Paul talks about the effects of death when he explains a widow'sobligation to her deceased husband.
"Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as helives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the lawconcerning the husband. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteressif she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if herhusband dies she is free from that law, and if she marries another manshe is not an adulteress." (Romans 7:2,3)
What is her obligation? There is none whatsoever! She may havememories of her husband. She may even suffer from the effects oftheir marriage. But the husband has died, and her obligation to himhas ceased.
Death, therefore, is separation and cessation.
"For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never dieagain; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died hedied to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. Soyou also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God inChrist Jesus." (Romans 6:9-11)
You are dead to sin. That means you are separated from it completely.Sin is nothing more than a memory of the past. And tomake this truth even more glorious, Paul uses the word "also" inRomans 6:11. You are as dead to sin as Christ Jesus!
"Ceased" is another easily understood word. It means stopped. Quit.And just so there can be no misunderstanding, Peter explains it'smeaning.
"Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with thesame thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased fromsin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer byhuman passions but by the will of God." (1 Peter 4:1,2)
"Ceased from sin" means "to live for the rest of the time in the fleshno longer by human passions but by the will of God."
And finally, we have the word "not". When used with a group of words,it makes them negative. Consider the following,
"But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact theSpirit of God dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit ofChrist does not belong to him." (Romans 8:9)
You are NOT in the flesh. And this wonderful reality is based on onefactor only --- the presence of God's Spirit within you.
Dead to sin. Ceased from sin. Not in the flesh. Can thesestatements of truth be any clearer?