DEATH is often used by all writers, and in all nations, to express a state of extreme misery. The Ephesians, by trespassing and sinning, had brought themselves into a state of deplorable wretchedness, as had all the heathen nations; and having thus sinned against God, they were condemned by him, and might be considered as dead in law-incapable of performing any legal act, and always liable to the punishment of death, which they had deserved, and which was ready to be inflicted upon them.
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Gmrammatian, are you serious? Is deathrow the same as d-e-a-d dead?
My point is, at best, "dead in trespasses and sins" is metaphorical, and not literal death. Literal "death" is ceasing from life in the body, and literal "spiritual death" would be ceasing from life in the soul--not Hell, but annihilation. Since it's metaphorical, at some point the metaphor breaks down. I'm not sure exactly where a Calvinist that recognized the analogy here would draw the line at which the metaphor breaks down, but I draw it at the point that says that we are incapable of doing anything, which again would be more towards death-as-annihilation, non-existance, than towards death-as-spiritual-torment, depravity.