17 And there are those who even while they live are dead unto God. For He laid a commandment on Adam and said to him, In the day that you shall eat of the tree, you shall surely die. And after he had transgressed the commandment, and had eaten, he lived nine hundred and thirty years; but he was accounted dead unto God because of his sins. But that it may be made certain for you that a sinner is called dead even when he lives, I will make it clear to you. For thus it is written in Ezekiel the Prophet, As I live, says the Lord of lords, I desire not the death of the dead sinner.
Source: Demonstrations (New Advent)