What does the Bible say about believing when dead?
John 11:25 affirms that those who believe in Jesus, despite being dead in sin, will live through the Spirit's power.
Biblical examples like Jonah, Hezekiah, and David illustrate that even at their lowest points, these men possessed a genuine faith. Jonah, despite being in the whale's belly, looked to God's temple; Hezekiah prayed in his illness, and David cried out during his sorrow. Each displayed faith that called upon God even in their distress. Their experiences show that faith exists even in the depths of spiritual helplessness, revealing that true faith is not contingent on our perception of its strength but is rooted in Christ's resurrection and our union with Him.
John 11:25, Jonah 2:4, 2 Kings 20:2-3, Psalm 3:1-4
How do we know that faith can exist in a dead soul?
Faith can exist in a spiritually dead soul because it is birthed by the Holy Spirit, who revives the heart to reach out to Christ.
The stories of biblical characters such as Jonah, Hezekiah, and David serve as reminders that faith is not always accompanied by bold assurance or strong feelings. These individuals, in their moments of despair, still exhibited faith that was enough for God to hear and answer their prayers. Their lives serve as examples that even the faintest desire for God and acknowledgment of our need for Him signify the presence of genuine faith, supported and sustained by God’s grace.
John 11:25, Jonah 2:4, 2 Kings 20:2-3, Psalm 3:1-4
Why is Christ's resurrection important for believers?
Christ's resurrection assures believers that they, too, will experience life despite spiritual death.
Moreover, the resurrection signifies the completion of Christ's atoning work. He bore the sins of His people and triumphed over them, ensuring that those who trust in Him are declared righteous and brought to life. Through this union with Christ, every believer is assured of their position in the heavenly realm, as they rise with Him. Thus, Christ’s resurrection is not merely a historical event but a transformative reality for every believer, promising not only future resurrection but also new life in the present.
John 11:25, Ephesians 2:6, Romans 6:4
"He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
— John 11:25
How can any one who is dead believe? He can, or our Lord would not have said so. I will show you how. He is a living man as quickened into life by the power of the Spirit of God, and yet he is dead. This is the deep mystery, that though he is dead in law, dead in conscience, dead in helplessness, yet God the Holy Spirit has breathed into him and deposited in him a seed of living faith. By this faith he cries, by this faith he sighs, and by this faith he hungers and thirsts after righteousness; yes, more, by this faith he looks unto and believes in the Son of God. He scarcely knows that he has faith. His faith is so weak and so small in his own estimation, that he dare not say he has faith; and yet he has all the fruits of faith, all the marks of faith, and all the evidences of faith.
Take as a parallel case Jonah in the whale's belly. Had he faith or had he not faith? How low he sank when the waves were heaped over his head, when carried through the boundless deep in the belly of the whale. Yet even there he could say, "I will look again toward your holy temple." Had he no faith? Yes, he had; and by that faith he was saved, justified, accepted, brought out, and delivered, and able to say, "Salvation is of the Lord."
Take Hezekiah upon his bed of sickness. Had he no faith? How then could he turn his face to the wall and pray unto the Lord? How could his eyes fail with looking upward, when he said, "O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me?" Take David in his mournful journey, when he went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, and wept as he went up barefoot, with his head covered, at the time of Absalom's rebellion. Had he no faith? How then came he to pray, "O Lord, I pray you, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness?" And why did the Lord answer that prayer, if it were not the prayer of faith? In all these men of God, sunk though they were almost to the last and lowest point, there was still the life of faith; and by that faith they called upon God. They looked unto him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.
Here, then, is the connection between the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and the experience of this seemingly dead soul. When Christ died, he bore the sins of this poor dead soul in his body on the tree, and thus atoned for them and put them away. When Christ rose from the dead, this poor dead soul rose with him, as a member of his mystical body. When Christ went up on high, he ascended with him. And when Christ sat down at the right hand of the Father, he virtually and mystically sat down with him in heavenly bliss. Therefore, because Jesus is the resurrection, and because as such he has a saving interest in him, "he that believes in him, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
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