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Author
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Topic: A Love of the Truth
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apilgrim2
Advanced Member
Member # 7182
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posted
Keith,
Thank you for sharing the letters from Martin Luther . . . I just imagine the light that shined into the heart and mind of such a precious saint. He could have just gone on in submission to the church of his day . . . but by the grace of God he was able to read for himself the words of Scripture . . . AND he was able to cast off the influence of that church. What a wonderful accomplishment!
And today many of us when asked with what 'religion' we claim affiliation, "protestant" is claimed.
Still, I wonder of Martin paints death with too glowing a palette of colors:
1Cr 15:26 "The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death."
Rom 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"
Hbr 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"
Indeed, knowing that we shall arise to put on immortality when we hear the Lord speak that name which only He knows, and to which only each of us who believes shall respond, it shall be a wonderfull moment beyond expression.
In Christ Who is our life,
-apilgrim2
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"Relativity applies to physics, NOT ethics." - A. Einstein
Posts: 49 | From: Sacramento California | Registered: May 2008
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apilgrim2
Advanced Member
Member # 7182
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posted
Greetings Keith,
I must say I am pleasantly surprised to receive anything other than a negative response to a posting, although you have not given specific assent to what Dr. Bullinger said in the article I posted.
I have not yet had time to examine the text you included in your response, but I look forward to doing so.
Thank you!
-apilgrim2
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"Relativity applies to physics, NOT ethics." - A. Einstein
Posts: 49 | From: Sacramento California | Registered: May 2008
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Keith
unregistered
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posted
Good post apilgrim2. Here is someone else that agrees with Mr. Bullinger.
MARTIN LUTHER AND DEATH
TO HIS SICK FATHER, HANS LUTHER
February 16, 1530.
To my dear father, Hans Luther, burgher of Mansfeld. Grace and peace! My brother Jacob has written saying how ill you are. I am very anxious about you, as things seem so black everywhere just now. For although God has hitherto blessed you with good health, still your advanced age fills me with concern. I would have come to you had I not been dissuaded from tempting God by running into temptation, for you know how interested both lords and all are in my welfare. It would be a great joy to us if my mother and you would come here. My Kathie and all ask this with tears; and we would nurse you tenderly. I have sent Cyriac to see if you are able. For I should like to be near you, and, in obedience to the Fifth Commandment, cherish you with child-like kindness to show my gratitude to God and you. Meantime I pray God to keep you through His Spirit, so that you may discern the teaching of His Son, who has called you out of the blackness of error to preserve you to Christ’s joyous appearing. For He has set this seal to your faith, that He has brought much shame, contempt, and enmity upon you for my sake.
For, these are the true signs of our likeness to Christ, for as St. Paul says, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.” So remember in your weakness that we have an Advocate with the Father who died to take away our sins, and now sits with the angels, waiting for us, so that when our hour comes to leave the world we need not fear being lost, His power over death and sin being so complete. He who cannot lie has said, “Ask, and ye shall receive.” And the Psalms are full of such precious promises, especially the 91st., which is so suited for sick people. I write thus because of your illness, and as we do not know the hour…so that I may be a partaker of your faith, conflict, and consolation, and gratitude to God for His Holy Word, which He has so abundantly bestowed on us at this time. If it be His Divine Will not to transplant you at once to that better life, but let you remain a little longer with us for the help of others, then He will give you grace to accept your lot in an obedient spirit.
For this life is truly a vale of tears, where the longer one remains the more wickedness and misery one sees; and this never ceases till the hour of our departure sounds and we fall asleep in Jesus, till He comes and gives us a joyful awaking. Amen! I herewith commit you to Him who loves you better than you do yourself, having paid the penalty of your sins with His blood, so that you need have no anxiety. Leave Him to see to everything. He will do all well, and has already done so in a far higher degree than we can imagine.
May this dear Savior be with you, and we shall shortly meet again with Christ, as the departure from this world is a much smaller thing with God than if I said farewell to you in Mansfeld to come here, or if you bade adieu to me in Wittenberg to return to Mansfield. It is only a case of one short hour’s sleep, and then all will be changed.
I hope your pastors render you faithful service in such matters, so that my chatter may not be needed, but I could not refrain from apologizing for my bodily absence, which is a great trial to me. My Kathie, Hanschen, Lenchen, Muhme Lene, all salute you and pray for you. Give my love to my dear mother and all the relations.
Your dear son,
MARTIN LUTHER.
TO FRIEDRICH MYCONIUS
Myconius had just returned from Leipsic. He had been overworked, and wrote to Luther, his dearest friend on earth, in his weakness. This is Luther’s answer. Long after, Myconius wrote that the effect of this letter was magical. Myconius survived Luther and was a comfort to many.
January 9, 1541.
To the honored Friedrich, Bishop of the Church in Gotha and of the Thuringian Churches, my beloved brother. Grace and peace in Christ! I have received your letter, my dear Herr Friedrich, in which you say you are sick unto death, or, to express it in a more Christian manner, sick unto life. Although it is a great joy to me that you are able to look forward so peacefully and fearlessly to death, which, according to the Scriptures, is not a death, but a sweet sleep to the saints — nay, that you have a great longing to depart and be with Christ, in which frame of mind we believers should always be not only upon a sick-bed, but in perfect health, as beseemeth Christians who have been made alive again with Christ, and placed with Him in heavenly places, who will be the Judge of the angels, till all that remains to be done is the drawing aside of the veil of separation and of the dark world. Although it is a great joy to hear all this, still I beg and plead with the Lord Jesus, our Life, Salvation, and Health, that He will not permit this misfortune to overtake me, that I should live to see you get in advance of me by the veil being pushed aside and you entering into rest, leaving me behind in an evil world, the prey of wild beasts and devils, from whom I have suffered enough for over twenty years, to merit being released before all of you, and allowed to fall asleep in the Lord. Therefore I plead that the dear God would smite me with illness instead of you, and command me to lay aside this weary, worn-out frame, which can henceforth benefit no one. I earnestly admonish you to join us in imploring the dear God, for the good of His Church and the discomfiture of Satan, to maintain you in life. For Christ, our Life, also sees what manner of persons and gifts His Church now and then requires.
After waiting five weeks we have received letters from Worms, some of which George Rorer will send you. God be praised our party is doing everything in a wise, straightforward way, while our opponents are acting foolishly and childishly, full of cunning and lies, from which we may gather that Satan, seeing the approach of dawn, wriggles into a thousand corners, seeking refuge in subterfuge and lies, but all in vain, for glory, power, and victory belong to the Lamb who was slain and rose again. We hope our people may soon return from Worms. May all go well with you, my dear Friedrich, and may the Lord not permit me to hear that you are dead, but allow you to survive me.
This shall be my petition, this is my desire, and my will shall be done. Amen. For my will seeks the honor of the Divine name, and not my own honor and pleasure. Once more farewell in the Lord. We pray earnestly for you. My Kathie greets you, she, like all of us, being much distressed at your illness.
MARTIN LUTHER.
TO NICOLAS AMSDORF
Reply to letter of consolation on Magdalene’s death.
October 29, 1542.
Grace and peace! Many thanks, most excellent friend, for trying to console me on my dearest daughter’s death. I loved her not only because she was my flesh, but for her placid and gentle spirit and her dutifulness to me. But now I rejoice that she is sleeping sweetly in her Heavenly Father’s home till that day. Alas, for the days in which we live! And they are daily becoming worse. I pray that we and all dear to us may be granted such a blessed hour of departure as was her lot. I would call this really sleeping in the Lord, not experiencing one pang of fear. This is the time of which Isaiah speaks, “The righteous is taken away from the evil to come; they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness,” just as when one gathers the wheat into the barn, and commits the chaff to the flames, a punishment the world has deserved for her ingratitude. Truly it is a Sodom. I should like to write you oftener, but you write so seldom. I agree with you as to the reports about Heinz’s judgments and threats. Your Meissen people are become a byword through this man at Merseburg, where they portray themselves as so courageous and us so timid. The war prospects give good reason for fear. I never thought we could achieve anything against the Turks except squander our money and reap ridicule. What could God accomplish with such tools? So we must pray without ceasing that He would overcome this monstrosity, even as He did with the Papacy, with all its abominations. Did you get my letter asking for a post for Dr. Hieronymus Weller, who complains of the indifference of the Freiberg people to the Divine Word? But as things are not yet settled with you, this request may come at an inopportune time.
Comfort yourself in the Lord and be steadfast, for you are Christ’s servant, who called you to this post, even if you merely remain quietly in your place, preventing the devil occupying it, although you should do nothing more all your life.
And thus how much more are you His servants when you are not only not idle, but maintain a constant conflict, and purify the people from sin through the Word of God. I commit you to God. My Kathie greets you, although she often breathes a sigh over the memory of her beloved and obedient daughter.
MARTIN LUTHER.
WATCHWORDS FOR THE
WARFARE OF LIFE
by Martin Luther
Small Intimations of Immortality.
HEREIN is indicated the soul’s immortality, in that no creature save only man can understand and measure the heavenly bodies. Animals do not consider and analyze the water they drink. This upward contemplation of his indicates that man was not made to live always in this lower part of the world, but that hereafter he should possess the heavens.
DEATH, in men, is in infinite and countless ways more mournful than in animals without reason. For man is a creature that was not created for this, but to live in obedience to the Divine Word, and in the likeness of God. Man was not created to die.
“DEAR brothers,” said Dr. Martin Luther, “despise the devil. For He who was nailed to the cross has crucified him; so likewise if he crucifies us, we on the other hand, shall crucify him, even with that cross wherewith he crucifies us.”
THANK God, the devil has never been able altogether to vanquish me; he has burnt himself out on Christ. He says, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world; the sting of death has been worn out and blunted on Me, yea, altogether broken.”
IN the year 1538, on the 21st of October, Dr. Martin Luther made a public exhortation in the church, severely blaming those who were so fearful, and made such a clamor and cry about the Plague.
“We should be of good cheer in the Lord; and should trust Him,” said he, “and each of us abide and walk in his own calling, and if our neighbors need our help and assistance, not desert them. We ought not to be so sore afraid of death; for we have the Word of life, and we cleave to the Lord of life, who for our sake has overcome death.”
SINCE now He has been laid beneath this earth, and has been buried, henceforth the graves of all Christians become sanctuaries, and wherever a Christian rests, there rests the sacred body of a Saint.
The Damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
THIS place is very remarkable, that our Lord Himself calls death nothing else than sleep, which is a glorious consolation for all who believe. For Christ does not only say that the dead maiden sleeps; He proves by facts that she sleeps, in that He speaks to her with soft, gentle words, as to awaken her from sleep.
This wisdom none of the world’s wise men have reached; endless questions they have raised, but here all the questions are answered in one word, “She sleeps.”
If she sleeps, where art thou, O Death?
Death is no death to the Christian, but really a sleep. Yes, even the place where Christians are buried is called koi mhthrion, that is, a sleepingchamber. A MAN who lies asleep is much like one who is dead. Therefore the ancient sages said, “Sleep is the brother of Death.”
So also Death and Life are pictured and signified in the revolutions and transformations of day and night, and of all creatures.
SLEEP is verily a death, and, equally, death is a sleep. Our death is nothing but a night’s sleep.
In sleep all weariness passes away, and we rise again in the morning joyous, fresh, and strong.
So at the last Day shall we arise from our graves as if we had only slept a night, be fresh and strong, bathe our eyes (as in morning dew), and all weakness, corruption, and dishonor shall vanish from us forever. IF Cicero could nobly console himself and take courage against death, how much more should we Christians, who have a Lord who is the Destroyer of death, who has vanquished him, namely, Christ the Son of God, who is the Resurrection and the Life.
AND if we would fain live a little longer, what a little while it is at the longest! Just as if several of us were journeying over the Duben Heath to Leipzig, and some arrived at four o’clock, some at seven or eight, some at evening; yet all had to be there before night. Thus our first forefather arrived a few hours before us. But even he will have rested no longer than one night, like ourselves.
WE must submit to death; but the miracle is that whosoever keeps to God’s Word shall not feel death, but pass hence as one falling asleep. No more should it be said of such an one, Morior, sed cogor dormire ; no more “I die,” but, “I am constrained to sleep.”
“I KNOW I shall not live long,” he said; “my brain is like a knife in which the steel is quite worn out, and there is nothing but iron left. The iron can cut no more. So it is with my brain. Now, Oh my dear Lord! I hope, and am persuaded, that the hour of my departure is at hand.
“At Cobourg I used to go about and seek a place where they might bury me; and I thought I could rest well in the Chapel, beneath the Cross. But now I am weaker than I was at Cobourg. God help me, and give me a gracious, blessed departure. I desire not to live any longer.”
ON the 22nd of July, in the year 1533, Dr. Martin Luther said, at table, to Duke John Frederic, Elector of Saxony, “It is a far more terrible thing when a prince dies than when a peasant dies, who is thought nothing of. “A prince has to be abandoned of all his friends and nobles, and at last must enter into single combat with the devil. Then there will be no help in remembering that one has lived in a princely style.” DEATH for the sake of Christ’s name and Word is held precious and glorious before God; for we are mortal, and must die in one way or another, on account of sin. But if we can die for the sake of Christ’s Word, and the free confession of it, we die a most honorable death; we become altogether sacred; we have sold our life dear enough.
We who are Christians pray for peace and a long life; not for our own sakes, for to such death is pure gain; but for the sake of the Church and those who come after us.( pages 167-169)
SERMONS OF
MARTIN LUTHER
VOL. 1
SERMONS ON GOSPEL TEXTS
FOR ADVENT, CHRISTMAS & EPIPHANY
by Martin Luther
52. Behold, this is the great joy, to which the prophet invites, when he says: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!” This is the righteousness and the salvation for which the Savior and King comes. These are the good works done for us by which he fulfills the law. Hence the death of the believer in Christ is not death but a sleep, for he neither sees nor tastes death, as is said in Psalm 4:8: “In peace will I both lay me down and sleep, for thou, Jehovah, alone makest me dwell in safety.” Therefore death is also called a sleep in the Scriptures.(pages 41&42)
SERMONS OF
MARTIN LUTHER
VOL. 2
SERMONS ON GOSPEL TEXTS
FOR EPIPHANY, LENT & EASTER
by Martin Luther
11. Now Christ means here that whoever clings to his Word will in the midst of death neither feel nor see death, as he also says in <431125>John 11:25: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me though he die, yet shall he live,” that is, he will not experience real death. Here we see now what a glorious estate it is to be a Christian, who is already released from death forever and can never die. For his death or dying seems outwardly indeed like the dying of the godless, but inwardly there is a difference as great as between heaven and earth. For the Christian sleeps in death and in that way enters into life, but the godless departs from life and experiences death forever; thus we may see how some tremble, doubt and despair, and become senseless and raging in the midst of the perils of death. Hence death is also called in the Scriptures a sleep. For just as he who falls asleep does not know how it happens, and he greets the morning when he awakes; so shall we suddenly arise on the last day, and never know how we entered and passed through death.(page 149)
SERMONS OF
MARTIN LUTHER
VOL. 5
SERMONS ON THE GOSPEL TEXTS
FOR THE 13TH TO 26TH SUNDAYS AFTER TRINITY
by Martin Luther
36. Thus we should learn to view our death in the right light, so that we need not become alarmed on account of it, as unbelief does; because in Christ it is indeed not death, but a fine, sweet and brief sleep, which brings us release from this vale of tears, from sin and from the fear and extremity of real death and from all the misfortunes of this life, and we shall be secure and without care, rest sweetly and gently for a brief moment, as on a sofa, until the time when he shall call and awaken us together with all his dear children to his eternal glory and joy. For since we call it a sleep, we know that we shall not remain in it, but be again awakened and live, and that the time during which we sleep, shall seem no longer than if we had just fallen asleep. Hence, we shall censure ourselves that we were surprised or alarmed at such a sleep in the hour of death, and suddenly come alive out of the grave and from decomposition, and entirely well, fresh, with a pure, clear, glorified life, meet our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the clouds.
37. Therefore we should entrust and commend to our true Savior and Redeemer ourselves, body, soul and life, with all confidence and joy, just as we must commend to him our life without care in our bodily sleep and rest, assured that we shall not lose it, but be truly and carefully preserved in his hand, maintained and again restored. Here you see, as he shows in reality, how easy it is for him to awaken men from the dead and restore them to life, as he came to the maiden, took her by the hand, as some one else might do to awaken one from sleep, and with a word called, “Maid, arise!” and the maiden suddenly arose, as if she had been awakened from sleep. We see here neither sleep nor death, but wakefulness and freshness, even as Lazarus came forth from his tomb.
38. Behold, this Word of Christ is not a matter of laughter and foolishness to faith (as to others among the prudent and the saints according to the law, who nevertheless remain in fear and terror of death, have to do with their thoughts about death and works), but of great wisdom, by which death and all the images of death are swallowed up, and in their place true comfort, joy and life are obtained. The act and experience must assuredly follow this Word of Christ and faith in his Word cannot fail. Let this be regarded as a master-piece and a wonderful work of alchemy or a science, which indeed does not turn copper and lead into gold, but turns death into sleep, your grave into a soft sofa, the time from the death of Abel until the last day into a brief hour, a work which no creature has nor can attempt except through faith in Christ. If you can believe this, that is, let the Word of Christ be true and not a lie, you have already overcome both death and the sting of death, and in their place have obtained sweet rest.
39. Scripture everywhere affords such consolation, which speaks of the death of the saints, as if they fell asleep and were gathered to their fathers, that is, had overcome death through this faith and comfort in Christ, and awaited the resurrection, together with the saints who preceded them in death. Therefore the early Christians (undoubtedly from the Apostles or their disciples) followed the custom of bringing their dead to honorable burial and wherever possible interred them in separate places, which they called, not places of burial or grave-yards, but coemeteria, sleepingchambers, dormitoria, houses of sleep, names which have remained in use until our time; and we Germans from ancient times call such places of burial God’s acres, as St. Paul,1 Corinthians 15:44, says: “It is sown a natural body;” for what we now call church-yards were not at first places of burial. This is the teaching and comfort of this Gospel lesson. (pages 319&320)
SERMONS OF
MARTIN LUTHER
VOL. 7
SERMONS ON THE EPISTLE TEXTS
FOR EPIPHANY, EASTER & PENTECOST
by Martin Luther
9. God desires Christ’s Word to be heard. Otherwise expressed, his command is: “Here ye have the Word of peace and salvation. Not elsewhere may you. seek and find these blessings. Cling to this Word if you desire peace, happiness and salvation. Let befall what may, crosses, afflictions, discord, death — whether you be beheaded, or fall victim to pest or stroke, or in whatever manner God may call you home — in it all, look only upon me, whose Word promises that you shall not die, what seems death being but a sweet sleep, ay, the entrance into life eternal Christ says (John 8:51): “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my Word, he shall never see death.”(page 176)
SERMONS OF
MARTIN LUTHER
VOL. 8
SERMONS ON EPISTLE TEXTS FOR
TRINITY SUNDAY TO ADVENT
by Martin Luther
22. The other, the “little death,” is that outward, physical death. In the Scriptures it is called a sleep. It is imposed upon the flesh, because, so long as we live on earth, the flesh never ceases to resist the spirit and its life. Paul says: “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.” Galatians 5:17. The spirit, or soul, says: I am dead unto sin and will not sin any more. But the flesh says: I am not dead and must make use of my life while I have it. The spirit declares: I believe that God has forgiven my sins and taken them away from me through Christ. But the flesh asks: What do I know of God or his will? The spirit resolves: I must be meek, pure, chaste, humble, patient, and seek the future life. But the flesh in reply makes a loud outcry: Away with your heaven! if only I had enough of bread and money and property here! Thus the flesh does continually, as long as it lives here; it draws and drags sin after itself; it is rebellious and refuses to die. Therefore God must finally put it to death before it becomes dead unto sin.
23. And after all, it is but a gentle and easy death. It is truly only a sleep. Since soul and spirit are no longer dead, the body shall not remain dead; it shall come forth again, cleansed and purified, on the last day, to be united with the soul. Then shall it be a gentle, pure and obedient body, without sin or evil lust.
24. These words of Paul are an admirable Christian picture of death, representing it not as an awful thing, but as something comforting and pleasant to contemplate. For how could Paul present a more attractive description than when he describes it as stripped of its power and repulsiveness and makes it the medium through which we attain life and joy? What is more desirable than to be freed from sin and the punishment and misery it involves, and to possess a joyful, cheerful heart and conscience? For where there is sin and real death — the sense of sin and God’s wrath — there are such terror and dismay that man feels like rushing through iron walls. Christ says, in Luke 23:30, quoting from the prophet Hosea Hosea 10:8), that such a one shall pray that the mountains and the hills may fall on him and cover him.
25. That dreadful death which is called in the Scriptures the second death is taken away from the Christian through Christ, and is swallowed up in his life. In place of it there is left a miniature death, a death in which the bitterness is covered up. In it the Christian dies according to the flesh; that is, he passes from unbelief to faith, from the remaining sin to eternal righteousness, from woes and sadness and tribulation to perfect eternal joy. Such a death is sweeter and better than any life on earth. For not all the life and wealth and delight and joy of the world can make man as happy as he will be when he dies with a conscience at peace with God and with the sure faith and comfort of everlasting life. Therefore truly may this death of the body be said to be only a falling into a sweet and gentle slumber. The body ceases from sin. It no longer hinders or harasses the spirit. It is cleansed and freed from sin and comes forth again in the resurrection clothed with the obedience, joy and life which the spirit imparts.
26. The only trouble is that the stupid flesh cannot understand this. It is terrified by the mask of death, and imagines that it is still suffering the old death; for it does not understand the spiritual dying unto sin. It judges only by outward appearance. It sees that man perishes, decays under the ground and is consumed. Having only this abominable and hideous mask before its eyes, it is afraid of death. But its fear is only because of its lack of understanding. If it knew, it would by no means be afraid or shudder at death. Our reason is like a little child who has become frightened by a bugbear or a mask, and cannot be lulled to sleep; or like a poor man, bereft of his senses, who imagines when brought to his couch that he is being put into the water and drowned. What we do not understand we cannot intelligently deal with. If, for instance, a man has a penny and imagines it to be a five-dollar gold piece, he is just as proud of it as if it were a real gold piece; if he loses it he is as grieved as if he had lost that more valuable coin. But it does not follow that he has suffered such loss; he has simply deluded himself with a false idea.
27. Thus it is not the reality of death and burial that terrifies; the terror lies in the flesh and blood, which cannot understand that death and the grave mean nothing more than that God lays us — like a little child is laid in a cradle or an easy bed — where we shall sweetly sleep till the judgment day. Flesh and blood shudders in fear at that which gives no reason for it, and finds comfort and joy in that which really gives no comfort or joy. Thus Christians must be harassed by their ignorant and insane flesh, because it will not understand its own good or harm. They must verily fight against it as long as they live, at the cost of much pain and weariness.
28. There is none so perfect that he does not flee from and shudder at death and the grave. Paul complains and confesses of himself, and in his own person of all Christians: “For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practice.”Romans 7:15. In other words: By the spirit, I am well aware that when this body comes to die God simply lays me to rest in sweetest slumber, and I would gladly have my flesh to understand this; but I cannot bring it to it. The spirit indeed is willing and desires bodily death as a gentle sleep. It does not consider it to be death; it knows no such thing as death. It knows that it is freed from sin and that where there is no sin there is no death — life only. But the flesh halts and hesitates, and is in constant dread lest I die and perish in the abyss. It will not allow itself to be tamed and brought into that obedience and into that consoling view of death which the spirit exercises. Even Saint Paul cries out in anxiety of spirit: “Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?” Romans 7:24. Now we see what is meant by the statement, “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit.” The flesh must be dragged along and compelled by the spirit to obediently follow, in spite of its resistance and trembling. It must be forced into submission until it is finally overcome. Just so the mother so deals with the child that is fretful and restless that she constrains it to sleep.
29. Paul says, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified” — that is, we know that, in soul and spirit, we are already dead unto sin — “that the body of sin might be done away.” The meaning is: Because the body does not willingly and cheerfully follow the spirit, but resists and would fain linger in the old life of sin, it is already sentenced, compelled to follow and to be put to death that sin may be destroyed in it.
30. He does not say that the body is destroyed as soon as a man has been baptized and is become a Christian, but that the body of sin is destroyed. The body which before was obstinate and disobedient to the spirit is now changed; it is no longer a body of sin but of righteousness and newness of life. So he adds, “that we should no longer be in bondage to sin.” “But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth, no more; death no more hath dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died unto sin once; but the life that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”
31. Here he leads us out of the death and grave of sin to the resurrection of spirit and body. When we die — spiritually unto sin, and physically to the world and self — what doth it profit us? Is there nothing else in store for the Christian but to die and be buried.? By all means yes, he says; we are sure by faith that we also shall live, even as Christ rose from death and the grave and lives. For we have died with him, or, as stated above, “we have become united with him in the likeness of his death.” By his death he has destroyed our sin and death; therefore we share in his resurrection and life. There shall be no more sin and death in our spirit or body, just as there is no more death in him. Christ, having once died and been raised again, dieth no more. There is nothing to die for. He has accomplished everything. He has destroyed the sin for which he died, and has swallowed up death in victory. And that he now lives means that he lives in everlasting righteousness, life and majesty. So, when ye have once passed through both deaths, the spiritual death unto sin and the gentle death of the body, death can no more touch you, no more reign over you.
32. This, then, is our comfort for the timidity of the poor, weak flesh which still shudders at death. If thou art a Christian, then know that thy Lord Jesus Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. Therefore, death hath no more dominion over thee, who art baptized into him. Satan is defied and dared to try all his powers and terrors on Christ; for we are assured, “Death no more hath dominion over him.” Death may awaken anger, malice, melancholy, fear and terror in our poor, weak flesh, but it hath no more dominion over Christ. On the contrary, death must submit to the dominion of Christ, in his own person and in us. We have died unto sin; that is, we have been redeemed from the sting and power, the control, of death. Christ has fully accomplished the work by which he obtained power over death, and has bestowed that power upon us, that in him we should reign over death. So Paul says in conclusion:
“Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God
in Christ Jesus.”
33. “Reckon ye also yourselves,” he says. Ye, as
Christians, should be conscious of these things, and should conduct yourselves in all your walk and conversation as those who are dead to sin and who give evidence of it to the world. Ye shall not serve sin, shall not follow after it, as if it had dominion over you. Ye shall live in newness of life, which means that ye shall lead a godly life, inwardly, by faith and outwardly in your conduct; ye shall have power over sin until the flesh — the body — shall at last fall asleep, and thus both deaths be accomplished in you. Then there will remain nothing but life —no terror or fear of death and no more of its dominion.(pages 127-131)
Dr. Martin Luther posted his Theses on October 31, 1517 in Wittenberg. In his 1520 published Defence of 41 of his propositions, Luther cited the pope's immortality declaration, as among "those monstrous opinions to be found in the Roman dunghill of decretals." The 27th proposition read:
"However, I permit the Pope establish articles of faith for himself and for his own faithful - such are:
a) That the bread and wine are transubstantiated in the sacrament;
b) that the essence of God neither generates nor is generated;
c) that the soul is the substantial form of the human body;
d) that he (the pope) is emperor of the world and king of heaven, and earthly god;
e) that the soul is immortal;
and all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals - in order that such as his faith is, such may be his gospel, such also his faithful, and such his church, and that the lips may have suitable lettuce and the lid may be worthy of the dish."
Archbishop Francis Blackburne states:
"Luther espoused the doctrine of the sleep of the soul, upon a Scripture foundation, and then he made use of it as a confutation of purgatory, and saint worship, and continued in that belief to the last moment of his life."
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apilgrim2
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Beloved in Christ,
We know that, among the members of the Body of Christ, there are varying interpretations of Scripture, and while such interpretations may lead many into error, by the Grace of God these of divergent beliefs are not deprived of the blessed object of their ultimate hope in Christ Jesus, so long as they hold Him as their Savior and LORD.
There is considerable debate and discussion among those who post on this website, as there is on many other websites, and yet the Truth of God's Word stands for those who are faithful to receive it. It is, after all, the Holy Spirit of God Which opens the eyes of our understanding to that which the Lord would have us to know and believe. Indeed, one or the other of us may be used by the Spirit to serve as a comforter, advocate, or intercessor.
I offer the following article in hope that, after setting aside a knee-jerk resistance to it's title, it may give some cause to consider it's message objectively.
Take the time to follow the text with particular focus upon the Scripture references. Use an accurate translation of Scripture, setting aside the modern commentaries such as the NIV and the like, in favor of a more literal translation, even by way of an interlinear translation. Do the work necessary to understand what the Holy Spirit intended to convey to those who wrote down His Word as it was given, and reap an understanding of the Word in the original languages in which it was written.
Prayerfully rely upon the Holy Spirit of God to reveal the Truth of Scripture, and set aside, even if but for a moment, that which you have been called to believe by the denominations of men, and by Priests, Preachers, Pastors, and various Clergy as they attempt to comfort the bereaved at the gravesides of the deceased.
These loved ones that have been buried or cremated are dead, and Scripture clearly says that they are dead. They have not "passed away"; they are not "the departed" because they are no more. The spirits (the breath of life) of the believing dead now sleep in Christ. They sleep in Christ awaiting their resurrection bodies, fashioned like unto His glorious body. It demands faith to believe what Scripture teaches us about the dead. It demands our complete faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the power of His resurrection.
Praise Him, and the power of His resurrection!
We have the opportunity to discern the difference between the traditions of the denominations, and the Truth of the Word of God; let us draw near unto the Lord and His Word of Truth by faith.
-apilgrim2
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DEATH, NO GATEWAY TO HEAVEN
By E.W. Bullinger
In the Christian realm today there is unscriptural teaching concerning the death of the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are constantly being told by well-meaning Christians that at death, "We go to be with the Lord." This phrase is used especially at funerals where preachers misquote or take the Scriptures out of context to reassure the sorrowing that their loved ones are not really dead, but are really enjoying Heaven in God's presence. This teaching promotes belief in the lie of Satan, rather than what God told Adam and Eve when He placed them in the Garden.
In Gen. 2:17 God said, "But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt surely die." In the Hebrew this could read "Dying thou shalt die." This was a certainty.
In Gen. 3:1, Satan speaks for the first time in the Scriptures. He asks Eve (by the Figure Erotesis for emphasis), "Yea, hath God said," or "Can it be that God hath said...?"
In Gen. 3:4, Satan's second utterance, we read, "And the serpent said unto the woman, 'Ye shall not surely die'...." This is a plain contradiction of God's Word in Gen.2:17. As one has said long ago, "This has become the foundation of spiritism and traditional belief as to death."
Let us search the Scriptures for ourselves and see what God has said and inspired His saints to record regarding the dead.
After the fall of Adam in Gen. 3:6, when he deliberately disobeyed what the Lord had commanded in Gen. 2:16-17, we read in Gen.3:19 God saying to Adam, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return."
Notice that there is no mention of the traditional "hell." The sentence is that man returns to dust.
In Job 14 we read in verse 10, "But man dieth and wasteth away: yea, man give up the ghost, and where is he?" Verse 12 reads, "So man lieth down and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." Vs. 13-15 reads, "O Thou that wouldest hide me in the grave, that Thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee..."
These verses in Job 14 teach us that Job, a believer, in God, acknowledges that man is but dust and returns to the dust at death. In that state, Job, as a believer, awaits a resurrection when God will call him to awake, and Job will answer. Death is but a sleep to the believer. This is what our Lord taught in John 11, and what Paul taught in 1Thess.4 and 1Cor.15. We shall speak of these passages later.
In Psalm 89:48, the writer says, "What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul (himself), for the hand (power) of the grave?"
We read in Psalm 115:17, "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence."
Psalm 49 teaches that man is not able to redeem himself, but is doomed to corruption. He is like the beasts that perish, (v. 12 &20). God alone redeems us from the grave or dust (v. 15).
In Ecclesiastes 9:5 we read that the dead know not anything, neither have they anymore a reward (advantage); for the memory of them is forgotten (ceases to exist).See also v.10
The context of Eccl. 12 concerns the approaching old age of the individual. The once strong body is now like a frail trembling person unable to help himself. Verse 7 tells us that dust (body) returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God who gave it. The word for spirit is the Hebrew word "ruach", not nephesh (soul).
According to Gen. 2:7 the Lord God formed man of the dust of the earth, or ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath (Heb. neshamah) of life and man became a living soul (Heb.-nephesh). So man is a soul, and without life (given by God) man is-or becomes-a dead soul. It is the spirit, or life, that God gives and takes away. There are no souls (as separate parts of the person) in Heaven.
What did our Lord say just before He died in Luke 23:46? "And when Jesus cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost." Jesus breathed life and it was committed into the Father's care. Jesus for 3 days and three nights was dead.
Now back to the Old Testament again to see what God caused to be recorded.
In Gen. 25:8, we read, "Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people." This last phrase is an idiomatic figure of expression for death and burial. Abraham's people were idolaters. See Joshua 24:2. So Abraham, the man of God, the man of faith, at his death went to the grave (dust of the earth), just as his people did who were idolaters.
In Gen. 35:29, we read, "And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him."
In Gen. 49:29 we read, "An he (Jacob) charged them, and said unto them, "I am to be gathered unto my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite." Verse 33 reads, "And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people."
Again we say that this expression "gathered unto his people" was a Hebrew idiom used for death and burial. There is no suggestion here of any one going to a place of bliss. It will take the resurrection power of God to raise the dead ones.
In Deut.32:49 the Lord told Moses to go to Mount Nebo to view the land of Canaan. In verse 50 God said, "An die in the mount....and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in Mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people."
In Deut.34:5-7 we have recorded the burial of Moses by the Lord, which is said of no other. Verse 5, "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the Word of the Lord." Verse 6, "And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-Peor; but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." Verse 7, "And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated."
In Psalm 6:5, David in his prayer said, "For in death there is no remembrance of Thee. In the grave who shall give Thee thanks?" Also, in Psalm 30:9, "What profit is there in my 'blood' (or life), when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise Thee? shall it declare Thy truth?" Lev.17:11 says,"For the life of the flesh is in the blood..."
Turning now to the New Testament we see in John 3:16"...that whosoever believeth on Him (Christ) should not perish, but have everlasting life." And in John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life..." Again in John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." These verses do not teach us that the believer will not die, for in the next verse the Lord tells us, "..The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." This living is in the resurrection. The eternal life promised us will be fulfilled completely in the resurrection.
In John 11 we see the glory of God shown by the raising of Lazarus from the dead. In verse 11 Jesus said to His disciples, "...Our friend Lazarus; but go, that I may awake him out of sleep."
Take note here that Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was already dead. He was not in heaven. Verses 13 and 14 tells us exactly what the Lord meant in verse 11 when He said, "Lazarus sleepeth." Verse 14 reads, "Then said Jesus unto them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead.' Now Lazarus is seen here as already decaying (verse 39). In verse 24, Martha says to the Lord, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." She did not believe that her brother was in some place of bliss, such as Abraham's bosom. This is the error that the unbelieving Pharisees taught the Jews. It was a false teaching that the Lord exposed in Luke 16 when He addressed these unbelieving Pharisees.
We remember the Old Testament teaching that man is a soul (Gen.2:7), and that at death his spirit, or life, goes back to God who gave it.
In John 11:33, when Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jews which came with her, He groaned in the spirit (or Himself), and was troubled. The word 'groaned' has the meaning to snort as a horse does from fear or anger. Hence, to feel strong emotion or to be indignant.
The grave, or death is the realm of Satan, and Christ was about to remove Lazarus from this realm ahead of the resurrection time. The Lord was soon to go to the cross and die and be raised to break the power of the grave which Satan held. Of course, Lazarus had to die again as he did not have a resurrected body.
This whole context of chapter 11 was to show forth the glory of God as Jesus said in verse 40. If you, as a Christian, one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, believe that upon death a part of you can exist apart from the body, (which is exactly what the unbelieving Pharisees taught the Jews) and this part of you is enjoying himself in this state, then tell me: why did the Lord bring back Lazarus to this realm of woe and sorrow?
Also, why was the command given to the 12 in Matt.10:8 to raise the dead? And again, why did Elijah the prophet raise from death the widow's son in 1Kings 17:17-24? And why did Paul in Acts 20:10 bring to life Eutychus, who was taken up dead? There is no place in the Scriptures where who were raised from death ever spoke of being in Heaven, or in a place of bliss.
Turn to Acts 2:29. Peter, speaking to Jewish people shortly after the day of Pentecost, said, "Men and brethren, let me freely (or frankly) speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre (or tomb) is with us unto this day." Can anyone truthfully say that David, in some form, has gone to heaven to be with Christ? What does verse 34 tell us? "For David is not ascended into the heavens..."
Peter had just received the promise of God spoken of in Luke 24:49 by the resurrected Christ. This promise was to be endued (or filled) with power from on high. Peter received this on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4. We must believe this Spirit-filled man when he said David has not ascended up to the heavens. David is seen as still sleeping in the dust. He is awaiting the call to life by his Lord.
In Acts 13, we find the apostle Paul speaking in Antioch (in Pisidia) to men of Israel, and those that fear God. In verses 16-37 Paul is giving forth a short summary of the history of Israel as a nation. The climax of this discussion is that God sent His son to Israel to be their Savior; they crucified Him, but God raised Him up. In verses 35-37 Paul writes, "Wherefore He saith also in another psalm, 'Thou shalt not suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption; For David after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on asleep, and was laid unto His fathers, and saw corruption. But He, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.
Here we see the contrast between David and God's Son, Jesus Christ. The expression "fell on sleep" is used by Paul for David's dying and remaining in the grave, or state of death, until resurrection. David's body experienced decay and corruption. Christ's body did not see corruption as he was raised the third day. So Paul's teaching agrees with Peter concerning the state of David.
Paul, the apostle of God, and chosen by God to preach good news to the nations concerning His Son Jesus Christ, was inspired to reveal more light on death of the believer and his resurrection from the state of death.
In 1Cor.15:12-23, Paul answers the objection of some in his day who said that there is no resurrection of dead ones. Paul said, "...if there be no resurrection of dead ones then Christ never was raised."
In verse 17, Paul carries the case one step further and said, "...if Christ be not raised, then is our preaching vain (to no purpose), ye are yet in your sins." Note here, the believers who have died (fallen asleep) are also perished. If believers go immediately to Heaven at death, could Paul have uttered this strong statement-"are also perished"? In verse 20 Paul shouts forth the the truth: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." Note how often in these Scriptures we read of them that sleep, have fallen asleep, asleep in Christ. We cannot ignore these words which the Holy Spirit inspired, and say of the dead that they are not really dead, but immediately ushered into God's presence.
Paul tells us in verse 22, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Verse 23 "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming." Christ is and has to come again. Verse 26 tells us the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Death has not yet been put down, but because of Christ's death and resurrection Satan's hold on the power of death will eventually be put down.
We as believers in Christ are yet mortals, but we have the promise of immortality. In 1Tim.6:16 Scripture says that God only has immortality.
In 1Cor.15:51-55 we see more of God's truth being revealed or made known. In verses 51 and 53 Paul says, "Behold, I show you a mystery (secret); We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. For this corruptible must put on corruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
Paul then says that when all the above happens, when shall be brought forth to pass the word that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is thy sting, O grave where is they victory?" Se Isa.25:8 and Hosea 13:14.
When Paul wrote these truths to the Corinthians during the Acts period, Israel as a nation was on trial before God. The rulers and high priests had rejected their Messiah who had come according to their prophets. God answered Christ's prayer on the cross, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
So, Israel had a second chance to repent as a nation and turn to Jesus their Messiah as Peter states in Acts 2 and 3. But stubborn Israel refused and God started to deal with individuals rather then the nation of Israel. The time element was such that Israel's Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob's Trouble spoken by Daniel the prophet, was very close at hand.
Paul's message in 1Co.15 includes truths concerning this period of Israel's tribulation as seen in versed 51 and 52. Paul expected that he could be one of those that would be alive at the end time of Israel's Great Tribulation.
In verse 51 Paul said, "Behold, I shew (or tell) you a mystery (secret); We shall not all sleep (but be actually alive), but we shall all be changed (that is we shall instantly put on a resurrected body). Verse 52, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumped shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (the living) shall be changed. "Verse 53, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." Verse 54, "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' "Verse 55, "O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?"
These verses teach us that at this time, the living believer, as well as the dead believer in Christ, must put on a resurrected, glorified body in order to be partaker in Christ's second coming. The dead ones have to be made alive and be clothed in an incorruptible body, and the living mortals must put on immortality, or instantly be changed with a spiritual glorified body.
Another area in Scriptures that is constantly used by both preachers and laymen is 2Cor. 5:8. This verse is taken out of it's context to show that at death the believer is immediately alive in Heaven. This is not what the verse or context teaches us.
The subject matter form 4:14 to 5:8 is the believer's resurrection and his present body and resurrection body. We have the Apostle Paul explaining to the Corinthians in 5:1 that there is a spiritual body that God has in His power to give at the time resurrection.In verse 2 Paul says, "For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house (habitation) which is FROM Heaven." Paul expected and looked for the return of the Lord in his own lifetime during the Acts. He earnestly wanted a changed body ( the on spoken of in 5:1). Paul did not want to die, but rather the opposite, he wanted to be alive at Christ's coming.
Paul said in 5:4 "For we that are in this tabernacle (or body) do groan, being burdened; not that we would be unclothed (dead and naked state with no body), but clothed upon (with that new or resurrected spiritual body of v. 1), that mortality might be swallowed up by life (eternal life). "
Paul was looking for the return of Christ in his lifetime, and so while still living in the flesh he could groan at for that new body. He could not groan at all if he were dead. He did not want to be found naked, or dead at Christ's coming, but hoped to be alive, or clothed.
In v. 6 Paul explains that if we are at home (alive) in this body, we are absent from the Lord (without a change taking place or resurrection we do not see Christ). Verse 8 is often taken out of context of resurrection, to tell people that their loved ones who have died are now with the Lord.This is not what Paul is saying at all.
He sums up the context from 4:14 to 5:8 which concerns the earthly body (mortal) and the spiritual body (resurrection body).
Paul in verse 8 would be well pleased and delighted to leave this body (mortal body) and to present with the Lord (in his resurrected body). Now the error that is prevalent is, that apart from resurrection one at death can be immediately with the Lord. This error is taught in spite of what Paul teaches in 1Tim 6:16, that God only has immortality, but only in resurrection, not at death. Paul said in 1Cor.15:53, "This mortal must put on immortality. " This is in the context in resurrection.
At almost every funeral we find the preacher contradicting his message in which he has assured the bereaved that their loved one is now in God's presence. After he quotes 2Cor.5:8 and not the previous verses of the context, he will most likely turn to 1Thess. 4:14-18. These verses flatly contradict the teaching that at death the believer departs to be with the Lord. Let us examine the context of this passage more closely.
Both epistles to the Thessalonians contain teaching concerning the soon coming of the Lord as predicted by the Lord himself in Matt.24 and Acts 1:1-7. The exact time of Christ's second coming was not for His disciples to know, but the signs of that early period of Acts pointed to His soon appearance. Paul taught these things during all of missionary journeys, and wrote them to 1 & 2 Thess. and also 1 & 2 Cor. In Thess 1:10 Paul admonishes the believers who turned from idols to serve the true and living God, "...to wait for His Son from Heaven, Whom He raised out from the dead, even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come." These believers in Christ were told to wait, to look for Christ's coming in their lifetime.
But now since Paul had first visited them, some of the new converts had died. This had caused much sorrow among them, for now their dead ones would miss Christ's coming.
So Paul had to write words of comfort to these people and he does this in Thess. 4:13-18. In verse 13 Paul writes, "I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (have died), that you sorrow not, even as others (unbelievers) which have no hope." Notice the expression Paul uses here as he does so much else where, 'them which are asleep.' For Paul this meant that death is likened to sleep. Now in verse 14 Paul is showing the bereaved ones why they should not sorrow over their dead ones. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God (through Jesus) bring with Him."
Here are the comforting words of Paul for the bereaved saints. They will come with Jesus at His coming to earth. But, you say, they are sleeping in death. Yes, but the next few verses explain how they will come with the Lord.
Verse 15: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive (have not died) and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not precede (go ahead) of the sleeping ones to meet the Lord.
In verses 16 and 17 Paul explains just how this takes place and the sequence of events. "For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout (word of command), with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive, and remain (the living believers at this event), shall be caught up (snatched away) together with them (the risen dead ones) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so (by this order of events) shall we ever be with the Lord."
This context the reveals the truth of God for this great event and the sequence in which it unfolds. These words of Paul were given in comfort to believers in verse 13.
Do you not see the contradiction of words of those who tell us our loved ones are already enjoying the bliss of Heaven? Friends, it takes a resurrection time to unite dead believers unto a living spiritual or resurrection body. The Scriptures demand such an explanation.
It seems to me that it is high time for the scriptural truth to be taught regarding the state of the dead that the Holy Spirit has given us to understand.
To sum up this teaching regarding the state of the believer who had died in Christ, we offer the following points:
1. Adam was created by God and was or became a living soul when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. (Gen. 2:7). There is no basis for teaching that the man Adam had a soul in this or any other passage of Scripture.
2. If Adam disobeyed God by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam would die. (Gen 2:17).
3. Satan told Eve that she would not surely die. (Gen. 3:4)
4, The penalty of death was to return to dust of the earth. (Gen. 3:17-19).
5. The Old Testament teaches us that at death, the believers in God, gave up the spirit and were gathered to their people. This was and idiomatic expression for dying and being buried, just as their people before them had done. (Gen.49:29-33, 35:29, Deut.32:48-50).
6. The Psalms and Ecclesiastes teach that at death the spirit (that which is life) goes back to God who gave it. Also, in death, there is no memory, for the dead know nothing (Psalms 89:48, 115:17, Ecc.9:5, 12:7).
7. Our Lord taught His disciples that belief in Him would assure them of eternal life. They had this hope and joy within them, but it was in the resurrection that this promise was to be fully realized (John 10:27-28, 11:25-26, 5:24, 3:14-18, 3:36).
8. The expressions asleep, asleep in Christ, fallen asleep, and dead in Christ, were used by Christ and the Apostle Paul to show that the believer who had died was not to remain in the grave or death state forever. The time in the grave for the believer is so short that it is likened to going to sleep and awakening in the morning. Time for the dead believer does not exist (John 11:11-15, Acts 13:36, 1Cor.15:18-20, 1Thess.4:13-18).
9. Paul teaches us that only in the resurrected body can the saint, or Christian, be at home with the Lord. No one can live eternally with the Lord apart from his resurrection body. Paul strongly affirms that only God has immortality in Himself. We as living or dead believers have to put on immortality, and this is not when we die, but when Christ gives us a resurrection body in that day. (1Cor.15:42-44, 5-1-55, 2Cor.5:1-8; 1Tim.6:14-16.
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"Relativity applies to physics, NOT ethics." - A. Einstein
Posts: 49 | From: Sacramento California | Registered: May 2008
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