John 8:21, 24--"Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and
ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye
cannot come. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your
sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your
sins." Rom. 6:23--"For the wages of sin is death." See Rev. 20:14,
15; 21:8.
The "death" spoken of here does not mean cessation of existence any
more than eternal life means the beginning of existence. Eternal
life does not mean merely to live for ever, but to live in a state
of blessedness for ever. Eternal life deals not so much with quantity
as with quality of existence. Just so with eternal death. It is
a quality of existence, not cessation of being. Even in this life
death can co-exist with life: "But she that liveth in pleasure is
dead while she liveth" (1 Tim. 5:6); Eph. 2:1. What men call life
God calls death. There are two things which the believer gets: at
his regeneration, eternal life; at his resurrection, immortality;
but in both instances he already has life and existence. So it is
in the case of the wicked: the second death does not mean cessation
of existence, for he is dead already, now in this life (1 Tim.
5:6; Eph. 2:1; John 5:24, 25). Rev. 21:8 describes what "death,"
as here used, means: "But the fearful, and the unbelieving... shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:
which is the second death."