For the longest while I was unsure what spiritual death meant. If thinking about it literally, it could mean that the spirit in our body is dead, yet how can that be if the body is alive and breathing. If that is the case, what then would keep the body alive and what kind of beings would we be without a spirit in our body? Because our bodies are dependent upon that spirit that gives the body life, it is impossible for spiritual death to mean that we have no spirit in our bodies. So, what does it mean to be spiritually dead and how does materialism lead to it?
What is spiritual death?
According to an AI overview which pulled information from three sources: Council Road Baptist Church, Blue Letter Bible, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, spiritual death refers to a state of being separated from God. This state keeps us from being in God's presence because of sin. Spiritual death comes in two ways. The first being the fall which is when Adam and Eve fell and the second is disobedience to God's laws.
The fall of Adam and Eve, also known as the original sin, is the first spiritual death. Because Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, they were separated from God's presence. According to Stewart of Blue Letter Bible, Adam and Eve became different beings then the ones God had originally created; they also began to die physically. Because we are not in the presence of God, we are spiritually dead and instead are in a constant state of following the desires of flesh and senses (see Ephesians 2:1-3).
Disobedience to God's laws is the second spiritual death. Our sins make us unclean and unable to dwell in the presence of God(https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/search?facet=all&lang=eng&query=spiritual+death&type=web&page=1). As we place our hearts and minds in other things rather than God's teachings and stop doing those things that draw us close to God, we separate ourselves from Him and therefore are spiritually dead. This spiritual death is dependent upon the things we choose to give importance to in this life and where our priorities lie.
What is materialism?
Materialism can be defined as the tendency to value physical comfort and material possessions over spiritual things. It is also defined as a doctrine that the only or the highest values or objectives lie in material well-being and in the furtherance of material progress (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/materialism). The philosophy of materialism posts the theory that everything owes its existence to matter and because of that only the physical or the material is important.
The essence of materialism is to put emphasis on the physical, the things that we can see, hear and touch. It replaces the idea of seeing no evil, hearing no evil, or speaking no evil because there is no such thing as evil. The emphasis on the things that are tangible gives way to the idea that evil does not exist. It seeks to replace Christ's doctrine with ideas such as "you only live once" and that there is no life after death because anything spiritual is non-existent.
Although there is a definite need for materials such as a home, car, and property-which are some things that no human cannot do without- the idea of materialism focuses on the need to not only have those things but to prioritize those things you own and to focus on these things alone and nothing else. The purpose of this philosophy is to make materialistic people who seek not to grow as people but to grow in things and are rich and feel rich because of the type of materials they own.
How materialism causes spiritual death
The idea that nothing exists but the physical separates us from the spiritual things that feed the soul. Once the people start believing in the physical and nothing else that is when we stop listening and seeking the things of God and all things pertaining to God. That is permanent spiritual death. Seeking only to gratify the senses and believing that there is nothing after death will eventually be our downfall and will only secure an eternal life outside the presence of God.
Materialism replaces all the spiritual things with temporal things. Instead of doing something to lift the spirit, we will do things that is pleasing to the eye, the ear, and to the touch. Why? Because as earthly beings we are guided by those senses and if we adopt the idea that only the physical matters then we will start focusing on those material things that will give us pleasure but never truly feed the spirit and soul.
Spiritual death is inevitable living in this world. The things of this world, because they are physical and we can touch and see them, will in some form or fashion pull us away from the things of God. No one is exempt except Christ who was perfect, but us- the spirit children of God but natural beings of the Earth- will experience spiritual death at some point in our lives and materialism will be at the root of it.
How to avoid and come back from spiritual death
Due to Adam and Eve being cast out of God's presence and as their descendants who are now living on earth, we are in a fallen state which separates us from being in the presence of God and are subject to physical death. We are natural beings and are born spiritually dead. Our evil nature is constantly at odds with our spirits which are of God.
Although we cannot undo the fall and cannot change our fallen state, we can choose and change our nature from evil to good. We are given the opportunity, in this life, to decide whether we want to go back to the presence of God. Every day we can either choose to do those things that keep us closer to God or do those things that separate us. We can choose to stay in this fallen state and stay spiritual dead, or we can choose to seek God.
Avoiding spiritual death is challenging but it is possible if we keep God in our lives. If we choose to keep the commandments and go to church, we can keep from being spiritually dead. It is likely that we will all go through spiritual death at one point or the other because of our fallen state and because we cannot escape the things of the world. Materialism, in some form or fashion, will always have a pull in our decisions unless one puts off the natural man instinct to put the things of the world first and disobey the God's laws.
How can we, as fallen beings, put off the natural man? We must first accept Christ as our Lord and Savior and his atonement, his death as a price that he paid for our sins, and go to him in repentance of our past wrong actions. Once we do this, we will begin to feel the power of Christ healing us from those sins and we will want to do those things that are pleasing unto Him. As we " yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit", we will put off the natural man and become "submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father"( see Mosiah 3:19).
Once we have done this, we will begin a life where the things of the world will have little to no importance and will thus be engaged in the things of God which will maintain us away from spiritual death. Instead of living a spiritually death life, we will live a spiritually life in which we will know God and Christ. We will be guided by the spirit and we will see His hand in everything. We will be more than just spiritual children of God. We will be saints and living the life that God intended us to live and awaiting Christ's arrival and his reign.
