesus pardoned our record of past sins and purged from us our sin nature.