What kind of death came from the sin of Adam?
The death that came to the human race through sin is twofold: (1) spiritual death, when the soul loses the contemplation of God and communion with him; and (2) bodily, physical death, the visible and material end of this disintegration, when the soul is separated from the body.
The Scriptures do not use the expression “first death,” but they do speak explicitly of the “second death,” which implies the first: “Then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Rev 20:14; see Q167, Q367); “but the cowardly, unbelieving… and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev 21:8; see Q585).
The second death is the final and irreversible disintegration of the person, body and soul, the end result of the first death, unless one is saved by Christ Jesus, the Wisdom and Power of God, through participation in the first resurrection: “Blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection! Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ” (Rev 20:6).
